EnCata builds products for actual manufacturing facilities using Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA). We will consider your production capability or create according to the technological process of your prospective contractors.
Talk to an ExpertDFM and DFA are relevant for any company, be it a startup or a large scale business. In DFMA we aim at refining product’s design for further manufacture and assembly. In doing so, we reduce your costs, hasten time to market, and raise the quality of your products. We have been developing and launching new products for more than 10 years, gaining expertise along the way and improving our DFM and DFA capabilities. Our primary concern is the commercial prosperity of our customers' businesses.
1. Requirements elicitation. We determine the requirements for the product's functionality, quality, design, and other parameters.
2. Production capability study. We analyze your production capabilities, as well as the limitations on production that may have an impact on the design process.
3. Calculation of the production costs. We evaluate your product's manufacturing costs and put them up against those of the competitors. We determine how effective the project will be in comparison with existing analogues on the market. We develop the product while keeping competitors’ prices in mind.
4. Product design. We refine the product’s design, taking into account production capabilities and constraints, as well as product requirements and production costs.
5. Requirements compliance check. To check the product for its quality, functionality, and design, we create prototypes. If the product doesn't satisfy the requirements, we redo the tests and make additional changes.
6. Mass production preparation and production support. At this stage, we prepare the design and technological documentation for product manufacturing, develop the tooling and transfer all the data to the manufacturer. In case of mass production, we support the process by quickly making changes to the product/equipment if necessary.
We have a 1000 square meter pilot production facility of our own which enables us to create products that take into consideration the hands-on experience of manufacturing facilities. Our mechanical engineers and technologists have deep experience in injection molding machines and 5-axis milling work.
We understand how a good-quality DFM benefits a company because we manufacture our own industrial equipment. Our expertise will enable you to introduce a high-quality, financially viable product to the market more quickly and for less money.
At EnCata, you’ll find a well-coordinated team of mechanical and electronics engineering, technologists, procurement specialists, project managers and well-tuned production facilities. There is no need to interact with multiple outsourcers. We are accountable for the project on every level.
EnCata works with both fixed term and agile contracts.
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.
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.
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.