Cost Reductions and Obsolescence

Even once a product is in volume manufacturing, the “design” should continue to be managed. Very quickly there will be a desire to reduce the manufacturing cost of the product. This can be achieved in a number of ways.

Firstly by process improvement: reviewing in detail the effectiveness of each step of the build process with the benefit of some months’ actual experience. What can be done to reduce operator time or machine set-up time? Are there opportunities to refine the test process, either to reduce the test time or to increase the coverage based on field returns information? Can different batch sizes reduce shipping costs? These are all questions that Xentech Solutions can help you with by reviewing your existing manufacturing process.

Secondly, are there now cost reduction opportunities with the design itself? Consideration should be given to reviewing the Bill of Materials (BOM) against new or recently available components. Are the memory sizes still at the “sweet spot” of the cost curve? Are there more integrated components now available allowing for a reduced component count and cost? Xentech Solutions can review your existing BOM against what is now the state of the art and advise you on the potential cost savings by undertaking a product re-design, either as a whole or in part.

Thirdly there are times with older designs that component availability becomes a significant issue. Xentech Solutions can work from your specification to suggest modern equivalent parts to ensure a continued supply of your product in a cost effective way. If a specification is not readily available, Xentech Solutions will “reverse engineer” your existing product to analyse the design and suggest alternatives.

Whatever the approach taken, Xentech Solutions can help you reduce the costs of an existing product in manufacture without you having to devote critical resources to the activity. We will deliver your cost saving whilst allowing your internal team to focus on creating new products.