Move More Reliable Electronic Devices To Market in Less Time

SES uses a proven alternative to the traditional build-testmodify-repeat model for developing electronic systems and devices that can often reduce time-to-market by 25%.

Hours oF Engineering Standard Effort Rate

SES Effort Rate projEct timElinE

Focused Early EffortSES applies a great deal of effort early in the design process to thoroughly understand device function, manufacturing, cost and reliability. This understanding is developed through detailed evaluation of the design needs as well as determining the control requirements with state diagrams, flow charts, and where useful circuit analysis. By discovering and resolving problems early, surprises are avoided and later stages of the development process go faster and more smoothly.

Flexible, Multi-Disciplinary StaffingSES has the staffing depth to deploy engineers with specialized expertise when and where their skills are needed. This includes experts in the areas of motors, sensors, control systems, digital and analog signal processing, along with radio and antenna design. These experts are brought onto the project team when they are needed in the development process and shift off of the team once their expertise is no longer necessary.

CONCEPT PHASE Often a design team picks an approach (electronics, sensors, or mechanical) too quickly and unintentionally force a compromise in features or restrict performance of some or all parts of the system.

PRELIMINARY DESIGN PHASE Key elements of a design are Form, Fit and Function. The traditional approach focuses on the form and t of the components as required for the concept, often neglecting function and performance.

D E TA I L D E S I G N P H A S E 1 & 2 The traditional approach starts with testing a functional prototype, then revising the concept based on prototype performance. Another prototype is then produced from the revised design and again undergoes testing. Consequences of this approach are: (1) it can be di cult to converge on a nal design, (2) the nal design is just good enough, and (3) the scale up to production can present previously unobserved problems.

TRANSFER TO PRODUCTION Using the traditional build and test approach, transfer to production can be di cult and time consuming. This approach is not conducive to arriving at a product that is easy to manufacture.

SES PROCESS

STA N DA R D PROCESS

SES TRANSFER TO PRODUCTION The SES process leverages the fact that we have incorporated good manufacturing S P E C I F I C AT I O N Many projects begin with a loosely dened specication of what the nal product should be. Starting with a loose specication is risky and can be very wasteful . Designing to a target that is not required will add needless cost and complexity. If a real requirement is missed from the initial specication, the whole concept may need to be scrapped and the team sent back to the drawing board. The SES approach includes spending additional time and e ort before the concept phase to review, revise, clarify and conrm the specication. The result of this e ort is to provide a specication that matches what is truly required to create a good product, with no extraneous items or unmet requirements. This ultimately saves development cost and reduces the risk of late project rework. Additional SES Design Phases Characterization The SES approach takes additional time to establish actionable requirements and measure baseline performance data. Preliminary Feasibility & Analysis
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SES CONCEPT PHASE Several concepts are developed and evaluated using engineering rst principles and simple tests to assess feasibility and performance. Prior to the down selection process, these concepts are further evaluated for their anticipated reliability, manufacturing complexity, and cost. The result of spending more time up-front is always a better performing, more manufacturable concept.

SES PRELIMINARY DESIGN PHASE In order to build a higher level of understanding, SES pursues multiple concepts in the Preliminary Design phase before selecting the nal approach. For each concept SES will typically (1) create electronic bread-boards and virtual mechanical models to predict performance and identify key functional characteristics, (2) evaluate manufacturability, (3) estimate sensitivity to tolerances and (4) test the simplied bread-board model(s) to verify SESs analysis. The result is higher condence that the product will perform as expected, and a signicantly shortened transfer to production.

S E S D E TA I L E D D E S I G N P H A S E The SES approach avoids inevitable multiple build and test iterations. SES uses ndings from the preliminary design to converge on a detailed design. This design is optimized with respect to the key performance characteristics and planned manufacturing methods. The creation and testing of prototypes is for conrmation of predicted performance. Testing is generally successful and additional design or rework is minimal.

practices from the very beginning, and throughout the design process. Because all design approaches have been reviewed by the manufacturing groups, there are no surprises and no major rework. With SES, early optimization of manufacturability facilitates a smooth and routine transfer to production.

Will it meet operational expectations within the materials limits? Can it be manufactured? Does it fall within cost parameters?

What Clients are saying about SES

[SES engineers] helped take our design and within a week, improved it to help save millions in production costs. I would highly recommend the Stress Engineering staff. ENGINEERING MANAGER Our company has a long history of working with SES, and we continue to be impressed with their ability to adapt to our needs. We estimate their efforts saved us 3 months on an overall 12 month schedule from concept to release, but more importantly the design was fully optimized before tool release and the development phase was extremely efficient. VICE PRESIDENT OF ENGINEERING & PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

About Stress Engineering Services (SES)

SES was established in 1972 as an employee-owned consulting engineering firm. While providing innovative and actionable engineering solutions, we have a unique understanding of the critical link between electronics, design and marketability. Our staff covers a full range of engineering disciplines. Over 70% of SES engineers hold advanced degrees, most are licensed P.E.s and the average engineer has more than 15 years experience.

For Integrated, Physics-based Electronic Product Development Solutions

Call SES Today at 513.336.6701

On the web at

innovation.stress.com

C I N C I N N AT I H O U STO N N E W O R L E A N S B ATO N R O U G E C A LG A RY

2013 Stress Engineering Services, Inc.

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