There is a very big difference in hiring a consulting or engineering firm to be involved exclusively in the design component, to being a company providing a full range of engineering design services.
Companies that just provide design support are important and offer some very similar services to full contract manufacturers. However, they don’t offer the option to move from the design and development phase to actually creating the prototype and then moving into production.
By using a company that offers the full scope of engineering design services from concept to production, it is possible to avoid a lot of additional pitfalls and possible problems along the way.
Start With the General Concerns
When looking for a company to provide engineering, prototype and production services start first with general requirements and then move to specifics. The general requirements should include the full scope of the project.
The biggest issues can occur when one company completes the prototype and then another separate company will actually be the production company. This can result in slight to fairly large changes in material suppliers and even production methods, resulting in a change in the overall quality and precision of the parts, components or devices.
Capacity and Delivery
When considering engineering design services, even if it is just for the design process, look at what the company can offer with regards to both capacity to add value to the service as well as on time delivery.
As there is no way to develop a prototype and gain approval for production without the design element, time is a critical factor. In markets where there is substantial competition choosing a design service that offers the expertise, speed of delivery of the design as well as the option to move to prototype development and production makes a very big difference.
