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For the final two years, a number of industries have been severely impacted by a scarcity of digital elements. Regula, as world developer of identity-verification options and forensic gadgets, has been no exception. Nevertheless, since Regula supplies monetary establishments, the aviation sector and border controls all over the world with options to assist forestall id fraud and contribute to public safety, we couldn’t put our work on maintain.
So, how has Regula been in a position to stay operational throughout this disaster?
Because the individual accountable for all hardware-related features of the enterprise, I oversee the preliminary design, testing and last manufacturing mannequin. Our Regula ID verification options—forensic gear, doc studying and identification options—are employed at 80 borders. This achievement fills me with pleasure, but additionally entails important duty. Through the years, I’ve confronted a number of challenges which have taught me precious classes.
Takeaway #1: Do market analytics
On condition that our enterprise entails a variety of gadgets (round 30 totally different gadgets and a number of modifications thereof), some with hundreds of elements, we carefully monitor the {hardware} market.
As sure elements turned scarce and pricier, we acknowledged a development. Our stance has constantly been to take care of a enough inventory of components, enabling us to function easily and meet our purchasers’ deadlines. This method proved essential through the disaster as we have been in a position to preserve manufacturing going and discover various provide channels with out interruption.
Takeaway #2: Make room for versatile engineering
We initially believed the EMI chokes we required for our doc readers could be a easy and broadly accessible merchandise. However we then found that not solely had the worth of the chokes risen from 50 cents to $10-$11, nevertheless it was additionally extremely troublesome to buy sufficient of them to make ample readers.
Furthermore, the accessible choices have been incompatible with our printed circuit boards (PCBs) for the readers, necessitating a redesign. Even the smallest change within the PCB would lead to a series response of crucial modifications in manufacturing, testing, documentation updating, and so forth. Whereas the problem appeared important at first look, it was finally a problem with a viable resolution: a tool redesign.
Our market analysis confirmed that not each different participant available in the market had the identical alternatives as we did, since their {hardware} was constructed out of a number of pre-assembled modules that, in flip, contained a number of smaller elements from third-party suppliers—a few of which have been now not accessible as a result of pandemic.
This made us understand that our strategic choice to manage the event of all of the elements and modules for our gadgets as an alternative of utilizing bigger, pre-assembled modules was the precise transfer. Though this method takes extra time and assets to construct a product, it supplies us with nearly limitless flexibility to adapt to altering circumstances, corresponding to the present state of affairs.
Takeaway #3: Unification is useful
Final yr, we gained invaluable knowledge whereas making certain our gadgets have been stocked within the required portions: We frequently discovered ourselves with various elements in our gadgets that would have been unified.
As at all times, you will need to strike the precise stability. To efficiently navigate by means of the assorted challenges, corresponding to a chip-supply disaster and even shortages of different digital elements, you have to have the flexibility to vary your gadgets to switch elements that exit of inventory. Nevertheless, you have to additionally use this chance correctly, in order to not end up in a zoo of gadgets with drastically totally different contents on their PCBs.
As of at this time, I don’t suppose there’s a gadget in our product vary that we haven’t touched by way of redesign as a result of disaster. Because of this, we now have been in a position to supply all our merchandise to our clients and ship them inside an inexpensive timeframe, and a few of them have even been upgraded in design.
—Alex Lewanowicz is director of {hardware} engineering at Regula.
