Delays in manufacturing for New Product Introductions (NPIs) are a case of bad news/good news.

The bad news is that they can occur for any number of reasons, and we’ve encountered many of them over nearly five decades of production experience with some of the most complex and demanding jobs in aerospace, defense, medical, and other applications.

The good news in our experience is that you can reliably ensure a successful, on-time, on-budget launch if you pay attention to the three most common causes of delays:

1) Lack of communication: Sometimes one part of a product design team doesn’t adequately convey a design element or change to other parts of the team. That can happen with the complexities and time crunches inherent in NPIs. We provide on-site, deeply experienced peer review of even the most complicated designs with a sharp eye toward Design For Manufacturability.

2) Incomplete documentation: Producing thorough documentation prior to manufacturing makes the difference between delay and on-time delivery. Are your CAD files in ODB++ or GENCAD format, and are Gerber files for stencil fabrication extracted from CAD? What about assembly drawings, placement files and Excel parts lists? We help ensure that all necessary documentation is on hand.

3) Incomplete Kits: You’ve been through the parts list and bill of materials. So why don’t they match what is sent to manufacturing? We are meticulous about kitting and work with you to ensure that all kitted parts are labeled with manufacturer PNs/FNs, in the correct quantities, properly bagged, and identified for tinning/gold mitigation. We also note shortages, parts due from suppliers, and coordinate the building of finished goods.

dataCon works closely with you to proactively manage all of those factors. We’re your experienced partner that is advising and supporting your engineering team before, during and after manufacturing begins to deliver the good news of an on-time and on-budget NPI.