Network Engineers Group

What is OEM? Designing and manufacturing electronics hardware products has evolved into two camps. One camp is the OEM. The other is comprised of contract electronics solutions providers, who often subcontract with each other for the same OEM customer or program. Details below on differences between these firms plus, why you must know, especially if you are looking to reduce or manage your EMS sourcing spends. OEM – Original equipment manufacturer The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is the brand owner, the company whose logo displays on the final product. Think Cisco, Dell, Samsung, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, Apple … For example. Apple’s iPhone has the Apple logo clearly visible to users. Apple is the OEM. Apple designs its products, but Apple outsources the majority of iPhone manufacturing production to contract electronics solutions providers. Both EMS and ODM. Apple does this to leverage cost to scale. It's cheaper for OEMs to pay another company (solutions provid...

F&I and point of sale exemption: Is the Point of Sale Finance Exemption available to an Agency dealer vehicle sale? Under the NCCP regulations, “It only applies where the introducer deals directly with the credit provider/lessor and facilitates finance of the vendor’s products or services.” But the vehicle is sold by the Agency is NOT the vendor’s product. Therefore, the dealer will need to align with a broker and work under their ACL or get an ACL themselves. Another alternative is for the OEM’s captive finance company to employ the F&I staff at the dealer and work under their ACL. Importantly, if the customer is financing the purchase online with the OEM captive finance or the F&I staff are employed by the captive, why would the dealer get a commission at all? Showrooms: Unintended consequences will occur for the dealership footprint given showroom traffic will fall by 50 percent as intra-brand shopping vanishes and the time in showrooms should drop by 50 ...

The Missing Link of Partnerships The metrology interoperability gap is closing, but there are still many companies and users stuck in the digital divide, trying to connect the dots. CAD/CAM/CAE has been a collective term and reality for years. The critical missing link that maintains digital continuity and the all-important digital thread is computer-aided inspection. Once you’ve added CAI to your digital workflow, you’re at the doorstep of true model-based definition, which starts with an intelligent 3D CAD model and extends to reverse engineering, automated inspection, and reporting, assembly guidance, product lifecycle management (PLM), statistical process control (SPC) and more. The digital thread concept is big, Olson pointed out and can be overwhelming for some OEMs and job shops to get their arms around. Implementation begins with a commitment to intelligent CAD models and maintaining digital continuity, after which they might tackle model-based measurement for reverse engineeri...

Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADN) (“Advent”), an innovation-driven company in the fuel cell and hydrogen technology space, today announced that it has acquired UltraCell LLC (“UltraCell”), the fuel cell division of Bren-Tronics, Inc. (“Bren-Tronics”). The acquisition closed on February 18, 2021. UltraCell is a leader in lightweight fuel cells for the portable power market with mature products and cutting-edge technology. The portable battery chargers produced by UltraCell are the only NATO-approved fuel cell products Made in the USA (and one of the only two across NATO), with units already deployed in the field by military and security agencies. Three additional NATO allies are currently testing UltraCell systems. UltraCell’s fuel cell products have also been recognized and presented in multiple global NATO events. UltraCell’s technology can use hydrogen or liquid fuels to deliver reliable power at a fraction of the weight of batteries. An UltraCell system is 3x-25x ligh...

MAINTAINING YOUR WARRANTY Automakers tend to be fairly strict about how a vehicle needs to be treated and maintained for warranty coverage to apply. This way, the manufacturer protects itself from issues it has no control over and shouldn’t have to pay for. If a vehicle owner drastically modifies the vehicle, for example, such modifications may not be covered if something directly related goes wrong. The good news is, most modifications won’t completely void the warranty outright. The automaker will likely just deny coverage for the specific issue. Some manufacturers also expect or recommend a specific maintenance schedule. Sticking to this schedule will keep the vehicle in the condition necessary to use the factory warranty without worrying about any coverage denials. Keep in mind, the maintenance will most likely need to be done by a dealership or approved auto garage so the automaker knows the work is done right and with OEM parts . ROUTINE MAINTENANCE COSTS The major le...

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, OEMs have been challenged to provide solutions from design adaptions through to completely new machines. Particularly in the medical field, many of these machines rely on high accuracy, meaning high demand on servo system design. In addition to providing a precision motion control capability, reliance on holistic engineering partnerships have been brought to the fore. Gerard Bush, INMOCO, explains the need for a collaborative approach in motion control development. The Covid-19 crisis has increased demand across a wide variety of medical sectors, not least imaging and diagnostics. As a result, CT (computerised tomography) scanners, used in the diagnosis of conditions impacting the lungs and circulatory system, among other organs and biological processes, have been heavily relied on. As a result, the motion system on which CT scanners are based, being integral to provide control accuracy, have also faced a strong requirement. A CT scanner generat...

Here are  Software Development Team Roles and Responsibilities PROJECT MANAGER Works on a higher level of abstraction and is responsible for budget, risk, schedule, and contract management. It’s highly possible that project managers don’t well-know the product which they are creating. They use different methodologies and are focused mainly on controlling the project. A PM will ensure that there will be no changes incompatible with specifications. PRODUCT OWNER Such a person is close to that of an analyst and concentrates on a product and its features. Their primary role is to take care of business value maximization (suitability of the product to use). Product owners are focused on constant changes because they are using agile methodology. TEAM LEAD Typically, such a role is given to one of the developers, not necessarily the best or most experienced. This person should have leadership qualities that allow for maintaining communication between remote development teams...