Case Study 1 |
“The connector that we're currently using can't cope with our application demands. Can you design a connector that will fit in the same space whilst meeting our performance needs and not fail in the field?” |
| Product: |
SMT battery connector |
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| Application: |
Handheld security device |
| Quantity: |
50,000pcs p/a |
| Issues: |
Even though the original connector was from a well known manufacturer it had problems with the contacts not recovering to their original positions after less than 20 cycles. Also the only plating option available was tin and the battery contacts were gold plated. |
| Solution: |
Design of a connector matching the dimensional requirements but with an improved contact design.
The new design allowed us to use lower cost Phosphor Bronze in place of Beryllium Copper whilst increasing performance to a guaranteed 100 cycles.
Gold plated contacts were used to match the contacts on the battery unit |
| Design brief to delivery: |
8 weeks |
| Tooling cost: |
$13,000 ($0.26 per part if amortized over 50,000pcs) |
| Tooling refund: |
After 150,000pcs delivered |
| Result: |
The product design met the customers brief first time, on time, and has eliminated field failures
Added bonus of overall price reduction over previously used part of 27% (including amortized tooling costs) |
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Case Study 2 |
“We're using a connector that we believe is too expensive and we need a cost down. Can you design a connector for us that meets our performance needs but significantly reduces the price?” |
| Product: |
SMT board to board socket |
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| Application: |
Consumer audio |
| Quantity: |
2,000,000pcs p/a |
| Issues: |
The customer was forced into using an over engineered part as the only available specification exceeded the application needs of up to 25 mating cycles.
As a result the connector was too expensive . |
| Solution: |
Redesign of contact & housing to reduce material usage
Reduction of gold plating area and thickness by introducing nipples on contact points
Use of Mylar P+P film in place of plastic P+P cap (reducing cost and allowing better heat transfer avoiding warping in IR reflow process) |
| Design brief to delivery: |
10 weeks |
| Tooling cost: |
$35,000 ($0.0175 per part if amortized over 2,000,000pcs) |
| Result: |
The product design met the customers brief first time, on time, and with a reduction in price of 47% (including amortized tooling costs)
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Case Study 3 |
“We can't find a connector to do what we want. We need a one piece SMT connector to accept and release a 6mm x 6mm x 1mm memory module. Can you design a custom connector that meets our needs and costs less than 10 cents?” |
| Product: |
SMT socket for ultra miniature memory module |
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| Application: |
Low cost consumer IT |
| Quantity: |
8,000,000pcs p/a |
| Issues: |
No product currently exists to meet the application requirements. The module was designed to be hard soldered to a PCB but could be reused with the use of a connector, but only if appropriately priced |
| Solution: |
Design a one piece connector.
Due to the need to minimise material, maximise yield and the practicalities of handling such a small connector in such high volumes we selected a fully automated insert molding process |
| Design brief to delivery: |
12 weeks |
| Tooling cost: |
12 weeks |
| Result: |
The product design met our customers brief first time, on time, and beat the target pricing
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Case Study 4 |
“Oh no – the part we're using is going obsolete! Can you make us an exact copy of this part as we must have identical mechanical and electrical performance?” |
| Product: |
Through hole spring contact connector |
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| Application: |
Medical |
| Quantity: |
50,000pcs p/a |
| Issues: |
Product currently used announced obsolete by its manufacturer |
| Solution: |
Produce an identical connector with extensive use of CAD/CAM software to prove product suitability in critical areas before committing to tooling stage. The critical areas were contact force, shape and elasticity over 5000 cycles. |
| Design brief to delivery: |
9 weeks |
| Tooling cost: |
$19,000 |
| Tooling refunded: |
After 150,000pcs delivered ($0.38 per part if amortized) |
| Result: |
The product design met our customers brief first time, ahead of time, and with a price reduction of 24% over previously used part (including amortized tooling costs) |
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Case Study 5 |
“Can you design us a suite of low cost high reliability products for our customers to use with our product? We know that the price needs to be as low as possible to keep cost of ownership of our device as low as possible to encourage maximum sales” |
| Product: |
Suite of board to board sockets in SMT and THP |
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| Application: |
Consumer audio |
| Quantity: |
6,000,000 over 3 years |
| Issues: |
The market price of available sockets with spring contacts will prohibit sales of the OEM product. Lower cost tuning fork contacts may cause technical problems. The suite needs to be suitable for SMT or THP or straight or right angle applications |
| Solution: |
Design a suite of products to meet the customer's requirement using the same housing and contact design throughout to minimise cost in all areas |
| Design brief to delivery: |
10 weeks |
| Tooling cost: |
$43,000 |
| Tooling refunded: |
The products design met our customers brief first time, on time, and met target pricing |
