Design stage projects are characterized by an ongoing product design process. Not only the aesthetic design is still a work-in-progress, but product requirements may also not be clear. 

You have looks-like/works-like prototypes already? Welcome to the next stage in your NPI journey. Prototypes are useful for validating the solution your hardware product aims to provide. They can also be used for helping your audience understand your solutions better. But in order to validate the manufacturability of your product, you need to run a small batch and see how your parts and assembly procedures perform.

Pilot Runs are molded, not 3-printed, small production batches of your product of 200-500 units. The goal of the pilot run is to stabilize the manufacturing processes, figure out where quality issues tend to occur and organize a Quality Control approach to combat them. Your supply chain is also optimized for parts availability, faster lead times and cost stability.

Once you know you will achieve a considerable amount of demand from your preorders or through great initial feedback, you should start investing in longer-term manufacturing tools and processes. Our Ramp Up services remove the upper limits associated with Pilot Run production, and give you much more flexibility when it comes to handling surges in demand.

With high volume production, lead times and production yields are consistent and parts tend to cost less. NexPCB's supply chain is hedged against global supply shocks due to our multisourcing strategy, so that parts are always available from multiple sources at all times. With volume production, you can also unlock a variety of shipping and storage options.