I have experience doing DFM. Board shops do some DFM. I think a CM like the former WMD would do more BOM consolidation with respect to jacks and pots. Domain specific knowledge regarding compatibility, popular features, user interface, use and abuse statistics. I think there is a lot of value add that I could get that goes beyond the typical DFM. A lot like having a business partner to codesign modules. That is a very attractive proposition to me. I paid for Paul T.S. Patreon classes for euro rack manufacturing years ago. But he want dark for the first year I was paying him before I dropped out. I'm not new but I'm not super experienced or successful either.I tried a couple different non-eurorack specific Contract Manufacturers in California and had problems with all of them. One had quality issues and was slow, and the other had great quality but poor communication and made a major mistake on the PM MKII prototype run that set me back four months. So, I'm having PCBA made overseas by PCBWay (they've done our bare boards since 2015 when we did our own assembly); the quality and communication are excellent. And WMD is doing final assembly, testing, and calibration in house here in Denver to ensure quality is top tier, same as it's ever been. Tariffs might fuck me going forward, but it's better than getting shit communication and/or quality just for a "made in usa" stamp; I tried, and the world changed.The big question for me is who do I use as a contract manufacturer? where in California are WMD modules being made? Is there a CM who specifically does eurorack and DFM for eurorack or did they go with a more general PCBA boxed product manufacturer? I can find my own CM that has no specific knowledge of eurorack but that is exactly the problem with that strategy. you have to teach them everything and write detailed SOP's that can survive translation to Chinese.
Industry people where you at? if not in public can I get a private message?
Honestly, since having done my own manufacturing for years, it's a lot easier for me to control more of the process, do my own DFM, so I don't need the expertise of a euro-specific CM. If you're just starting out, i'd recommend it though. there are a lot of unknown unknowns you'll have at the beginning. Definitely do your own testing and QC for a while until you have full faith in the companies you work with. I'd be happy to do DFM review if you need that service, but I'm not offering actual manufacturing services any longer. Definitely make detailed procedures, they don't need to translate to Chinese unless your product is badly designed and difficult to assemble.
I have not tried using Electrosmith / Electro-Distro.
Statistics: Posted by EATyourGUITAR — Sat Jan 11, 2025 6:08 pm