Quick-Turn Graphic Overlay Solutions for Product Development
Challenge
When bringing any new product to market, companies will inevitably face challenges in terms of design issues, costs, and program schedules. This is especially true when it comes to designing high-end test equipment that will be on laboratory-grade measurement electronics. Since these devices can cost tens of thousands of dollars each, with research and development spanning years, it’s clear that there is a significant amount of planning that goes into bringing each one of these products to life.
But with all this focus on planning, things still inevitably change, and program objectives will shift. One week the focus will be on laying out a complex PCBA, and the next week, it’s trying to color-match a custom logo. Having a diverse and highly responsive vendor base helps today’s OEMs survive the constant ebb and flow known as new product introduction.
An existing Epec customer was working on a new membrane switch design that would be used on the front panel of a yet-to-be-released piece of test equipment. The membrane switch project was already in motion and weeks earlier had been reviewed by Epec Product Management. At this point, the project had been quoted, a purchase order had been issued to Epec for the corresponding scope of work, and the circuit layout had already started for the membrane switch. This design was on the complex side of things and the backlighting scheme required over 25 LEDs to backlight the two dozen dome switches. This means the circuit design and approval cycle would take several iterations before the design could be frozen.
Epec was going through the detailed design of the membrane switch with the customer when it became apparent that the time to finalize the membrane switch, plus the time to manufacture and ship the new membrane switch would be too long for an upcoming end-customer demonstration. The customer made it clear that they needed a few membrane switches in less than a week.
During a conference call, Epec reviewed the specific details of the request to make a membrane switch in less than a week. Soon it became clear that this need was driven by a prototype demonstration that would be led by our customer’s marketing department. Gaining stakeholder feedback for the cosmetics, colors, look, and feel of a front panel is among the most important steps in any new human-machine interface project. The entire program was now at risk, and we needed to find a solution.
Solution
The customer needed some sort of graphic overlay to make the prototype look legitimate and our customer’s engineers were getting desperate. Since they didn’t actually need the buttons or LEDs to work at this point, our customer had considered printing these on an ordinary office laser printer and then laminating them with a transparent film.
Once it was clear that the customer didn’t need buttons or LEDs to function, Epec recommended that the team consider an ordinary graphic overlay. The challenge with most graphic overlays is that they are typically screen printed and cut out with steel ruled cutting die- both of which can take days or weeks to tool up.
While not a fit for all projects, Epec suggested that we could use our quick turn overlay process where we can digitally print a few pieces in less than one week for a small fixed-price NRE fee. These quick turn overlays are production-worthy and made of the same hard-coated polycarbonate films, have the same transparent windows, and can be laminated with a rear pressure-sensitive adhesive just like production-grade overlays.
Epec requested that the customer supply the final graphics and dimensions in a vectorized artwork file format. Once Epec received the .AI file, we were able to quote this as a quick turn, and within 24 hours Epec had a purchase order from the customer and was moving forward.
Epec obtained written approval from the customer that all colors, dimensions, and the entire build would be the best effort. To further expedite the overall timeline, these Quick Turn Overlays would not go through the typical production inspection process, and these would be simply visually inspected before shipment.
Result
Epec proceeded with the build and was able to produce the quick turn overlays for the customer and ship within the requested timeline of one week. The overlays were built using a stock hard-coated polycarbonate film and were laminated with a 3M467 rear adhesive. The digital print process allowed Epec to directly transfer the vectorized artwork from the file to the physical part. A special step in our digital printing process scored the perimeter of the overlay allowing for our technicians to cleanly remove from the parent sheet of material.
Epec overnight shipped the overlays to the customer, and they were received ahead of schedule. The production-worthy overlays were built and shipped in just a few days, allowing our customers to meet their commitments and position themselves for success in the future.
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With our quick-turn graphic overlay solutions, we can help you get your product to market faster, while keeping your costs low.
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