Case study

Challenge

• Our customer approached us as they had soft-launched a device to support peripheral neuropathy sufferers regain their independence and reduce their risk of falling.
• They were experiencing inconsistent motor quality and had an unacceptably high number of failures from their existing supplier. The leads on the motors were also prone to snapping.
• They decided they wanted to replace the current vibration motor with one from a more robust manufacturer and ideally a drop-in replacement.
• They were looking for a supplier that would be able to run detailed 100% quality checks on their motors prior to shipping.

Solution

• Our application engineering team worked with their in-house engineering team to review the issues they were experiencing and to come up with a practical solution.
• Our team suggested a similar vibration motor with a much longer lifetime. We also recommended an alternative slightly thicker wire set/leads that had a similar strength along with adding a connector and a sleeve to help prevent breakages.
• All the motor sets were quality tested ahead of being dispatched to our customer. Our customer then tested batches of motors ahead of installing them in the device.

Results

• Our engineering team successfully managed to resolve both of the issues as well as add value by recommending a further solution to help prevent the wires from breaking.
• The product has been relaunched into the market and has been well received by both medical professionals and end users.
• They have reported a marked reduction in the number of returned devices they are receiving and this has improved their brand reputation.
• They have asked us to support them with redesigning the device as they value our skills and knowledge.

STAGE 1

Designing for application

• Our customer needed a replacement motor with a longer lifetime and more robust wires as they were experiencing a larger than expected number of product failures.
• This was leading to them sending out replacement devices free of charge and having a negative impact on their brand reputation.
• We worked with our customer to diagnose the underlying cause of the motor failure issue.
• Through our discussions we also came up with a solution to resolve the wire snapping issue.

STAGE 2

Manufacturing and testing

• Our engineers recommended a solution that used a similar vibration motor with a longer lifetime and with slightly thicker connecting wires.
• We also suggested adding a connector to the motor and encasing it in a sleeve as a way of reducing the risk of wire breakage.
• They tested the samples we sent them to see if they would perform as needed and if this would resolve the issues they were experiencing.
• The devices were clinically re-tested to ensure they performed as expected.

STAGE 3

Results and relationship

• The device was relaunched and they have reported a sizeable reduction in the number of faulty devices being returned.
• Due to our solution being a drop-in replacement, the customer didn’t need to re-engineer any of the housing in the device so there was no downtime on their production line.
• Due to our engineering team being able to resolve their issues along with adding new connectors and a protective sleeve, they have decided they would like to partner with us for the device re-design.