1. We've designed a great product, how do we get it into production?

The best way is to come and talk to us at Simple MFG so that we can get a really good and clear understanding of the product , along with your requirements for product delivery. This is also an opportunity to identify and resolve any potential for production issues (before they have the chance to arise). Once your requirements are fully understood, we can work with you to develop a commercial solution that best meets your requirements. We use a structured process for all our production – this is normally done in at least two stages: a small pilot production run followed by a review, then a full production run.

2. What about materials?

There are a number of ways to handle materials. Simple MFG can supply all or part of the materials for an approved Bill of Materials (BOM) or, products can be built using customer supplied materials. Both options can be discussed with Simple MFG to determine the best solution. When considering the best approach for materials a number of things need to be considered:

• The size of the production runs
• Availability of material & components
• Number of commonly used items in a build
• Minimum Order Quantities (MOQ) vs Material price
• Shelf life of components
• Stability of product design (are changes likely)

3. Why use an outsource manufacturer?

Outsourcing manufacturing has a number of advantages over in-house manufacturing. Advantages include:

• Capacity and capability: Useful when in-house resources are not sufficient to meet demand, or significant capital investment is required to achieve the required capacity. Using an outsource manufacturer means you get scalable capacity without the need for investment.

• Procurement of materials: An outsource manufacturer routinely sources components in large volumes and can therefore access preferential pricing and pass the cost savings on to you, the customer. In some cases, an outsource manufacturer may already have a lot of commonly used items in their inventory.

• Focus: Outsourcing means that you can focus on product design and marketing opportunities while the outsource manufacturer focuses on the supply chain and product delivery.

• Experience: An outsource manufacturer will typically have a vast amount of experience manufacturing a wide range of products. The skills and experience offered by an outsource manufacturer can add real value to the process of getting a product to market.

4. What about RoHS Compliance, what does it mean?

The RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) European Union directive was introduced in 2001 in an effort to address the problem of hazardous substances from electronic products ending up in land fills. The directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products. All applicable products in the EU market after July 1, 2006 must be RoHS compliant.

There are a number of things that need to be considered when determining whether a product needs to be RoHS compliant:

• The market the goods will be sold in: currently RoHS applies to the EU, however there are similar initiatives for China and the US that will come into force in the near future.

• The category of product: RoHS applies mainly to consumer & IT electronics; however the application to a greater number of product categories is likely in the future.

• Availability of parts: Are the required parts RoHS compliant or not?

• Not only electronics: Apart from lead, there are five other substances mentioned in the EU Directive. These substances are commonly used in plating and plastics and need to be considered.

Simple MFG's processes and equipment are RoHS-compliant. We have extensive knowledge about the impact of this requirement on manufacturing.

5. Why not manufacture in Asia ?

Although in some circumstances, manufacturing in Asia may be a good solution, it may not be appropriate for your product. When evaluating whether to manufacture in Asia, you should consider:

• Product volume
• Product stability
• Total cost of manufacture and distribution to market
• Product life cycle
• Your ability to work across time zones
• Possible communication issues
• Cost sensitivity of product and scale of production
• Resources required to transfer and manage the production.
• Production flexibility
• Intellectual property protection

6. With your own products being manufactured in the same facility, what guarantee is there that my job will not get bumped in favour of your own production output?

All jobs going through the facility use the same internal systems and processes with scheduling driven by demand and material available. To the extent that all work at Simple MFG could be considered as being contract manufacturing work, with some jobs destined for our internal customer Tru-Test. You can rest assured that if anything, this manufacturing methodology gives higher priority to external manufacturing work due to the level of supply chain control for internal products. In addition the manufacturing resources can and are redeployed as needed to make sure demand, both external and internal, is satisfied. Coupled with the investment in equipment and capability, largely driven by Simple MFG requirements, and the investment in people and systems as part of the world class manufacturing initiative, Simple MFG provides a very customer focused and flexible high tech manufacturing solution.