Design review and DFM
An independent read of your design before you spend money on it being wrong.
The most expensive moment in a hardware project is the one just before release to fabrication, because that is when a mistake stops being free.
A first review, free
Send us one board — schematic, layout, or both — and you get a real first-pass review at no cost: written findings, ranked by severity, each with a specific remedy. Not a sales document with a call to action stapled on.
It is the most honest way to evaluate a design house. You see how we think, what we catch, and whether the working relationship fits. If it goes no further, keep the findings.
What a review covers
Schematic — topology, part selection and grading, protection and ESD, power sequencing, reset and boot straps, decoupling strategy, interface levels and translation, connector pin-out sanity, and the things absent that should be present.
Layout — stack-up versus impedance targets, return-path continuity, plane splits under high-speed pairs, length matching against real tolerance budgets, thermal relief and copper pour, creepage and clearance where voltage requires it, test-point coverage, and fiducial and panelization readiness.
Manufacturing — DFM against your fabricator’s actual capability sheet, DFA against your assembler’s process, DFT for whatever test strategy you intend, IPC-2221 and IPC-2152 conformance, and IPC-A-610 acceptance class.
EMC before the chamber
Chamber time is expensive and failure there is expensive twice, because the fix is usually a respin. Most EMC failures are designed in months earlier: a return path that has to detour, a cable shield terminated at one point through a pigtail, a switching node with more copper than it needs, a connector with no filtering.
We have produced client-facing shield-termination concepts for harness and connector systems including 360° termination at ODU connectors. Getting these decisions right before the first spin is what makes a chamber booking a formality rather than a gamble.
Component risk
Every BOM has parts that will go short. The review flags them, proposes second sources with compatible footprints — we routinely design dual-source footprints for IMUs and other single-source-risk parts — and identifies anything approaching obsolescence.
Common questions
Straight answers
What does a review cost and how long does it take?
A focused review of a single board is typically two to four days depending on complexity, quoted as a fixed price before it starts. It is the cheapest engineering you will ever buy — a spin costs fabrication, assembly, parts and a month of schedule.
Will you review a design you didn't create?
That is the entire point of the service. Independence is what makes it worth having. We review your team's work, a contractor's work, or a design you inherited with an acquisition.
What is the first free design review offer?
A first-pass review on one board, no charge, no obligation — a real read with written findings, not a sales document. If it turns into a project, good. If it does not, you still have the findings. It is the fastest way for both of us to see whether working together makes sense.
Do you cover medical or automotive requirements?
We design to IEC 60601-1 constraints for medical electrical equipment and select AEC-Q100/Q101 graded parts where automotive-grade robustness is required. We are not a certification body — we make sure the design does not make certification harder than it needs to be, and we flag where you need an accredited house.