Frequently Asked Questions

Although SMA is a leading manufacturing company, the first purchase order takes a long time because China’s system is not sound. China uses the metric system, and the materials in China are different. New designs need validation, prototyping, manufacturing process development and translation, which take a long time. You should keep your own backup stock.

SMA does not bear any liability for the parts. When customers receive the parts, they should inspect them and report any problems within 15 days. After 15 days, liability rests with the buyer.

Samples usually take 5–7 weeks if the sample parts can be shipped by air. The time for mass production depends on the size of the purchase order, the availability of raw materials and the shipping method. In most cases it takes 7–15 weeks.

If the term is FOB, U.S. seaport, SMA covers international freight charges, customs entry charges, customs duty, seaport warehouse and/or pallet charges, DAD, IT H/C, DOC, message/postage charges and the CFS fee. U.S. domestic freight must be paid by the customer.

To avoid demurrage fees, customers should arrange their own trucking company to pick up the freight as quickly as possible after receiving the delivery order from SMA’s Connecticut office or SMA’s logistics agent in New York. Port exam fees and U.S. port security check charges are also paid by the customer.

All purchase orders are executed in China and shipped by ocean from China, typically from the seaports of Shanghai and Shenzhen/Hong Kong.

Please be advised that all parts and products are produced in China, which is very different from ordering from a supplier next door. SMA is a leading company for customized products manufactured in China. After SMA’s Connecticut office or another sales office receives a purchase order, it goes through 150 processing steps. Over 100 SMA employees handle it directly or indirectly, including our:

• Marketing department
• Information center
• Financial department
• Production management in the U.S.
• Shanghai office
• Engineering group
• Raw material purchasing and sourcing division
• Tooling and setup group
• Plant manager’s office
• Plant quality check team
• Packaging division
• Warehouse handlers (U.S. and China)
• Chinese export and import specialists
• International shipping agents (New York and China)

In most cases, SMA/Shuimin AG provides samples for the customer’s quality inspection and function testing. SMA always encourages customers to carry out all the quality inspections and function tests they need, either at their own facility or at a certified laboratory, and then fax a copy to SMA’s Connecticut office.

After receiving the mass production goods, customers should carry out their quality inspection and report to SMA’s Connecticut office within 30 days.

If your company has efficiency and innovation problems, should you set up your own subsidiary or contract with a manufacturing specialist? A subsidiary may cost the head office more than hiring a large outside outsourcing partner that spreads overhead across many customers.

Yes. SA8000 is an auditable certification standard based on international workplace norms from International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The standard is available for download in various languages. A summary of its elements follows:

1. Child labor: No workers under the age of 15; minimum lowered to 14 for countries operating under the ILO Convention 138 developing-country exception; remediation of any child found to be working.
2. Forced labor: No forced labor, including prison or debt bondage labor; no lodging of deposits or identity papers by employers or outside recruiters.
3. Health and safety: Provide a safe and healthy work environment; take steps to prevent injuries; regular health and safety worker training; a system to detect threats to health and safety; access to bathrooms and potable water.
4. Freedom of association and right to collective bargaining: Respect the right to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively; where law prohibits these freedoms, facilitate parallel means of association and bargaining.
5. Discrimination: No discrimination based on race, caste, origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union or political affiliation, or age; no sexual harassment.
6. Discipline: No corporal punishment, mental or physical coercion or verbal abuse.
7. Working hours: Comply with the applicable law but, in any event, no more than 48 hours per week with at least one day off in every seven-day period; voluntary overtime paid at a premium rate and not to exceed 12 hours per week on a regular basis; overtime may be mandatory if part of a collective bargaining agreement.
8. Compensation: Wages paid for a standard work week must meet the legal and industry standards and be sufficient to meet the basic needs of workers and their families; no disciplinary deductions.
9. Management systems: Facilities seeking to gain and maintain certification must go beyond simple compliance to integrate the standard into their management systems and practices.

From simple enclosure designs to complex electro-mechanical systems, our mechanical engineers use industry-standard tools (SolidWorks®, Pro/ENGINEER®, AutoCAD®, FLOTHERM®, etc.) to create product designs. This development work includes:

• Concept development
• Enclosure design and analysis
• EMC/EMI design
• Thermal design challenges/thermal modeling
• Solid/surface modeling
• Prototype development
• Mechanism development
• Sheet metal
• Injection-molded plastics
• Machine-cast parts

From concept to manufacturing and everything in between, SMA Product Development has the tools, resources and expertise to develop turnkey products or to expertly fill in the gaps where you need additional support. SMA Product Development’s expert developers will implement your solution in the way that best meets your project priorities. We have the experience to handle full turnkey product development or any phase in between.

SMA/Shuimin AG uses a requirements-driven approach to product development. Our senior systems, quality and regulatory experts determine and tag product requirements up front. This allows us to trace all requirements through testing, resulting in a quality product, predictable development costs and “no-surprises” design delivery. Your medical, transportation and other mission-critical applications are always safe with SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development and Manufacturing.

SMA/Shuimin AG can identify, design to meet and test the requirements of all major mechanical and electrical performance and safety standards. For instance, we consult with our customers or their agency (UL, CSA) representatives early in the product development process to guarantee expedient approval.

SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development provides a broad range of electronics development services. Using tools like Protel™, OrCAD®, PADS® and others, we produce innovative, priority-focused analog, digital, RF and complex power supply designs. Manufacturability, serviceability, development cost, power consumption, size, final cost of goods (COGs) and other factors are all prioritized, driving factors in our designs. SMA/Shuimin AG recognizes that every product is different, and we have the capabilities to handle any challenge.

Analog devices and products

SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development employs electronics design specialists in signal acquisition and instrumentation to design all types of filters/analog signal processing, instrumentation and isolation, motor and solenoid control, and feedback control systems. Some examples of analog instrumentation solutions include:

• Precision physiological light measurement systems requiring 140 dB of dynamic range
• Direct-to-digital diagnostic ECG amplifier allowing significant product size reduction
• Microvolt signal measurement through unshielded cabling in industrial conditions
• High-pot instrumentation for production insulation testing to > 1000 KMeg ohms
• Feedback control system for stabilizing RMS cathode current in an x-ray tube during exposure
• Low-cost capacitive proximity and motion sensors for medical applications
• Low-cost medical pressure measurement system replacing an expensive multi-transducer system
• Micropower, mixed-signal data collection system operating for months on a lithium coin-cell battery

Digital devices and products

SMA/Shuimin AG designs digital systems ranging from single-chip, low-cost, 8-bit solutions to complex, multi-processor, 32-bit products. This experience, combined with analog instrumentation, DSP, RF and software expertise, allows us to consolidate traditionally non-digital functions within our digital designs. This experience and expertise, combined with a consistently innovative approach, allows us to minimize component and assembly costs, product size and power consumption, as well as provide unparalleled design flexibility.

Today’s products rarely operate in isolation. SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development can design system components based on AT, PC/104, PC/104-Plus, PCI, VXI and other buses, and inter-device communication through USB, IrDA, Ethernet, RFID, RS-485, RS-232, and proprietary parallel and serial interfaces. Recent projects have used ARM, AVR, MSP430, PIC, 8051, HC11, Dragonball™ and x86 (Geode™, Élan™) processors. High-speed, time-critical functionality has been implemented using Xilinx® CPLD devices and VHDL (developed, of course, under the same quality-centric processes used in our traditional embedded software/firmware development).

RF devices and products

RF (radio frequency) design capabilities include communication transceivers, spread-spectrum and frequency-hopping systems, high-power transmitters, indirect and direct synthesizers, and antennas. Project applications include RF system design and planning, specifications, link analyses, and high-performance data and telemetry links. We can design custom solutions for high-volume or proprietary requirements, or use off-the-shelf solutions to minimize design and agency approval costs.

“Elusive” is the word many use when asked about predictability in software development. The pitfalls in process, tool reliability, design-for-reuse, and conflicting or continuously changing requirements are a daunting challenge. At SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development, we’ve built a custom software design and development process and assembled the software expertise needed to guarantee quality software deliverables. From embedded software/firmware and VHDL to PC-based, client/server and web-based software applications, we continually deliver “Innovation with Certainty!”

Embedded software/firmware application design

Our embedded software engineers are experienced in all aspects of embedded software/firmware development, from the simple (micro-power 8-bit designs using Assembly and ANSI C) to the complex (30+ MIPS, ARM, DSP and x86-based multiprocessor systems using off-the-shelf or custom RTOS). Our embedded software designs focus on quality, safety and maintainability, while our architectures leverage reuse wherever possible. SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development’s embedded software design teams deliver software solutions that focus on the particular needs of your project.

The question we’re so often asked is “How do you predictably design such complex solutions when most projects are late and over budget?” The answer lies in our process: it’s simple and effective. It starts with detailed planning for the specific requirements of your product and ends with a cleanly assembled and audited design history file delivered on time and within budget.

PC-based software application design

At SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development, we place an intense focus on the specific needs of your product to deliver a flexible, high-performance solution that will easily grow with it. Using Visual Basic®, Visual C++®, Java™ or the .NET™ platform, we expertly tailor your software application to fit your unique product, avoiding the inefficiency of the “one-size-fits-all” solutions common in today’s market.

How do we do it? SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development uses customer-specific design and the most current technologies, while paying extra attention to usability, accessibility, cognitive learning and the broad needs of global users to create the ultimate solution for your product.

Web-based software application design

Providing the same attention to detail as with your PC-based software applications, SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development’s software developers and web designers specialize in developing dynamic, web-based applications. SMA/Shuimin AG uses the right technology, including ASP, COM, Visual Basic®, XML and PHP, to ensure your product has a unique, innovative, quality web-based software application.

Yes: your design team augmentation! SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development can help when your company experiences layoffs or plant closures, or simply doesn’t have the resources, expertise or experience needed to complete a project successfully. We can provide the skills, experience and best practices you need, including:

• Product/project planning, analysis and feasibility determination
• Product proofs of concept, concept development and prototyping
• High-risk design review and assessment
• Turnkey product development, including electrical/electronic, software, mechanical, and/or industrial system or sub-system design, implementation and integration
• Product testing and certification test support
• Product sustaining updates, including enhancements, replacing obsolete components, issue fixes, and enhancing profitability through cost-of-goods (COGs) reductions

If your goal is to optimize the potential or reduce the overall manufacturing and/or purchasing cost of an existing product, SMA/Shuimin AG’s Value Engineering Program is the tool for the job. Starting with a thorough analysis of the function, design, manufacturability and current status of your product, we determine the best approach to improve performance, reliability, quality and safety, and to reduce life-cycle cost. Benefits typically include overall cost reduction, elimination of component obsolescence, increased customer satisfaction and expanded sales opportunities. The Value Engineering Program focuses on:

• Eliminating obsolete components
• Using money-saving technologies, components and methods to reduce the cost of producing the product
• Repairing product, warranty or technical support issues
• Adding needed features
• Increasing procurement efficiency
• Updating the user interface
• Improving overall functionality

The bottom line: increased revenues and profits from existing products.

There are four steps to the SMA/Shuimin AG Value Engineering Program:

1. Select your candidate product, sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, and send SMA/Shuimin AG specific information about the product’s design, manufacturing and business status, including per-unit production cost, customer feedback and other relevant product data.
2. SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development analyzes your product and determines potential solutions and the associated product savings to be realized over a predetermined period.
3. SMA/Shuimin AG develops a comprehensive value engineering change proposal addressing features, benefits, cost and alternatives.
4. Your firm reviews the analysis and decides whether to proceed with the project.

To learn more about SMA value engineering and how it can help you, please call 877-233-2247 or contact us today.

With our design validation services, SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development validates product designs and concepts by surveying statistically significant numbers of potential and existing customers using photo-realistic product representations. These “virtual products” are viewed on interactive websites. In simple terms, products are submitted to viewers for evaluation before manufacturing decisions are made. Viewers’ responses provide meaningful data and insight into the likelihood of product acceptance and purchase intent. Participants are selected from large email or other databases sorted by specific demographic criteria.

The methodology of our design validation services is simple but highly effective. From a screened database of email addresses, SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development can reach potential purchasers of your product. This database can be focused on demographic guidelines. Several product design concepts, developed by SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development or by client companies, are then sent over the internet to the selected recipients along with a short questionnaire. Data in areas such as perceived value, rank order, style and color preference, acceptable purchase price, competitive product features and even package design preference is collected and formatted for presentation. Competitive products can also be compared in this survey. These findings alone statistically reinforce consumer buying preference in relation to competing products.

A project manager at SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development will work closely with you to determine the most important factors and develop a series of questions and images that shed the most light on them. The questions and images can be changed as needed. The results are presented both as raw data in charts and tables and in a Survey Results report that pulls all the information together and identifies key results. Through design validation, SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development can provide you with:

• Complex survey design (conjoint, discrete choice, etc.)
• Real-time topline and crosstab results
• Instant report-ready graphs
• Managerial site for testing, tracking and results tabulation
• Management of respondent incentives
• Robust systems with redundancy, security and backups

SMA/Shuimin AG Product Development typically creates multiple prototypes, depending on the needs of the client and the project. Some of our common prototypes include:

Proof-of-Concept Prototype. This prototype is designed to analyze the technical and business risks of the desired solution and to prove, with a predefined working prototype, that the challenges can be overcome and the risks managed. It allows a relatively small investment to prove that a larger investment is warranted.

Form/Concept Prototype. The form/concept prototype lets you see and “feel” how the product will look and function once it’s completed. Its completeness is tailored to the client’s needs, but it usually gathers feedback about the shape, color, design and overall look and feel of the product.

Form, Fit, and Function Prototype. Once the design is finalized, a fully functional working prototype is created and tested for manufacturability, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and full functionality. This prototype allows for certification pre-screens, dry-run verification and any necessary user or clinical testing. It is very much like the final product and is used to determine where to “sand off the rough edges.”

Pre-production Prototype. The pre-production prototype is a final, working prototype produced in the target manufacturing environment. It allows the manufacturer to iron out any kinks in the process and is the first step in the manufacturing handoff.

Manufacturing Run (Process Validation) Prototype. The manufacturer’s first formal run of the product is loosely termed a “prototype.” This run makes sure the manufacturing process runs smoothly and correctly, and lets the development and manufacturing teams ensure both the quality of the product and that any issues are quickly caught and remedied. The “prototypes” produced during a successful manufacturing process validation run are the first units available for sale to your customers.

SMA/Shuimin AG will work with you to determine and characterize your needs and decide how best to proceed with your development project. This might include an initial product/project analysis, initial research, proof-of-concept prototypes or other steps to determine how best to proceed with your development effort and the resources needed to do so. When other companies say a project is impossible, let SMA/Shuimin AG employees investigate. We succeed where others don’t dare go!

Yes. After a product is on the market, SMA works closely with the customer on the product’s re-engineering: reducing cost of goods (COGs), removing obsolete components or enhancing functions.