Handling Tough Deadlines in New Hardware Product Development

Plugging the title of this article into a search engine will yield countless tips on task management, communication, and building Gantt charts. While our teams are well-versed in these areas, this article focuses on lesser-known strategies we've learned from managing tight deadlines.

Setting Boundaries with Clients

At the start of any project, aligning on goals, deliverables, and acceptance criteria is crucial. In our experience, it's equally important to establish what we won't do. Clearly outlining what's out of scope helps us and our clients manage expectations and prevent scope creep. This often sparks productive discussions that help refine project boundaries and streamline the process.

By explicitly eliminating certain tasks or requirements, we can maintain focus and avoid falling into the trap of Parkinson's Law, where work expands to fill the time available.

The Value of Strategic Planning

Before taking action, particularly when faced with unforeseen events or major project milestones, it’s essential to carefully evaluate the potential consequences of your decisions. Documenting and visualizing possible outcomes helps the whole team—beyond just the client—understand the broader implications.

Take, for example, a scenario in which you’re developing a test bench under a tight deadline. The client, concerned about reliability, approves a structural design based on a welded steel frame that promises the necessary rigidity. However, as production nears completion, you discover that the size and weight of the final product make it impossible to ship quickly. Air transport is out of the question, and sea or rail freight would take weeks, meaning the deadline can't be met.

Though this is an exaggerated example, it illustrates the need for careful planning at every stage of a project. By anticipating potential bottlenecks and proactively finding solutions, you can prevent costly delays.

Packaging and Shipping: Not an Afterthought

Imagine spending months crafting a perfect prototype, only for it to arrive damaged at the client’s location due to poor shipping preparation. This could derail an important investor meeting or leave your exhibit booth empty at a key trade show. That’s why packaging and shipping must be integral parts of your project plan.

Packaging can also affect design decisions. Adding a mere 100mm to a component’s height could shift delivery from a three-day airfreight to a two-week sea shipment. Compliance with regulations, such as phytosanitary certification, and complex customs procedures are other factors that can delay deliveries. Simply paying more won't always speed things up.

Leveraging Off-the-Shelf Components

When developing complex products that can be broken down into subsystems, consider using off-the-shelf components instead of custom-built solutions. This approach allows your team to focus on innovation while reducing risks during prototyping.

For instance, if you’re designing an automated system that requires a vacuum function, instead of designing an entire vacuum subsystem, you could integrate a commercial vacuum cleaner. This provides you with a reliable and cost-effective solution that will allow you to concentrate on the more novel aspects of your product.

Material and Component Procurement

In most cases, manufacturing only starts once the design is finalized and marked “Ready for Production.” The manufacturing engineer reviews the plans, orders materials, and resolves any issues. However, time is often of the essence, and lead times for materials can make or break a project deadline. To mitigate this, we recommend early analysis of special materials, immediate procurement of known components, and buffering critical stock where necessary.

By initiating inquiries early and working closely with procurement, you can significantly reduce lead times, giving your project a better chance of success.

Design-Manufacturing Collaboration

Early collaboration between design and manufacturing teams is key to optimizing the production process. While these discussions can be intense, they often lead to solutions that reduce manufacturing time or simplify the design.

For example, you might decide that switching from a steel to an aluminum enclosure could save valuable machining time. Or, you could find that breaking a large part into smaller components allows simultaneous production, eliminating the need for outsourcing.

The Designer as the Assembler

The transition from design to manufacturing is often a major bottleneck. One way we mitigate this is by involving the designer in the assembly process. Instead of merely passing designs to a separate team, our engineers assemble prototypes themselves, making immediate adjustments where necessary.

This hands-on approach reduces delays and improves communication between design and manufacturing. By understanding the challenges of assembly firsthand, engineers can refine their designs and ensure smoother transitions from prototype to product.

Conclusion

Tight deadlines require unconventional approaches: set boundaries, plan strategically, use off-the-shelf components, and prioritize collaboration. Delivering on time often outweighs perfect documentation, which can be refined later.