DESIGN NETWORK ASSOCIATES, INC.
DESIGN SERVICES
| CAPABILITIES AND EXPERIENCE | FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
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Employers/Clients
Electronics Design
Mechanical Design
Optical Design
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Who is DNA, Inc? DNA, Inc. is a group of designers and mechanical engineers who collaborate on various product-development programs. Some of us specialize in PCB design, others in mechanisms, enclosures and optics. We also have affiliations with other design consultants who offer circuit design services and software engineering.
What are your services and tools?
In brief, we handle the following...
Netlists can be imported from most schematic capture tools. 3D Solid models can be imported from (or released to) UG, Pro/E, SDRC and others.
Please refer to the sidebar for a more complete listing of our capabilities.
What are your rates? For PC board and 2D mechanical layout work we quote an hourly rate of $50/hr. The hourly rate for mechanical engineering services such as instrument design is $100/hr. Fixed-price quotes depend upon how well the project itself is defined. A complete design package will result in a lower quote than a concept that is still evolving. We may even "no-quote" if we feel that the design package is too incomplete.
How complete does the "design package" need to be? For you to receive the greatest benefit in a fixed-price contract (on-time delivery), we must have the following elements of the design requirements package fully defined before detailed design can begin... For PCB Designs: The design package must include spec drawings of all parts, marked up where needed to indicate which parts are being used (some specs show a variety of footprints). There must be physical samples of all but the most common part footprints. There needs to be an OrCAD 9.x schematic database or PadsPowerPCB netlist. The board outline must be defined and available as a DXF file. Keepouts must be defined, and a comprehensive manufacturing DFM document supplied defining issues such as fiducials and break-away rails. Also, your documetation standards must be provided along with any requirements for layering or part naming conventions. On an hourly basis, we can help pull all the pieces together prior to PCB layout. For Mechanical and Optical Designs: The mechanical design package must contain all physical constraints, environment conditions, drop test requirments, weight limits, noise limits, thermal issues, and so on -- all fully defined. Mechanisms must also be specified according to throughput, maximum power consumption and interface to control systems. Optical designs must define performance, alignment tolerances, and preferred materials. Just as with PCB Design, we can help define a mechanical or optical design spec on an hourly basis prior to starting the detailed design. In addition to the package itself... The project must have a fixed schedule where both the client and DNA, Inc. are responsible to hit the milestones. DNA, Inc. will do what ever it takes to hit our own targets on time, and we will do whatever we can to reasonably absorb delays caused by others. But, as is spelled out in all of our contracts, we can not "eat" cost over-runs and delays which are beyond our control and impact our own deliverables.
Can you work on-site? We work were it makes the most sense. Usually this means working on-site to brain-storm and discuss ideas, and working off-site to develop the actual detailed designs. Typically we're on-site at least a few days a week.
You don't seem like a typical service bureau... Because we're not. We are consultants in the truest sense, which means that we understand the business of how products need to be designed to make money. We have collectively developed more than $3 billion in commercial products, so we understand the big picture..
For more information, contact:
Kenneth R. Ramsley
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Address questions to DNA_faqs@edanet.com
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