Companies that resell other people’s products think that selling is the hardest part of any business… they should try making what they sell.
You research it, design it, solve the specs and — let’s not forget — get it certified. Then you find suppliers you can trust, make it with good quality, stay flexible and keep costs down, react to changes in demand, in the supply chain and in the specs, and fix the thousand small problems that keep coming up — all without the end customer noticing a thing. Manufacturing can look more like magic than engineering.
So how do you keep your product current and competitive 30 years after the first unit left your factory? Many things play a part — and having a key-parts supplier who is more a partner than just a vendor is a huge help.
We have put together a short case study: a story we think you will enjoy, that will give you ideas, and that will probably feel familiar in more than one way.
Download the one-page PDF (no form) →The situation
In 1990, one of our distributors needed a temperature control it could sell in the US to his manufacturing customers (one of them could be you), so they could keep using it for decades. The hard part was never the prototype. It was every unit and every run after it.
The five decisions, one per stage of the work
Plan for the whole life, not the launch Plan & Define
You feel it as: the spec covered launch day, not year 25.
KELD: US certification and 30-year supply were in the plan from 1990 — not added later.
Give the board two test layers Product Design
You feel it as: unit 1 works; unit 5,000 behaves differently and you cannot see why.
KELD: two test layers from day one — one common, one to check it under real load.
The advantage is in process, not a cheap line Process Design
You feel it as: the design was fine; the line was not, and the first batch showed it.
KELD: the strength is in process and layout — easy to build, easy to test, same result every unit.
Test under real loads before the first batch Validation
You feel it as: the test lab found the problem too late, after the line was running.
KELD: validation ran under real operating loads, so risks were visible before production — not after.
Manage the product for 30 years, not one launch Production & Life
You feel it as: a part is no longer made, or a standard changes — and you cannot ship.
KELD: when a part or a standard changed, it was managed before it could stop supply.
The result
None of this was luck. The 5 decisions are one method: Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP). KELD uses it from the first idea and keeps the product alive for its whole life — for electronics that must work for years, not just at launch.
An electronics design and manufacturing partner for manufacturers
KELD is an electronics design and manufacturing partner for manufacturers in HVAC, ventilation, motors, pumps and refrigeration. We apply APQP from the first idea and support the product across its whole life — so it keeps shipping through component changes and standard revisions. See how we work with manufacturers.
Built for the whole life of the product.
For electronics that must work for years, not just at launch. Tell us what your product has to keep doing, and for how long.
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