Custom Electronic Engineering
When no off-the-shelf product solves the problem — requirements, schematic, board, enclosure, firmware and a prototype you can put in front of the people who have to use it.
Custom electronics are worth building when the alternative is bending a commercial product into a shape it was never meant to hold. The risk is that a one-off becomes an orphan nobody can service. We manage that by designing for manufacturability and serviceability from the start, documenting the design so it can be built by someone else, and being candid when a standard product would genuinely be the better answer.
What the scope covers
Requirements and feasibility
Functional requirements, environment, power, interfaces and regulatory path defined before design starts, because those constraints determine most of the architecture.
Schematic and PCB design
Schematic capture, layout with attention to signal integrity, power distribution and thermal, and a stackup appropriate to the speeds involved.
Prototyping and iteration
Working hardware early. Bring-up, test fixtures, and revisions driven by measurement rather than assumption.
Control panels and integration
Industrial control assemblies built to a listed panel standard, with the field wiring, enclosure rating and disconnect coordination handled as part of the design.
How the work actually runs
Definition
A written specification with acceptance criteria. Ambiguity here is the most expensive defect in the whole process, because it is not discovered until hardware exists.
Architecture and component selection
Parts chosen for availability and lifecycle as much as specification. A perfect component on a two-year lead time is not a component.
Design and layout
Schematic, layout, mechanical fit and thermal check, followed by a design review against the specification before anything is fabricated.
Prototype and test
Assembly, bring-up, functional test against the acceptance criteria, and environmental checks where the application demands it.
Compliance and handover
Pre-compliance testing for emissions where the product requires it, then a documentation package: schematics, bill of materials, fabrication and assembly files, test procedure and source.
Standards & Compliance
- IPC-2221 — generic printed board design
- IPC-A-610 — acceptability of electronic assemblies
- UL 508A — industrial control panels, where applicable
- FCC Part 15 — unintentional and intentional radiator emissions
- NEC and NFPA 79 for installed industrial equipment
Code editions are revised periodically and local authorities amend them. The requirements that apply to your project are confirmed against your jurisdiction during design.
What You Receive
- Requirements specification with acceptance criteria
- Schematics, layout and full fabrication and assembly package
- Bill of materials with sourcing and lifecycle notes
- Test procedure, results and as-built documentation
Is custom hardware the right answer for us?
Often it is not, and we will say so. Custom is justified when the requirement is genuinely unserved, the volume supports it, or integration constraints make a commercial product unworkable.
Who owns the design?
You do. The deliverable includes the files needed to have it built by someone else. A design you cannot take elsewhere is a liability.
What about certification?
The path depends on the product and market. We identify it during definition and do pre-compliance work in-process, because finding an emissions problem at the accredited lab is the expensive version.
Talk to an engineer about electronic engineering.
Tell us the building, the constraints and the deadline. We will tell you what the work actually involves before anyone quotes a number.