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Case Study

Bridging Product Design and Production for a Complex Electromechanical System

When a growth-stage technology company set out to commercialize a new electromechanical product, the technical ambition was clear. The path to production was not.

The product combined precision mechanics, custom electronics, embedded firmware, and demanding performance requirements. Early prototypes demonstrated promise, but the design had not yet been proven in a manufacturing context. Key questions remained around reliability, testability, and how the system would scale beyond low-volume builds.

The company engaged Andrews Cooper to help bridge the gap between early development and production readiness.

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The Challenge

The client faced several interconnected challenges common to first-of-their-kind products:

Core system architecture had not been validated under real operating conditions

Design decisions optimized for prototypes introduced risk for manufacturing and test

Internal teams were stretched and lacked dedicated manufacturing and test engineering support

Timelines required progress toward production without a full redesign cycle

The risk was not just technical failure, but delay. Without a clear path to manufacturable design, the product could stall before reaching market.

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The Approach

Andrews Cooper partnered closely with the client’s engineering team, working across mechanical, electrical, firmware, test, and manufacturing disciplines from the outset.

The engagement focused on three priorities:

Clarifying system-level risks

Engineers evaluated the existing design to identify where performance, reliability, and manufacturing constraints were in tension. Trade studies and targeted testing helped surface issues early.

Designing for validation and scale

Mechanical and electrical designs were refined with testability and manufacturability in mind. Firmware and controls were adjusted to support diagnostics, data capture, and verification.

Bridging development and production

Andrews Cooper supported early, low-volume manufacturing in-house to validate processes, fixtures, and test strategies before transitioning to a contract manufacturer.

This approach allowed design changes to be informed by real production data, not assumptions.

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Execution

The team delivered an integrated solution that included:

Updated system architecture aligned with production constraints

Custom test fixtures and automated test procedures to support verification and early manufacturing

Refinements to mechanical assemblies to improve repeatability and yield

Firmware updates to support system diagnostics and long-term maintainability

Hands-on support through early builds and production ramp

By working through early manufacturing internally, the team was able to identify and resolve issues that would have been costly to discover later at scale.

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The Outcome

The product progressed from prototype to production-ready design with a clear path forward.

Technical risks were reduced before committing to high-volume manufacturing

Verification and validation activities were aligned with production realities

The transition to a contract manufacturer was smoother and faster

The client gained confidence in both product performance and manufacturability

Just as importantly, the client’s internal team retained ownership and insight into the system, supported by documentation and test infrastructure that would scale with the product.

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Why It Worked

The success of the engagement came down to integration and timing.

Rather than treating product development, test, and manufacturing as separate phases, Andrews Cooper approached them as interconnected problems to be solved together. This systems-level approach allowed decisions made early in development to hold up under validation and production pressures.

Markus Schneider

Company

“Andrews Cooper didn’t just execute — they became an extension of our team and helped us solve problems we couldn’t tackle alone.”

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Moving Forward

With a production-ready design and validated manufacturing approach, the client was positioned to scale with confidence.

For Andrews Cooper, the project reflected a familiar pattern: helping teams move through uncertainty by grounding design decisions in real-world constraints and execution.

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