Henway Technologies, LTD. PCB Design and Assembly

A company specializing in lock-out tag-out equipment for use in nuclear power plants developed a product that required electronics to count the rotation and direction of a slow-moving motorized shaft. The system needed to be highly reliable, provide a timestamp of each complete rotation, and have a battery life of five years on a single nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery the size of 1/3 of an AA. An LCD shows the number of revolutions, and plant operators can download logs to a PC via USB. Henway was called in because the company wanted to expand the use of this technology into other products. To achieve this, a few modifications to the original electronics were required, but they didn’t have all the files, and they lost communication with the original designer, leaving them feeling stuck. They called Henway to review their files, and we quickly discovered discrepancies. - The bill of materials (BOM) didn't match the PDF schematic or the parts on the PCB. - The PCB engineering files were just the .prj file. No .sch or .pcb files. - There were several source code hex files, but nobody from the company knew which version was correct. - There was source code but no documentation to accompany it. After delivering the news, we explained our plan and the cost to get them back on track. The heavy weight of the situation felt lighter to the customer, and they were cheered up after hearing this: First, Henway would document the project requirements, create a block diagram, and a hardware and software spec. This is the foundation where we can perform a gap analysis between their engineering files and how the product needs to work. We created a list of discrepancies and ranked them in order of importance. LinkedIn doesn’t like my long articles, so I’ll stop here. There are a couple of additional paragraphs on our website. Read more by visiting our portfolio page! https://lnkd.in/ehcJxgjT Are you unsure about the quality of your PCB design and manufacturing files? Don’t find yourself in this situation. I'm offering a free evaluation service that checks for the completeness of your PCB hardware, software, and manufacturing files and advice on how to protect your design for the future. Message me on LinkedIn to learn more about this or any of our other custom PCB design and manufacturing services. Thank you!

Are you unsure about the quality of your PCB design and manufacturing files? I'm offering a free evaluation service to help you understand your current PCB file status and how to improve it. Message me on LinkedIn to learn more about this or any of our other custom PCB design and manufacturing services. Thank you!

Too many people find themselves in a mess when it comes to actually having to know something about the PCB design and manufacturing files they keep. I hear the same tragedy over and over again. For 13 years I've attended countless video meetings where companies will show me PDFs of schematics and Gerber files but not the editable files required for the updates they desperately need. If they're the lucky few who can recall where to find the files, they don't know which software the PCB was designed in, the person who did the design isn't at the company or isn't in the country, they don't know how to recompile the code, they don't know what BOM files are the latest, and the list goes on and on. The worst part is that these phone calls are always a crisis because they're behind schedule, out of money, have no in-house resources, and so on. It's a tragedy, and I hear it all the time. I want this to stop happening. Responsible PCB design and manufacturing file owners don't keep their PCB files in their email inboxes or a random folder on a desktop. Responsible PCB owners know the files inside those folders, they are backed up properly, the files are complete, documentation exists, and they are very aware of the health of the files in today's market. If your company relies on you to maintain custom PCB design and manufacturing files, and if you're even a little bit unsure of what's inside and you're finding it challenging to prioritize gaining control due to lack of time time, money, it's not something you're interested in, resources, whatever, then please message me on LinkedIn and let my team and I take a look at the situation for you. It won't cost you anything. I'm offering this free evaluation service to try to stop the constant crisis because it doesn't feel good doing nothing about it. I want to help you understand what PCB design and manufacturing files you have and don't have. To make it free for you, I used my 13 years of painful experience listening to bad things happen to good companies, and I've come up with a way to quickly assess people's current PCB file status and rank it on a scale of 1-10. Then I tell you how to improve. Message me on LinkedIn now if you want to learn more about this or any of our other PCB Design and Manufacturing services: Free PCB File Health Assessment Gap Analysis and Project Requirement Document Creating a Roadmap Custom Schematic Design, PCB Layout, Software/Firmware Engineering PCB Production Custom Test Fixtures Ongoing Support and Documentation

A racecar shock systems company turned to Henway Engineering for help when their electronics supplier, the sole provider of the circuitry within their product, started repeatedly extending lead times. When the company inquired about the delays, the vendor candidly admitted they were discontinuing the product and were no longer interested in producing the electronics. The vendor advised them to start looking for a different solution. The situation was complex for this client—the electronics system was a project of a former employee, and no one at the company knew how it worked. They only knew how to integrate off-the-shelf components. Designing a new custom solution seemed overwhelming, and they didn’t know where to start. That’s when they approached Henway. We assured them that we could create the electronics they needed to keep their product alive. Our approach is simple: At Henway PCB Design and Manufacturing, we specialize in assisting companies in gaining control over their electronics and providing customized manufacturing solutions that best suit their needs. For more information, visit https://lnkd.in/egn_7gtg

When a police officer and a small business advisor approached Henway Design and Manufacturing, they were seeking someone to design and produce a product that could impact the safety of police officers during nighttime traffic stops. During our initial meeting, he had told me that he already experienced a setback with a previous electronics design consultant who, lacking the necessary expertise, led him on before ultimately disappearing. This experience left him disillusioned but still determined to bring his vision to life. Only this time, he was going to use a company with a proven record of design & manufacturing that could take him the whole way. The product concept was simple: during nighttime traffic stops, the intense rear-facing red and blue flashers of a police cruiser can create visual obstacles for additional officers arriving at the scene. The officer envisioned a device that would allow each arriving police cruiser to temporarily turn off the rear flashers of the cruisers already on-site for 20 seconds, providing a momentary reprieve from the blinding lights. With each new arrival, the system would sequentially turn off the lights of all preceding cruisers, allowing officers to better assess the situation. Upon reviewing the officer's files from the previous consultant, it was clear that most of the work was not in great shape. However, there were two bright spots: the wire harness design and the system-level diagram. The previous consultant had done a good job understanding how police light bars operate and how the cables should be routed to and from the cruiser's interior up to the light bar. While this may seem minor, such details can save considerable time in the design process—time that can then be devoted to adding essential features like automotive protection circuitry and specifying a processor and radio module suitable for automotive environments. With this foundation, Henway took the reins. We redesigned the system from the ground up, incorporating Bluetooth 5.0 mesh networking to allow automatic communication between cruisers. We used automotive-grade components to ensure reliability in the demanding conditions faced by police vehicles and housed everything in an off-the-shelf NEMA-rated enclosure with custom silkscreen printing on the outside for easy installation. The result was a functional prototype that could be deployed out in the field for testing. The circuit board, pictured here, has been a success among his force, proving its value in real-world conditions, and now the officer is working to get another city to adopt this life-saving technology. This project is a testament to Henway Engineering's commitment to working with clients to make their ideas a reality, even when they've faced setbacks in the past. We understand that sometimes, these ideas come from a place of deep passion and commitment—especially when lives are at stake.

Regaining Control of Product IP for a Cosmetics Device Company Some companies find themselves in a difficult position when they don't own the intellectual property of their products' electronics. The inevitable day comes when they need to make a change—perhaps to add a feature, fix a bug, or worse, deal with a supplier that suddenly stops production—and realize they are stuck. That's precisely the situation one of our recent customers faced, and they turned to Henway PCB Design and Manufacturing for a solution. This customer, who sells a battery-operated cosmetic device with a built-in wireless charger similar to those used in electric toothbrushes, was caught off guard when their supplier of the wireless transmitter suddenly stopped fulfilling orders. The transmitter was a critical component, and they had thousands of units already produced and waiting for this part. With only a limited stock left, they needed a new transmitter design that would fit into their current system—and they needed it fast. The customer chose Henway because of our ability to handle the design and production of electronics both domestically in the USA and offshore. Since their final product was assembled offshore, they preferred to keep everything on that side of the globe, which made perfect sense from a logistical standpoint. We assured them that we could manage the entire process smoothly but emphasized the importance of following a specific order of operations to get the job done quickly and efficiently: Step One: First, we need to ensure that we can supply them with the new electronics for the per-piece price they need. We informed the customer that our expert design and manufacturing team can make accurate cost predictions early in development. Let's leverage this capability. Additionally, let's consider if there are any opportunities for improvements, such as adding new features or addressing any existing issues. Second Step: Make a prototype of the device and validate it. We'd take care of that and assemble the prototypes using our in-house PCB assembly services to squash the timeline. Third Step: Conduct a pilot production of at least 500 units in-house at our design and manufacturing headquarters in Ohio. We want to see this product in a production setting from start to finish, including testing procedures to create step-by-step guides and quality assurance checklists. Fourth Step: Transition to offshore manufacturing. Once confident, we shipped the production files, detailed how-to guides, samples, pictures, and the test setup hardware to our offshore contract manufacturer. We assisted them in procuring the supplies, answered all their questions, and instructed them to ship us the first article samples for our approval. ... Article got too long for LinkedIn. Read the rest at https://lnkd.in/ehcJxgjT and click on the latest post ??

When a lumberjack, product development manager, and CFO came to Henway Engineering, they had a critical mission: to enhance the safety of tree removal operations in heavy traffic areas. The company, a large national tree removal service company, was aware of the dangers involved in tree removal, particularly in densely populated urban environments where clearing trees near telephone lines and other infrastructure is a common task. The challenge was to find a better way to protect the crew and bystanders than the traditional use of traffic cones, which often go unnoticed by pedestrians, vehicles, animals, and, most recently, kids on bikes. The lumberjack at the meeting, who serves as the "spotter" or "safety spotter" during tree removal operations, shared stories of near-misses and accidents within drop zones that could have been avoided. He explained that his role is to monitor the surroundings and alert the crew when there's a breach in the safety zone, but the noisy environment—filled with the sounds of chainsaws, wood chippers, and the use of headphones —makes it difficult for the crew to hear verbal warnings, especially when they're in bucket trucks. When I was younger, I worked as a groundsman for a tree removal company from the ages of 8 to 18, so I understood everything this man was telling me and knew how to help. Part One: The Wearable Alarm Device (See yesterday's post) Part Two: Part 2: The Doppler Radar Sensor In the project's second phase, we created a custom Doppler motion sensor that can detect movement around the base of the removed tree, known as the drop zone. This area is where falling branches and logs can pose a safety risk. The sensor will immediately alert the crew and, most importantly, the chainsaw operator if anyone enters this hazardous area, allowing them to stop their work and prevent accidents. The sensors wrap around a tree like an adjustable Velcro belt for full 360-degree coverage. This custom-made Doppler's software and antenna is highly advanced. It can filter out small objects and objects moving away from the sensor. It can also differentiate between fast and slow-moving objects and objects at varying distances. After conducting many real-world experiments and tweaking the settings, our technology could successfully detect people and pets of various sizes within the designated area while effectively eliminating sources of excessive false positives. The customer is so pleased with the electronics' robustness and ease of use that they are exploring its application in new markets such as roofing and building restoration. We are looking forward to witnessing their success! This project is a perfect example of Henway Engineering's commitment to solving real-world safety challenges with innovative technology. We are moved by our customer's mission and inspired to create things that make a tangible difference in the safety of our workforce.

When a lumberjack, product development manager, and CFO came to Henway Engineering, they had a critical mission: to enhance the safety of tree removal operations in heavy traffic areas. The company, a large national tree removal service company, was aware of the dangers involved in tree removal, particularly in densely populated urban environments where clearing trees near telephone lines and other infrastructure is a common task. The challenge was to find a better way to protect the crew and bystanders than the traditional use of traffic cones, which often go unnoticed by pedestrians, vehicles, animals, and, most recently, kids on bikes. The lumberjack at the meeting, who serves as the "spotter" or "safety spotter" during tree removal operations, shared stories of near-misses and accidents within drop zones that could have been avoided. He explained that his role is to monitor the surroundings and alert the crew when there's a breach in the safety zone, but the noisy environment—filled with the sounds of chainsaws, wood chippers, and the use of headphones —makes it difficult for the crew to hear verbal warnings, especially when they're in bucket trucks. When I was younger, I worked as a groundsman for a tree removal company from the ages of 8 to 18, so I understood everything this man was telling me and knew how to help. Part One: The Wearable Alarm Device The wearable is designed to be worn comfortably by every crew member. If there's a breach in the area-wide protection zone, the wearable triggers an audible, visual, and vibratory alarm, alerting everyone to potential danger. It then falls to the spotter to assess the situation and clear the alarm once the threat has been managed. The breach signal can be triggered by a button on the wearable or by a custom-made motion sensor using Doppler radar, which is part 2 of this post. The wireless technology chosen for the system was Bluetooth 5.0, with mesh networking capabilities. The benefits of mesh networking in this product are twofold. First, mesh networking allows the customer to achieve the maximum possible range since the signal gets repeated by each wearable in the area, boosting the signal. Another, is to alleviate the crew member from the responsibility of connecting to a network without forgetting. With mesh networking, it's possible to program things such that the device automatically pairs when they roll up to the job site. The UI features high-brightness Cree LEDs on a metal core PCB for visibility alerts, a powerful vibrating motor, and a loud piezo buzzer to ensure the alert is noticed even in the noisiest environments. The wearable also includes a Qi-compliant wireless battery charging circuit and a custom-made USB cradle for charging. The membrane keypad, has large buttons with heavy-duty tactile feedback that the crew member can feel through the leather gloves. The wearable's battery can last for months under regular use. Part 2: The Doppler Radar Sensor (coming tomorrow)

A team of PhD scientists had developed a method to measure an odor emitted by cat and dog food, which correlated to the product's freshness. The odor caused a resistance change in a chemical sensor. They believed that putting one of these sensors in each food bag could eliminate the need for sell-by dates and significantly extend the product's shelf life. The scientists turned to Henway for a custom electronic solution. During our initial meetings, they presented data graphs showing the resistance changes over time and theoretical mathematical models, and we provided evidence that UHF RFID technology was their optimal path forward. We proposed using electronics that could harvest RF energy to power a microcontroller and the necessary auxiliary circuitry without batteries, saving size and cost. The proposed circuit is highly advanced, capable of handling analog-to-digital conversions and managing standard digital interfaces like SPI and I2C, from the energy it harvested from the RF field, without batteries. Our engineers have this to say about RF energy harvesting: "The key to maximizing the range from the UHF RFID interfaces is to optimize the power consumption of the electronics. By carefully managing the firmware, we can minimize core execution time by using interrupts instead of polling, leveraging peripheral features to reduce code execution, and maintaining efficient and clean code to avoid unnecessary power consumption. We also have to consider the trade-off between sample rate and range—higher sample rates would increase power consumption and reduce range. Balancing these factors was crucial during the system design stage." Once the customer approved our approach, we moved into the design phase and created a prototype. In the end, we achieved an impressive 4 meters of range using the EPC interface, with a sample rate of one measurement per second. We could also measure hundreds of bags nearly simultaneously simply by bringing them within range of the UHF transmitter. The customer was extremely satisfied with the results, which validated their concept and set the stage for further development. This project highlights Henway Engineering's ability to tackle highly specialized and complex challenges, turning innovative ideas into practical, tangible solutions. Whether you're a research team or a commercial enterprise, Henway has the expertise to bring your most ambitious projects to life, from initial research through to final production.

A professional photographer with an e-commerce side hustle and experience in launching new products approached Henway Engineering with a unique challenge: he wanted to develop a high-end electronic camera leveling system that would eliminate the need to manually adjust tripod legs—a must-have tool for fellow professional photographers. However, the client had no prior experience in electronics and couldn't necessarily provide specific written instructions for the design. No problem! We're used to helping this way and were prepared to guide him through the process. During the initial design phase, we held several in-depth discussions to understand their vision and the specific needs of professional photographers. We learned that the LED level indicators had to be visible even when the unit was mounted high on a tripod. The system needed to function in six different orientations, be powered by a single A23 battery, and offer adjustable brightness for use in various lighting conditions—whether shooting at night, indoors, or outdoors. Additionally, it was important for the system to be user-friendly, allowing for easy calibration with just a single touch. It must also be convenient for in-line production testing. Henway guided this customer throughout the design process, advising on the pros and cons of different design decisions and helping the customer navigate the complexities of electronics design. The result was a highly functional, easy-to-use camera leveling system that has since become the client's best-selling product. The PCB pictured below is a system that includes accelerometers for leveling, PWM LED drivers for adjustable brightness, DC/DC converters, a microprocessor for control, and buttons for user/factory interaction. This project is a testament to Henway Engineering's ability to collaborate with clients from all backgrounds, even those without prior electronics experience, and bring their ideas to life in the form of a successful, market-ready product. Whether you're a seasoned professional or new to electronics, Henway is here to guide you through the process and deliver a product that exceeds your expectations.