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START A PROJECT WITH ENCATA
Startups come to EnCata for concept development and testing of their products. Concept testing in product development gives us the understanding of the problems existing on the market, and insights to solve them. Developing a concept, we validate the most important assumptions revealed by problem research.
START A PROJECT WITH ENCATA
Before starting the process of new concept development, you need to decide on the idea of the project. You have to define what specific problems your product will solve clearly. Product development ideas have to meet the needs of final users that should always come first. A key success factor is a user-centric approach where you invite users to test your product. However, you don’t need a working product to validate the market. Start with visual concepts and diagrams that give users an idea of what your product is and how it’s used. Feedbacks guarantee that your product offers the solution that users are looking for. Later the concept could be refined as many times as possible, thus you save resources in the next stages. Consequently, the outcome of this stage should not be limited to the new product idea generation, but a problem research must be carried out with suggestions of engineering and design concepts.
We act as your extended R&D team which is faster than hiring engineers locally. The breadth of our technical expertise is unique.
Our dedicated team is ready to scale up quickly. We utilize AGILE lean development process that leads to 30-50% faster delivery.
Our development location enables us to be cost-effective and deliver premium R&D and engineering services at 1/3 of the price compared to that of in N-W Europe and USA.
Sometimes it is difficult to estimate the cost of the consequences of various product features. It might occur that a minor feature or functionality can drastically increase the development costs and time. For example, even an additional button could be a complete waste of time, money, and effort related to injection molding.
The catch is that, unless you understand the entire development and manufacturing process of any detail in your product, it is almost impossible to know the future implications of every decision. EnCata, therefore, offers a concept of new product development based on our knowledge and experience in mechanical and electronic product manufacturing.
The value of success lies not in the idea itself, but in its realization. When someone is very confident in his or her idea, he or she might feel inclined to jump straight into the production stage. This can be quite dangerous, since there is no reassurance that the end-product will sell. When a potential solution is discovered, it is highly important to develop a project plan or method, and then run a feasibility study of it. Since a feasibility study takes into consideration all of the project’s relevant factors, it will help you to measure the market competition and the demand for your product. Once you have the product validation it’s time to test product design assumptions.
We have to make sure that your idea works. This can only be done by trying to create a basic technology or idea built-in in the product. After concept testing in new product development for feasibility, we can produce a full-fledged prototype. POC prototyping also differs significantly depending on the type of product you are developing. In one case, a mathematical or computer model will be sufficient, while in another product with more complex technology, even a prototype will have to be made. Otherwise, do-it-yourself prototyping can be chosen as the easiest and cheapest option.
The goal of the rapid prototyping phase is to quickly create a product that you can use as a sample. It is unlikely that you will get to the finished product in one prototyping attempt. Sometimes rapid prototyping is needed to visualize your product. This visualization will be enough to present for investors or during a pitch deck. We use 3D printing, which helps us get prototypes quickly. This allows our customers to experiment with multiple versions of the product, eliminate options, make improvements and realize ideas right away.
Before you start prototyping, an important milestone is the industrial design stage. It allows you to create a 3D model of the product, where the features will be adapted to be usable. Using the 3D model of the product is the simplest way to change the arrangement of buttons, consider different versions and test customer’s desires. Subsequently, the 3D model will be sent to the factory for manufacturing. The accepted standards should therefore always be maintained when creating one. A 3D model of a product can be turned into physical samples in less time and at a much lower cost, owing to modern techniques in 3D printing.
The first batch of units is one of the most important elements of bringing a product to the market. Small-scale production helps discover technical issues in subsequent mass production and clarify production costs. You can share the product among early users and get feedback on it. These people can even be your family, friends or acquaintances. You will certainly not be able to change the product concept completely, but thanks to the feedback you receive, it will be possible to refine it.
When looking for suppliers, there are many resources both online and in person. During the sourcing phase, you will inevitably be faced with the decision of whether to produce your product locally or world-wide. If you choose to personally search for suppliers, you will need to find contacts of factories world-wide, visit them and make agreements. Usually search platforms are used for overseas production. Starting to produce thousands of product samples means spending several months searching for proven manufacturers. EnCata is ready to help and support you even at this stage. As we work with many factories around the world to make manufacturing sourcing, we already have reliable contacts of manufacturers.
There are many steps you need to follow to launch a successful hardware product. By starting with defining an idea you will ensure your product actually offers a solution to potential users. The process of developing a concept will prove that the proposed solution works. These stages provide essential inputs for the next design, engineering and prototyping. It will also affect your go-to-market strategy and relationship with your buyers.
In cases where a Client does not have a technical background, it can be difficult for him or her to determine the complexity of the implementation of proposed solutions. This may lead to frustration, or even cause questioning whether a company is competent enough to carry out these functions. It is, therefore, important to choose a proven and experienced hardware product development company, like EnCata, and trust its suggestions.
We focus on the entire product/service lifecycle, from concept to implementation to market launch. EnCata’s knowledge, resources and innovation development expertise allow our Clients to develop and expand their businesses faster and leaner.
EnCata can provide your startup with the end-to-end product development service in both hardware and software domains coupled with the outstanding inhouse prototyping facilities.
Turn to EnCata if you need our premimum consultancy services (concept review, design / CAD review or advice on software architecture code you produced) only when our advice is needed.
Come to EnCata with your CAD to produce parts for your prototype in EnCata. Assemble and test your prototype at our MakeIT Center fablab - we don't charge for the access!
Work that highlights the incredible technologies, solutions, and products EnCata developed.
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Our hardware engineers are focus on the entire product/service lifecycle, from concept to implementation to market launch. EnCata’s knowledge, resources and innovation development expertise allow our Clients to develop and expand their businesses faster and leaner.
Warehouse and fulfilment robots, Plant and Process Automation, Lean Manufacturing, Digial Twins Development, Connected Equipment, Predictive Maintanance, Industrial Computer platform
Medical devices & equipment, IoMT, Diagnostic Tools, Robotics and Precision Placement, Optical System, Medical Instruments & Consumables, Micro and Macro Fluidic Systems, Custom Rehabilitation Equipment
Smart Farming, Food Delivery Robots, Smart Agriculture and Crop Management, Sustainable Farming, Food Ribitics, Farm Apparatus Design, Farm & Irigation Automation, Agricultural Mechanization, Greeenhouse Automation, Climate Monitoring
Cut your development speed and costs by half with our in-house design, engineering, and manufacturing capabilities for breakthrough new products from just an idea phase.
Laboratory Instruments, Test Benches, Biological Storage, Microfluidics, Biological Laboratory, Spectrometers, Automated Clinical Instruments, Custom Scientific Apparatus, Pilot Plants, Chemistry Laboratory, Centrifuge, Sample Preparation
Industrial IoT gateway, Compact Industrial Box PC, SCADA automation, Performance Trackers and Sensors, Logistics, Real-time Monitoring, Retail Systems, Inventory Tracking, Production Flow monitoring, Fleet Management
EnCata works with both fixed term and agile contracts.
1. Once you have approached us with the project, we conclude the NDA and send the information to the Sales Manager for further evaluation and project planning.
2. The Sales Manager or Sales Engineer will contact you to clarify your goals, requirements and tasks to accomplish. This process is very close to business analysis. When the details are agreed with you, a cost estimate and a quotation are prepared.
3. If you accept the quotation, we will prepare a Technical design specification to document scope of work and requirements and conclude an agreement.
4. After we've signed the agreements, we'll assign you a Project Manager who will gather a project team and report on the project progress.
EnCata employs around 30 engineers with Master's and PhD degrees in electrical and industrial design, mechanical engineering, prototyping and manufacturing from European universities. Each employee is an expert in his or her field.
The majority of specialists are of middle or senior levels. Their range of influence is broad enough to encompass the entire new product lifecycle. Our specialists resolve legal and certification difficulties during the concept stage, optimize production costs during the 3D model development process and create necessary documentation for firmware support. Juniors make up only 15% of the team. They constantly upgrade their qualifications under the supervision of seniors.
EnCata is always willing to work with its client. We have everything we need to create a collaborative site. Both parties can work on the project simultaneously. The Customer, for instance, and his/ her team designs the electronics while we work on the enclosure. When teams work together to achieve a fantastic result, it is always a win scenario.
EnCata’s team is always willing to discuss all the necessary details about the project proposed. Our full-fledged team of professionals will interrogate you until both parties are satisfied with the procedures necessary to complete the job.
It certainly can. For any product, EnCata creates a design documentation package and a process documentation package that is suited to the production. It should be noted, however, that the technologists at the customer's chosen plant may make changes or impose their own requirements on the documentation design. EnCata, in turn, makes it easier for the client and the technologist to communicate. EnCata does not mass produce, although it can undertake small-scale production at the request of customers.
Yes. As a highly professional design and engineering firm, we make sure that all discussions with our clients and all information regarding your invention, idea and other proprietary information are kept confidential.
We follow a LEAN approach in product and business development and thus we strongly recommend patent filings only after you are at least part-way through development. This is because patenting is expensive and early patents can already become obsolete or irrelevant later in the development phase. Typically, EnCata's work generates many patentable opportunities for our clients and the best strategy is to file patents at TRL-7, i.e. when early beta prototype is ready and when a startup is ready to start batch production and marketing.There is, however, another strategy, which is to use provisional patents which can be loose and are not to be disclosed to the public for 18 months. These are much less expensive and time consuming, generally costing below $500.
EnCata will always sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement and keep your intellectual property confidential during the development phase and then we can recommend several third-party patent attorneys when the time is right.
Our in-house professionals handle almost all electronics work, including interface design, protocol development, communication design, schematic design, PCB Design, Firmware design and battery management. If the Customer requires a service that Encata does not supply, we have partners that can meet that need.
We certainly do. EnCata employs electronics specialists who deal with low-level firmware. We also have experts on staff who can implement high-level software code.
EnCata employs 12 mechanical and industrial designers and 10 electrical engineers with experience in hardware and firmware. Our team consists of middle and senior level engineers, who have 5+ years of field expertise and have already completed more than 300 projects.
We do indeed help with fundraising through our large business network. However, we typically recommend startups to our partner VCs after we have done some work for the startup and learned more about the team and their core technology. This feedback and recommendation is of great value to all of the friendly VCs as it saves them much time and effort for due diligence.
