Product engineering in the field of electronics refers to the use of embedded hardware, firmware, application software design, and development to develop an electronics product which makes difference to the human lifestyle.
Product engineering services companies have a wide spectrum of domains like IoT, AI, ML, retail, automotive, wearables, marine, aerospace, medical devices, and consumer electronics.
There are several components which are involved in the product engineering services such as microcontrollers, microprocessors, memories, interfacing, OS (Operating System), programming tools, application design, and UI/UX design to engineer a complete product.
But the product isn’t completed yet as it has to consider some quality and environmental regulations as well as compliances of different countries to ensure safe and secure product deployment.
In the current scenario, product engineering services are aiming at providing a good adaptable and scalable product that can quickly cover the market with cost optimization.
The Product Engineering services process manages the entire life cycle of a product from the inception of an idea, feasibility study, and design to deployment of the product. This is a process that involves various stakeholders including product managers, technical architects, business analysts, etc. Over time, product development companies have realized the importance of developing products that are more user-centric and fulfill a latent need for the product in society.
“Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence”
Process of Product Engineering
The people who serve in product engineering services might know the typical product engineering activities which include hardware schematic design, PCB layout design, firmware development, application or software development, testing and validation, prototyping, manufacturing, and product life cycle management.
Let us see this activities step by step through this below infographics.
Conception of the idea
An idea is conceived and detailed in terms of its application, usage, and features, and how it is going to impact/enable the world. Based on the feasibility of the idea, it is pursued, modified, or discarded.
Design
Now that you have a concept it needs to be converted into product design. Product developers look at the Hardware, Software & Industrial design specifications necessary to realize the product. This includes identifying the right OS, the processor, the memory, system partitioning between hardware and software, interfaces needed to perceive the product, UI/UX and industrial design.
Development
In the development phase, the product is brought to physical existence based on the design. This includes PCB Design, mechanical CAD, system software development, Middleware development and integration, application development, etc. Any modification or deletion to the design decisions made earlier is executed at this stage. The product also undergoes various Testing and Validation at module and system to ensure the performance and quality of the product designed is as per expectation.
Prototyping
A prototype is a ready product or an early sample that resembles the final product. Prototypes enable testing and validation of various features envisioned earlier during the design stage. Prototypes will be deployed in a controlled environment to monitor and analyze its performance and verify its compliance with applicable environmental and quality standards.
Production and Delivery
On approval and acceptance of a prototype, the product will be labeled ready for production. The Product Engineering Services lifecycle includes production support as well. Close communication is maintained throughout the processes between product engineering as well as production teams to ensure the seamless release of the final product.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
PLM forms the key aspect of any product-based business. It is critical to remain competitive by continuous enhancement to the product and maintaining customer satisfaction. PLM helps in the timely release of relevant software updates, patches to ensure periodic upgrade, feature enhancement, and customer support at all levels. PLM also involves obsolescence management to ensure that all the relevant components are available or appropriate replacement is identified, tried, and tested for the duration the product remains in production.
The demand for product engineering services has grown as businesses are compelled to keep up with the evolving and dynamic environment. As the size of the technology market increases, companies compete to deliver the best products to enhance user experience. Product Engineering companies are increasingly focusing on their core strength i.e. conceptualizing and marketing their product and leverage on the skillsets of product engineering services companies to help release their product in a timely and cost effective manner.