Estimating the costs of manufacturing electronics has become increasingly time consuming. Historically, electronic products may have had 40-50 components making it relatively easy to cost and provide a realistic estimate. Now we are seeing electronic products averaging around 180-200 components, making the estimating process more complicated and at risk of inaccuracies.
Many entrepreneurs underestimate the costs of developing and manufacturing a new electronic product, often focusing on the development and prototype costs without giving due thought to the cost to scale from a prototype to a fully manufactured product. Electronics are generally the most expensive part of a product to manufacture, and therefore it is vital to have a realistic estimate of what these costs will be. Production costs determine sale prices and profits.
While an estimate is exactly that, an estimate, the figure quoted still needs to accurately reflect the actual costs involved. But when you need to get accurate costs for around of 200 components, often sourced from around the world and priced in multiply currencies, you can understand why some estimates might be widely off the mark.
So how can we get faster, more accurate and up-to-date estimates for electronic products?
Estimating Software For Electronic Products
Off-the-shelf estimating software is available, however this is only as good as the data you put into it. In our experience the estimating software on the market is not as effective and efficient as our customers demand, and therefore many electronics firms use manual searches. These can take up to two days collating prices and converting currencies, and volatile exchange rates can make this job harder as external factors can have an overnight effect on the cost of components.
To this end EC Electronics have developed our own estimating software, a bespoke programme designed specifically for our industry. The EC Estimating System sets out to offer more accurate, real-time, stock information as well as being linked to current exchange rates. Estimates can also be quoted in multi-currencies, ensuring that global companies get full transparency on the costs involved in a project.
Faster estimates are a real benefit too. Whereas manual searches could take up to two days, the EC Estimating System can deliver a basic quote within minutes, from initial enquiry to finished quote the software provides a full-rounded estimating service that enables our customers to get an accurate price at any given time.
Furthermore, if that project is put on the backburner for a while, a revised estimate can be delivered almost immediately reflecting current prices and exchange rates whenever the project is resurrected.
From our customers’ perspective, introducing our new estimating software has reduced the turnaround time for a quote, enabling them to make incremental reductions in time to market for electronic products. It has also given them greater transparency on component costs, and has made sourcing parts more competitive with stock information coming from a broad range of suppliers.
More accurate and reliable quotes means that our customers can be confident that costs will not escalate unpredictably, and we have had some extremely positive feedback from our customers since introducing the EC Estimating System in 2016.
If you would like to test it for yourself, ask EC Electronics for an estimate for your next electronic product. Call +44 (0)1256 461894 or email sales@ecelectronics.com
