HardwareCon 3 Breakout Sessions Address Production
March 2015 – In the weekend event that was the first annual HardwareCon3, the main session was equally attended at the topic specific breakout sessions. Arranged from introduction to advanced on topics and depth, the 3-4 concurrent breakout sessions were both diverse and well attended. Some of the breakout highlights and topics follow:
One of the standing room only sessions dealt with IP and Patents. The speaker, who holds a private practice in IP and patent law, went through the key points of copyright, trademark, US provisional patents and US full patents. There was a brief mention of the search process for international patents and the standards that are in place for Europe. The session was about 30% interactive Q&A to address specific issues and ideas/perceptions of the audience.
Several other sessions dealt with design and production. The panels focused on what is “killer design” and what is “transition to production” on a higher level. One of the key issues for this transition is the understanding the regulations involved. This impacts not only the end product, but also the component suppliers and the CMO (Contract Manufacturing Organization) that is used. The requires range from full line certification in the case of some products that need FDA clearance, to no supply chain regulation and only final product certification for things like UL/TUV/etc. A new part of the product life-cycle that needs to be addressed is the recycling and post-use disposal chain. This impacts what materials are used in the design and also the storage/distribution of the products.
Sessions addressed how the choice of materials impacts the design process and hence the performance characteristics of the end products. These material choices not only affect design, but also prototyping methodologies (CNC vs 3D print vs mold vs stamped) for creating correct form factor ideas. These issues need to be addressed early, not partway through the process, as they are key details in determining the production viability and logistic costs (shipping) of the product. It also drives an early need for DFM of the end product which will impact the final product yield and resources that are needed to bring the part to production.
One of the issues was the transition from prototype to company. A company is more than the ability to make a part that works. It involves the creation of a viable cash flow to support making the product through the full supply chain, delivering the product to the market & distribution channel and finally collecting payment on the product from the customers. This means financial planning and understanding that money raised in crowdfunding, while typically sufficient to create a prototype and early (sub 100 pieces) of a generation 1 product, is typically not sufficient to support a transition to production.
The group also went through the necessity of having a 3+ year vision on the company and products, a single first product, it usually not sustainable, and will not attract repeat business from existing customers. This forces the company to deal with a constantly attracting new clients & customers. This is much more expensive than incremental sales to existing satisfied customers.
