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Outdoor wireless solution design, don’t go it alone: How to crack the ‘cost versus time-to-market’ conundrum

Andy Bird, Managing Director at GTT Wireless

There are huge challenges when developing a rugged, outdoor wireless solution design products in-house. Testing and certification requirements alone require a flawless prototype before proceeding to mass production and market availability. Is there enough physical space to accommodate your electronics? Do the connectors fit your preferred antenna? Is the solution fully watertight when using your chosen plugs? Remember: an outdoor solution is only as rugged as its weakest link!

New solutions must undergo rigorous design, test and production stages before going to market. This is extremely difficult to complete internally while working to strict cost and time constraints.

Let’s look at a normal in-house prototype development lifecycle.

Over the first few weeks of a project, a design team will spend all their time on identifying and evaluating various components – spanning antenna, enclosures, fixtures and fittings – and sourcing them from disparate suppliers and manufacturers. These must then be shipped from all over a global supply chain to a central location before engineers can even begin engineering and integration.

Attempting to fit these components together to identify a hardware composition that could feasibly work involves further cost and time to reach a point where there is a field testable prototype. There is a very real danger of needing to extensively machine and re-engineer components to address integration issues, or source alternative components if original specifications were inaccurate.

Beyond that, the cost of carrying out extensive assessment such as radiofrequency (RF) testing can run into the tens of thousands for the testing equipment alone, as we have heard first-hand from hard-pressed engineers looking for an alternative design route.

Beware hidden outlays and setbacks

The pitfalls don’t end with the design and integration stages. If testing fails and the prototype goes back to the drawing board, fresh components must be sourced, delivered and engineered before retesting.

These combined efforts all result in a very high cost per unit – it could easily cost up to $50,000 and take up to four months just to reach the mass production stage. This investment can be even harder to swallow if the process was only carried out to develop and deploy a very small number of units.

After this, there is a further time and cost investment in mass production and its associated challenges. All these internal costs mount up and often result in there being little profit in going to market with the end-product.

Those who can successfully and seamlessly navigate the many options available at each stage of this journey will hold a significant competitive advantage in bringing their products to market. Tapping into the experience of industry experts holds the answer to ambitious product developments becoming a minefield of delays, expenses and unsuitable prototypes.

Prototype development time cut from four months to just two weeks

Thankfully, in-house design is not the only approach to developing rugged, outdoor wireless solutions.

With GTT Wireless the original design stage is streamlined thanks to its unique enclosure design tool, which enables engineers to select, build and visualise a custom solution from a range of certified components. At the end of this design process, there is a maximum cost of $500 for a functional GTT Wireless sample the customer has tailored to their specific project requirements within minutes.

This short development time combined with expedited delivery means companies can be field testing a prototype within two weeks, as opposed to the average internal development timeframe of four months. It requires no in-house investment of time or resources, and proven IP67 rated and interoperable components eliminates any risk of spiralling costs during the design and testing stages.

Testing done and ready for mass production

Within four weeks testing is complete, and the successful prototype is ready for mass production. GTT Wireless offers a complete range of production-ready components, meaning companies can instantly place an order of whatever quantity they wish – a major advantage when looking to beat less agile competitors to securing valuable market share.

A clear choice for agile, cost-effective development

The level of design, integration and testing capability within GTT Wireless is difficult to replicate in-house without incurring extensive costs and delays. Our team blends engineering expertise with a comprehensive range of tried and tested components and experience in deploying these into a range of industries operating across every continent.

Choosing to partner with an industry expert will help cut project costs, development lifecycles and successfully navigate the many dangers posed by in-house development – helping your business go to market with successful wireless solutions faster than rivals and capture valuable market share in emerging sectors.

Looking to get started with your outdoor wireless project but struggling to source, integrate and assemble hardware? The GTT Wireless enclosure design tool can help bring your custom design to life within minutes – or get in touch with the team for more details.