FAQ

When developing a highly technical product a team is required. Team members fulfill different roles:

• Domain experts: They understand the market and application domain. For example: how to use spectroscopic measurements to improve a manufacturing process. In this case, the domain expert has in-depth knowledge of the measurement techniques and requirements to solve a manufacturing problem.
• Product manager: Translates customer and business needs into requirements, prioritizes features, and balances trade-offs.
• Design engineers: These usually consist of software and hardware engineers. They design and build the core technology.
• Manufacturing engineers: They have experience in manufacturing and optimize manufacturing costs and reliability.
• Test engineers: They design and implement tests to ensure quality standards.
• Procurement: Handle the logistics of finding suppliers and stock management.

On a business level there are many more roles (marketing and sales, financial, etc.), but for on-demand engineering the above roles are more important. Employing a team to fulfill all the roles can be very expensive and require different engineering capabilities:

• Domain experts: experts on the specific product technology and application.
• Electronic engineers: for design and manufacture of electronic components.
• Software engineers: for software design and implementation.
• CAD experts: for design and manufacture of mechanical components.

On-demand engineering is an alternative to employing experienced engineers:

• Roles provided by on-demand engineering: Hardware, software and manufacturing engineering.
• Reduced payroll overhead and costs: Employing skilled engineers full-time is expensive. Outsourcing development using on-demand engineering will reduce costs.
• Reduced time-to-market: Using the existing experience and infrastructure of on-demand engineers reduces time-to-market and technical risk.
• Simplified manufacturing: Manufacturing risks and costs can be reduced by using on-demand engineering to also manufacture sub-systems for a product.

With on-demand engineering you can focus on employing domain experts for your specific product and outsource non-domain development and manufacture. Non-domain development and manufacture includes:

• Electronic sub-systems: Electronic boards for measurement, control, power supplies, etc.
• Mechanical parts: Needed to integrate electronic sub-systems into your product
• Software APIs: Custom APIs to interface and communicate with the electronic sub-systems

During development a time- and material-based payment model is used. After gathering the requirements from the client:

• The development time is estimated:
  
  • Milestones are identified
  • The development time for each milestone is estimated and tracked
  • At the end of each milestone the amount of time is billed per hour at an agreed price per hour
• The hardware costs are estimated:
  
  • The hardware (component) costs for each milestone are estimated
  • A 50% deposit is billed at the beginning of each milestone
  • The remaining 50% is billed at the end of each milestone

IP can be split into two categories:

1. Foreground IP: IP developed for the client during the development process
2. Background IP: Existing firmware, software and hardware infrastructure

The foreground IP of designs developed during on-demand engineering remains the non-exclusive, royalty-based property of Synertronic Designs. Our designs make use of proprietary background IP developed over more than a decade. Background IP remains the non-exclusive, royalty-free property of Synertronic Designs. Background IP includes:

• Firmware: Source code developed over time and include bootloaders, FPGA infrastructure, micro-processor infrastructure, etc.
• Communication protocols: All our instruments make use of a proprietary protocol.
• Software: Source code developed over time and include protocol handlers, device drivers, memory managers, etc.

Our proprietary infrastructure (background IP) significantly reduces development time (time-to-market) and reduces risk.

Our development process is structured into five key phases to ensure a seamless transition from concept to full commercial production.

These phases are:

1. Fact Finding: We start by gathering detailed information about your requirements, objectives, and constraints. This phase involves in-depth research and analysis to establish a clear problem statement and solution outline.
2. Prototype Development (Iterative): We develop an initial prototype and conduct iterative testing and refinement. This ensures that the solution meets your specifications and performance criteria before moving to production.
3. Test Production Run: We carry out a limited production run to validate the design and manufacturing processes. This phase helps identify any final adjustments needed for scalability and quality control.
4. Full Commercial Production Run: Once the test run is successfully validated, we move to large-scale production. This phase ensures consistent quality and volume to meet market demand.
5. Production Management: We manage the entire production process, from material sourcing to quality assurance and final delivery, maintaining rigorous standards at every step.