Resources: Manufacturing/Test EngineeringResources such as good Manufacturing/Test Engineer can be worth their weight in gold if they live and breathe such things like DFM/DFT (Design for manufacturability/testability), Continuous Process Improvement, Lean Manufacturing, NPI (New Product Introduction) and Cost Reduction. They can work with Design Engineering to make sure that the product is manufacturable, testable and reasonable in cost before you go to full-scale production. It is much easier and less costly to adjust your products early on in the design phase when dealing with just about any type of product or device.
A good ME/TE will challenge the engineers on most aspects of the design to ensure that the best possible manufacturing solution is utilized. This solution will typically include quality, reliability, manufacturability, cost and serviceability. An example of this would be if an engineer could use a ceramic capacitor instead of a tantalum capacitor in the circuit. With all else being equal, cost and availability could be the driver in this example as the ceramic capacitor is less costly and usually more readily available than a tantalum.
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