Hundreds of electronic devices, IoT, electronic innovations, whatever you want to call it; fail every year; they flop.
People put tons of effort and money into taking an idea from scratch to an actual product, so it’s not like they didn’t try hard enough.
It must suck to see years of hard work and money go down the drain.
So, what’s the secret? Why do some electronic devices succeed while others just sit on store shelves waiting to be discarded?
Here’s a quote that summarizes the issue.
You can get all the engineering right, but it will fail if there’s no actual demand for your product.
Case Engelen CEO – Titoma Design for Manufacturing
So, all you have to do is make sure that people want to use and buy your device before you embark on the journey of designing it and manufacturing it.
How logical, right?
Well, you’d be surprised at the number of people that forget this part.
How to verify people need your product?
Clear and to the point; you have to do a POC, a proof of concept.
This is all about creating a prototype using off-the-shelf parts that you can easily and quickly obtain to go out into the field and test your product hypothesis.
You don’t need this prototype actually to perform all the things you’re envisioning.
It’s all about presenting your potential clients with a big idea of what your product is and will do and getting feedback.
If people understand how to use it; they have a genuine interest in it; they recognize that it solves a real issue, move along with more refined prototypes, and go into the full-fledge design for manufacturing.
This is the first part of making a winning product; first, make sure it solves a real issue, and people want it.
Getting the engineering right
Like day and night complement each other, so does a great idea that people want and excellent engineering.
You know people want your product; great! Now it’s time to deliver what the people want.
You might think, okay, we’ll get some engineers to design it and then send it to somewhere like Vietnam and China to have it manufactured, and we’re done.
Well, yes and no.
In theory, the idea is correct; you need a team of experts to design and manufacture the product, but it’s way more complicated in practice.
Many approach the design and manufacturing process in a vertical way
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
They begin with product design and leave manufacturing as the last step; they spend months working on a design they expect to manufacture easily.
That’s the mistake.
You’re heading towards an inevitable crash when you design a product without considering the plant’s manufacturing capabilities.
After spending all that time and money fine-tuning the design, you’ll find out that it’s too difficult to manufacture or at least too expensive for it to make commercial sense.
The solution here is to work with an EMS ( Electronic Manufacturing Service ) provider that knows what they’re doing.
Conclusion
There are 2 things you need to create winning electronics.
1 – Validate your idea; make sure it solves a real problem, and people want it.
2 – Make sure you work alongside a group of experts, an EMS company that has launched products before.
Easier said than done, I know, but follow those 2 guidelines, and your chances of success will increase.
