Engineering Expertise proves Critical to Resolving Product Performance Issue
Creative Solution Helps Save Brand Reputation and Costly Recall
Overview
Avnan is a long term supplier and trusted partner providing control systems for this well-known brand client for many years. The client’s product was released in-market which had bugs and was not performing as expected. For this project, Avnan was hired as the contract manufacturer of record. The Company was asked to troubleshoot and identify the issue and come up with a solution that will fix the defect in the most cost efficient way.
With its extensive engineering expertise, Avnan was able to identify the key performance issues and present various solutions. Rather than recall the entire product line that would have impacted the client’s budget and timely market opportunity, it was able to design a new component that met the client’s specification while mitigating the risks of time delays and budget costs.
At A Glance
Overview
- Project timeline: 3 months
- Savings: $50 – 100k. Saved the boards and added an adapter
- Project Scope: $250k
Challenges
- Performance issues and malfunction of the product released in market
- Testing process did not detect any defect
- May have to recall all units in market causing reputational damage and financial costs
Results
- Avnan assessed the original requirements sent to them for manufacturing
- They discovered that additional components were needed for the system to perform properly
- Rather than recalling the entire line, Avnan was able to build an additional component that did not require integration with the existing product in the market saving
- Eliminated the need to recall, replace and then re-design the product
Problem Statement
Challenge
The goal was to identify the issue that caused the malfunction of the product. Because the testing process that the client conducted did not flag any particular issues, the components had to be tested one at a time and approached through a process of elimination.
As experts in the field with many years of experience, Avnan was brought in to help troubleshoot, identify and offer solutions to the issue. Avnan examined the original requirements from the client and reconciled the final product to the original plans.
What Avnan discovered was that the final product released did not meet the requirements for seamless integration with the end users’ system. Additional components were needed for the system to perform as the end user expected.
At this point, there was financial risk and potential time delays not to mention brand reputation and credibility impact.
Solution
Avnan set out to identify the problem and find the component that was needed. Their proposal was to build a component that would allow the board to perform as expected and meet the additional requirements while avoiding a complete recall and rework of the entire board.
With all “hands on deck”, the Avnan team set out to identify the specific component, research all potential solutions and then present the most cost effective solution to the client. The client chose a path with the least financial risk while protecting their reputation and relationship with the end user.
Conclusion
By building a new component to meet the additional requirements, Avnan was able to help the client mitigate their financial risk. Rather than recalling the entire product line, remanufacture all products, and then re-release the product to the end users, Avnan was able to isolate and identify the problem component, design a new component to supplement the existing configuration and save time, money and brand reputation for the client.
In the end, the project was successful in saving the client’s relationship with its end user and Avnan was able to provide value with its expertise and ability to react to unexpected situations. The combination of Avnan’s expert team in North America and its extensive network of facilities and expertise overseas, it was able to react and resolve the issues cost effectively and efficiently.
