Welcome to ANDs Frequently Asked Questions section, click on a link below to start
getting some answers...>
[+] What
does AND stand for?
[+] What do you do?
[+] How can AND add value to my business?
[+] At what stage during my product development can I get
your help?
[+] So you offer solutions right through the product
development lifecycle to production then?
[+] Do you offer mass manufacturing facilities?
[+] How do you charge out your services?
[+] Do you develop/sell your own products?
[+] Are you semiconductor manufacturer impartial, or tied
to particular product lines?
[+] Do you sell/repair PCs?
Need human help? We know the feeling. If your question is not covered here do please
drop us an email directly [and@andtr.com]
What does
AND stand for?
This may comes as a disappointment, but unfortunately nothing. Originally it was
just an off-the-shelf trading name, although over the years we have come up with
a few of our own. The favourites so far are:
Acronym
Not
Defined
Applied
Novel
Design
Or
AND [Gate] - a digital logic gate that implements logical conjunction (a
two-part operation that results in a value of true if both of its operands are
true, otherwise a value of false)
What do you
do?
Tricky to answer this one is a single sentence…but primarily we design either
electronic or software products (& sometimes both) for our customers. We also
offer consultancy in both these fields, so we can come along & take a look
at either your hardware or software item & offer professional, expert advice.
We also carry out research, into doing clever new things with emerging technology,
again with both hardware & software.
How can AND add value to my business?
Enhancing product ranges, streamlining test and development processes, cutting costs of manufacturing are amongst the benefits that arise from working with AND.
At what
stage during my product development can I get your help?
At pretty much any point. Our current range of projects have all joined us at
different stages of their lifecycle. One project has the hardware fully developed
& requires us to develop the firmware to run it. A second project has joined
us at the Mind Map/Brainstorming stage & will require us to define & agree
a specification for both the hardware & software with the customer & to
then go on to design & develop it to pre-production stage, while another project
requires us to carry out some testing of a fully developed product to verify is
design & engineering.
So
you offer solutions right through the product development lifecycle to production
then?
Yes. We like to think of ourselves as a one-stop-shop. A customer can come to
us with the idea for a project; we can then work with them to produce a specification.
From that point onwards we can design the necessary electronics, firmware to drive
the electronics & computer software (if required) to connect the product to
a PC or Mac. With the designs complete we can then produce prototypes PCBs, source
suitable enclosures & compliance/safety test the product.
Do you
offer mass manufacturing facilities?
Yes, for production runs up to the 300-off mark. Above this we then move into
manufacturing management, where we outsource the manufacture to trusted &
approved partners. Our larger customers often decide to take care of this themselves,
which is fine. However, if you are new to the mass-manufacturing arena it should
not be under estimated how challenging this stage in your product's development
can be. We therefore offer this mass manufacturing management service to provide
a smooth flow for your product from prototype to reaching your end customer.
How do
you charge out your services?
This is very much dependent on the project. However, in the majority of cases
a customer will supply us with a design brief & after an initial meeting with
us to discuss the project, we supply them with a fixed price quotation for the
proposed work. The fixed price quotation is broken up into logical phases so the
customer can pick & choose what phases he or she wants.
The fixed price quotation is a document generated from our internal Task Skills
Matrix, which breaks the whole project down into individual tasks, assigning each
a competitive industry standard
hourly rate, depending on the task. This
guarantees the best price possible for our customers.
Some projects, due to their nature, cannot be given a fixed price because the
development time required is unknown & not predictable. In these instances
we can then offer fixed daily rates.
Do you
develop/sell your own products?
Yes we do, please visit the sales/online store section of our website for more
information.
Are you
semiconductor manufacturer impartial, or tied to particular product lines?
Impartial as much as we can be. As you can see from the website, we have long
established, highly regarded, partnerships & affiliations with the majority
of major semiconductor manufacturers in the industry. We aim to keep abreast of
all the industry's product offerings so that we can advise our customers with
the best solution(s) to meet their individual needs.
Obviously, in some cases we will use the same silicon product in more than one
project, when requirements are very similar in order to utilise the development
experience that will have built up. But we are from being tied to one particular
product line, if fact over the years we have pretty much used products from most
of the major silicon manufactures.
Occasionally customers will have a whole product line based on a particular family/or
indeed have a preferred manufacture - in these instances we are more than happy
to use or select a semiconductor component from a requested manufacturer.
Do you
sell/repair my PC?
Unfortunately no, sorry.
