As an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), it can sometimes be difficult to understand what can be done in-house and what is best outsourced to a specialized service. In San Diego, many established and startup OEMs choose to hire product engineering companies to complete all but the manufacturing of the final approved part, component or device.
Even if a company has used a product engineering service before, it is a wise decision to work with your in-house design team to evaluate the needs in product design and analysis before hiring a company. To help streamline this process, here are some important factors to consider.
Full or Customized Support
In some cases, it may be important to hire product engineering companies that have the ability to move from concept through to design, analysis, prototyping and then into production.
In other situations, the OEM may only require assistance with design and testing, perhaps with testing and analysis of a current design or in prototyping or moving through to manufacturing.
Most engineering companies are not going to provide full manufacturing services, but they may offer prototype development including CNC machining for parts as well as assembly of prototypes. They may also provide subcontracting other specialized services to free up your in-house team.
Customized support for San Diego OEMs is perhaps the biggest factor to consider. Meeting with the product engineering companies will allow the team to understand the scope of the services offered and how that will work on a specific project.
Offering Solutions
Often the experts in product engineering can provide creative solutions that are creating challenges with the in-house process. Consulting specifically with a service to overcome an issue in the design, testing or prototyping process can be a very quick way to resolve issues that are delaying moving the product through to market.
