Test engineers in industries ranging from aerospace and defense to consumer electronics face complicated testing. One issue facing engineers is that test instrumentation is not updated as rapidly as the devices being tested. Functionality of these complex devices is being defined by the software embedded in them, such as…
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Product Design, Development
Trends reveal test engineering challenges to balance timelines and budgets
Acquisition gives Flextronics expanded global footing and capabilities
Until recently, Flextronics’ largest market segment was mobile phones, which accounted for over 30% of revenue. With the acquisition of Solectron this changes the entire landscape of the EMS, and ODM, industries.
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Foreign IP strategy for electronics manufacturing
Know where your competitors are filing IP. Companies may consider filing patents in foreign jurisdictions where competitors are active, in an effort to gain market space and / or leverage IP assets during future negotiations. Manufacturers in emerging jurisdictions such as Brazil, India, China, and Vietnam become more active in presenting opportunities for joint manufacturing ventures …
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12 Questions for the Occam Process before buying the farm
The Occam Process is touted to be environmentally compliant or, friendly. However, the process uses photolithography and copper plating procedures. Aren’t these processes quite ‘dirty’? Won’t these processes, which will be new to most potential adopters, be a challenge to implement?
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Taking the pulse of EMS
While internal, defensive, cost-control issues dominated the companies’ reports; most firms also …
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Cost analysis and the teardown
I am skeptical about the accuracy of cost analysis teardowns. Normally, list prices for components (the figure used in the analysis report) are …
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Design guru John Maeda on Apple’s love potion and product design
In this popular interview Dr. Maeda isolates the source behind Apple’s iPhone success; discusses product design for manufacturing (DfM) and end-user usability, and more.
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Lower intellectual property (IP) risk outsourcing electronics manufacturing
One common error is most executives feel something is not patentable. It is also Some advanced tactics used by IP-savvy companies and executives include conducting ‘directed invention …
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Chinese intellectual property protection – interview with Hong Kong-based legal counsel Vivien Chan
Chinese intellectual property (IP) law is relatively new compared to IP laws in many Western countries. Hong Kong-based legal counsel Vivien Chan talks about concerns expressed by executives and how some disputes are addressed in Chinese courts.
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New product introduction (NPI) quoting and the OEM
OEM companies engaged in quoting exercises for new product introduction (NPI) business services with contract manufacturers can expect the capable contract manufacturer to carefully lead the OEM through an established and itemized list of NPI product requirements and processes.
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