Case Study 1: New Product Design

A new design for an automotive electronics housing had more stringent corrosion and sealing requirements than previous designs. Unfortunately, our client overlooked this requirement during and initial design phase. Rather than specifying new materials, the design engineers specified the same materials used in past products. The preliminary product corrosion test results were disastrous and product verification tests were just a few months away.

The first steps we took were to

1. Review the previous design
2. Review the new application requirements
3. Identify a range of materials that would enable the design to meet the corrosion requirements.

Simple and inexpensive screening experiments

Next, simple and inexpensive preliminary screening experiments were performed to determine the materials' compatibility and eliminate any underperforming alternatives. Costs were kept down by getting samples from the suppliers no cost.  The screening corrosion tests were performed at the facility of our client's customer, at no cost.

Visiting Suppliers

Finally, a visit to the one supplier provided even more insight into their process capabilities, which was used to refine the plan for how the housing could be fabricated.

Met the Deadline

The results from these and other tests helped with selection of materials that optimized the design by balancing cost, performance, and reliability. The final result was that the product passed the next set of tests and the project was on track to meet its deadline.