Engineering - BECS Technology

Engineering / Product Development

A quality product begins with a quality design. Our product development process assures a quality design that results in a product that perfectly meets the customer’s needs. The first step is understanding the application and the customer. We go to the field so we can see how our product will be used. We understand the problems and frustrations, ask tough questions, and collect all requirements. We’ll turn this into a product specification, which will guide the product development process. From there our engineering team will develop a product design; this design goes through a series of analyses and reviews. Prototypes will be verified against the specification for proper functionality, and then qualified in our Qualification Lab to assure the design will function as specified in even the harshest of conditions. Field testing is the final step, which confirms that the design functions as expected in actual field conditions.

Requirements

Before any product design is started, we work to understand our customers’ requirements. We ask questions, and then we listen. We gain an understanding of the application. We will visit sites where the product will eventually be used. As we learn, we document the product requirements.

When this process is complete, a formal Specification exists for the product to be developed. This Specification identifies all product requirements that must be met, such as operating temperature, functionality, linearity, governmental regulations, etc.

Design

Only after the application is fully understood and a Specification exists will our engineers start a product design. Mechanical, Electrical, and Software Engineering expertise will be combined to develop a product – all of which are on staff in our Product Development Department at BECS. Design is collaborative effort, performed utilizing 3-D CAD stations and other design software.

Design Analysis & Review

As part of the design process, a comprehensive series of analyses and reviews are conducted to scrutinize the system and assure its reliability. Every design analysis includes:

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) details how the system will perform (the “Effects”) in the event of an individual component failure.
Component Stress Analysis assures that each component in the system is being used within the tolerances of that component. All components in a product designed at BECS are required to operate within 80% of their specified operating range.
Other analyses as required by the design

Qualification

Once a design has been completed, analyzed and reviewed, a limited number of prototypes will be constructed. These prototypes will be subjected to a full functional test, to verify that the system will operate as specified. Our in-house Aquatics Lab provides a way to functionally test BECSys products in a simulated, controlled environment.

After successful functional test, prototypes will be taken to our in-house Qualification Lab where a rigorous qualification test will be executed. This Qualification Test will subject the unit to abnormally harsh conditions, to confirm system performance in even the most severe environments. Qualification testing includes things like extreme temperature and humidity cycling, electrical fast transient, static discharge and inductive coupling tests.