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Range-Challenge Solutions for Consumer and Industrial IoT Innovations
Posted: July 7, 2021The development of consumer and industrial IoT innovations pose very different use-case challenges that require very different solutions. Further complicating the picture is that for all the differences between consumer and industrial IoT innovations, they share something in common: the need to integrate outstanding design with scalable manufacture.
At Pivot International, we help companies across the globe capitalize on the $128 billion market for IoT innovations. We bring nearly fifty years of experience and broad technical diversity across consumer, industrial, fitness, and medical markets. Using our in-house DFM expertise that spans over fourteen industries, we integrate design and manufacturing to create award-winning products that successfully scale.
Small vs. Large Lot Sizes: How Scalable Manufacturing Gives You the Best of Both
Posted: June 30, 2021While it's commonly understood that small and large lot sizes each have distinct advantages, how to get the best of both is not.
The choice between small and large lot sizes is best approached from a both/and perspective. But for many companies, this choice is often seen as either/or. This assumption is not always unfounded: many manufacturing partners lack the capability to deliver the best of both. The reasons for this are twofold: First, they may lack the facilities and technology. Second, they may lack the in-house DFM expertise (Design For Manufacture) that ensures an innovation is optimized for flexible and scalable manufacturing.
How to Successfully Solve Your Size, Weight, Power, and Cost Equation for Developing a Wireless Product
Posted: June 23, 2021No matter the specifications of the IoT product your company is bringing to market, you'll need to make strategic trade-offs to successfully solve your SWaP-C equation (size, weight, power, and cost). A large part of this will depend on understanding the differences between wireless technologies and which is right for your product.
For more complex products, choosing the right wireless technology is rarely a simple one-to-one affair. In other words, a combination of variously configured LoRa, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular technologies is often needed. This means you'll need to select a product development partner with expertise in all four.
Four Perspectives for Simplifying the Process of Making Your Use Case
Posted: June 9, 2021If you’re preparing to bring a new product to market, you already know your product’s success will depend in large part on establishing a sound use case. As the name suggests, this involves identifying the needs your product is intended to meet, the challenges it’s designed to solve, and the practices and preferences of the end-user. (And then optimizing your product accordingly.)
Four Ways to Expedite Your New Product Development and Accelerate Launch
Posted: June 2, 2021Every company wants to cross the finish line of new product development (NPD) faster than their competitors. Why is this such a difficult challenge for many companies, and how do they overcome it? This is a question we’ve been helping our partners answer for almost fifty years. Expediting your NPD through proof-of-concept, development, engineering, manufacture, and distribution requires a perfect storm of specialized capabilities, services, and skillsets.
Moving From Viable to Optimal Use-Case Solutions — Three Keys to Creating Profitable Products
Posted: May 26, 2021Here’s the scenario: you have an idea for a new product. You’ve done your market research, you have a good sense for your product category and use case, and you’ve even looked into and budgeted for the costs associated with bringing your product to market.
But one of the biggest challenges your team has yet to face (possibly without recognizing the need for doing so) involves working out the details of how your product needs to operate and perform. In other words, while you have a clear sense of what your product needs to do, you don’t yet have a clear sense of how it will do this.
7 Incredible ESC and Brushless Motor Applications for Industrial, Commercial, and Hobbyist Markets
Posted: May 19, 2021If you're trying to develop a high-performance product that involves any kind of motion, ESC (electronic speed control) and brushless motors are an essential part of the equation. ESCs allow for high degrees of configurability, customization, and variability in motion control. And high-efficiency brushless motors provide the exceptional power-to-weight ratio needed for premium products.
Technical Diversity: The Key to Escaping the Hyperspecialization Trap
Posted: May 6, 2021Technical Diversity — having an extensive range of product solutions for tackling a design or development challenge — is one of the most important things you can look for in a product development partner.
Without the benefit of technical diversity, your company may fall prey to the hyperspecialization trap. While specialization is good, hyperspecialization is not. Hyperspecialization occurs when firms focus too narrowly on excelling in a few ready-made solutions for a few well-defined problems. While this can be a perfectly serviceable model for low-complexity consumer products, it poses at least three significant dangers for innovations that lie outside this narrow category. Let’s take a look at each.
Wi-Fi 6 Holds Game-Changing Possibilities for New Product Development
Posted: April 28, 2021If you’ve not yet heard of Wi-Fi 6, it won’t be long before you do. Wi-Fi 6 is the future of Wi-Fi and IoT. With it comes game-changing possibilities for new product development across nearly every conceivable industry and market.
At Pivot International, we are worldwide leaders in the design, development, and manufacturing of products created to capitalize on the rapidly expanding market fueled by this new technology. With nearly fifty years of expertise across fourteen industries and numerous markets, we help our customers seize emerging opportunities related to the rapidly mounting demand for Wi-Fi 6 applications.
How Domestic Manufacturing Can Deliver Offshore Supply Chain Advantages
Posted: April 21, 2021For nearly three decades, American companies have been offshoring manufacturing services. Between ongoing trade tensions, increased regulatory restrictions, and the recent Suez Canal debacle, companies are struggling with the challenge of how to get offshore supply chain advantages closer to home.
The most simple solution for general contract manufacturing needs is to partner with a domestic manufacturer. Many companies, however, are reluctant to do so because they assume domestic sourcing can’t be as competitive and cost-effective as offshoring. We, at Pivot International, will show how our integrative sourcing solutions are disproving this assumption and demonstrating that domestic manufacturing can come with a wealth of benefits.
