Below are examples of areas that DCA helps electronics manufacturers to improve efficiency, lower cost, and improve effectiveness in all phases of the product lifecycle. If you don't see your particular issue addressed, please contact us.

Concept Phase

Many important items may be overlooked at this critical time that can have a significant downstream effect. Let the DCA team guide you through some non-traditional Lifecycle Planning items that should be addressed at this phase. Now is the time to develop your product lifecycle strategies and set the plans in place. Some items that may be overlooked that DCA can assist with include:

• Component/supplier lifecycle alignment, alignment assessment, & mitigation planning
• Logistics planning
• Environmental considerations
  • Produ\ct content
  • End of Life planning including WEEE and other take-back and disposal strategies
  • Energy use considerations – total environmental impact, carbon footprint, etc.
  • Social responsibility
• Intellectual Property Planning (services provided by partner legal firms)
  • Copyright
  • Trademarks – how and when to register - varies by country
  • Patents - types and uses, how to apply, when to apply
  • Enforcement / Infringements planning
• Technology roadmapping and planning

Design Phase

Long accustomed to traditional design objectives involving form factor, performance and pricing, today’s engineers are facing increasing complexity in meeting extended objectives related to Design for Environment (DfE) and Design for Manufacturing (DfM).

Have you considered the following non-traditional design parameters and objectives? Let DCA’s experts guide you through these new (and not so new) challenges.

• Material content – now is the time of maximum leverage to obtain full content disclosure from you supply base
  • Do you know and understand the content and disclosure requirements from different countries?
  • Do you understand the difference in testing, disclosure and homogenous rules between China and the EU?
  • Do you fully understand your customer requirements?
  • Should you use IPC form 1752 or other forms?
  • Do you know how you are going to store and use this data?
  • Do you have a process for maintaining this data? PCNs?
• Lifecycle – How do you ensure product and component lifecycle alignment?
  • When it can’t be ensured, how do you deal with the misalignment?
  • How do you plan End of Life (EOL) product support? Warranty?
  • Do you have a Supply Plan of Record (SPOR) for your critical components?
  • Have you done risk assessment and contingency planning?
• Design for Environment (DfE) and Design for Manufacturing (DfM)
  • Do your designers have clear guidelines for DfE/DfM?
  • Are emerging environmental requirements communicated to the design community?
  • Are all downstream stakeholders involved – including outsourcing partners?
  • Are your products migrating from SnPb to Pb-free solder?

New Product Introduction

Successful product launch within a defined market window can mean the difference between profit and loss. Accelerating product lifecycles and rapidly changing regulatory requirements require accuracy in meeting time-to-market targets.

DCA knows what it takes to get a product into manufacturing and out the door without expensive delays. Consider the following ways that DCA can assist:

• Manufacturing readiness review
• Prototype services
• Supply Chain volume and ramp planning
• Capacity studies
• Alignment of critical business processes between design center and manufacturing activity

Manufacturing

Volume manufacturing requires continuous surveillance and attention to detail. Consider the following items that DCA and our network of professional service suppliers can assist with:

• Manufacturing partner selection and qualification
  • Initial survey
  • Periodic Audits
• Process Qualification
  • Insure all BOM parts are qualified to the higher process temperatures required by new SAC alloys
  • Insure shop floor controls account for reduces Moisture Sensitivity Levels (MSL) of crack-susceptible parts.
  • Insure manufacturing plan in place for Ball Grid Array (BGA) parts
• Materials
  • Alternate and substitute parts procedures and approvals
  • Materials capacity and flexibility strategies
  • Supplier qualification and ongoing performance reviews
  • Process Change Notifications management (PCN)

End-of-Life

End of life issues are complex in two different dimensions: first, accelerating product lifecycles drive shorter component lifecycles; and second, we are now in an era of producer-responsibility for final product disposal.

Component / Product lifecycle mismatch: While some consumer products have extremely short lifecycles (measured in months), data infrastructure, communications and instrumentation products can have very long (decades) lifespans. As these dissimilar products use many of the same component parts and technologies, there is a mismatch that causes supply disruption for support of the longer life products. Especially as the volume drivers tend to be on the consumer products side, many component manufacturers find it impractical or un-economic to continue production for low-volume parts.

Recapture, Recycle and disposal all require new business processes or modifications of existing processes. Depending on the geographic area and local laws, this may entail development of a new supplier base for these services. Non-harmonized requirements within the US and Europe and rapidly expanding standards in the developing world require constant vigilance. Severe penalties await the unprepared. Let DCA do the worrying for you. We have the knowledge and the solutions. Consider the following:

• Managing EOL inventory and supply strategies
  • Component support
    • How to survive with grey market purchases
    • EOL component inventory – die bank or finished parts?
  • Product support
    • New environment regulations – are you grandfathered in?
    • Warranty – field upgrades – service support – what are the rules?
• Recapture / Recycle
  • Producer responsibility – what is it? What does it mean to me?
  • How do you define “producer”?
  • What is your take-back strategy? By geographic area?
  • Do you have financial reserves? SOX disclosure?
  • How do I register and comply? In the EU? US? Rest of world?
  • Have you done a good job of Design for Environment? Is your product easy to recycle? Disassemble? Identify & segregate hazardous materials?
  • Do your contracts and qualification procedures protect you from ultimate responsibility for a “superfund” site?

Please contact DCA to discuss your specific situation.

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