Cutting costs with custom LCD and LED technology
Updating outdated assumptions about LCD and LED technologies
For much of the past 20 years, custom LCD and LED technologies were commonly associated with enhanced application-specific performance but also with higher costs, long lead times and reduced reliability. Over the past five years- technological advancements have completely redefined how custom technology performs on each of these fronts. As custom tooling has been simplified and quality suppliers have developed expertise in the specific challenges of custom technology development, processes have been streamlined resulting in shorter lead times. Whereas previously a custom technology could have a lead time of three to four months, today custom technologies can have lead times as short as two to four weeks for LEDs and four to six weeks for LCDs.
It is also no longer appropriate to view custom technologies as less reliable than standard products. A good supplier can deliver products with less than 50 to 100 parts per million (PPM) failure rates. Identifying the most effective technology for a particular application and creating a streamlined production process that integrates various components (like light pipes, switches, connectors, PCBs, etc.) in the most efficient way possible will generate cost savings in a number of different ways.
As a single custom LCD or LED supplier can provide a comprehensive custom solution, the number of suppliers needed is reduced, reducing procurement costs. Acquiring various components through a single supplier allows for a single bill of materials, simplifying accounting processes and reducing transaction costs. Complimentary product integration support from your supplier will cut your design engineering costs as design engineers no longer need to spend time and money researching individual components and integrating them in a way that ensures maximum efficiency. This also translates into faster time to market. Because the product is custom-tailored to specific application requirements, cost savings are achieved by identifying the components that most exactly fit specific product demands. For example, energy savings can be generated if a high output / low power consumption technology can meet and fulfill all performance expectations (rather than over spending on high power that is not needed).
Case study
A LCD solution recently created for the medical industry illustrates how custom technology can generate both performance enhancements and cost savings compared to off-the-shelf solutions. A major manufacturer of portable defibrillators wanted to increase the operating range of their premier brand of equipment primarily used in mobile emergency transportation. The customer was experiencing cold start issues with the display having slow response times and segment inconsistency. In addition, they wanted to ruggedize the face of the display against blunt force and bodily fluids. The Lumex Custom design team was able to create a unique LCD module designed to function in the most strenuous temperature conditions (-40°C to 85°C). A fluid and polarizer combination was created that was stable enough to survive repeated high/low temperature cycling while maintaining the contrast and performance. Thus the performance offered by the custom solution was superior to any available standard technology and the brand was able to eliminate their cold start screen performance issues.
At the same time, the custom solution allowed for significant cost savings by working closely with the customer’s design and manufacturing teams throughout the process, coming up with the highest performance integrated display solution. After significant lab testing, Lumex was able to integrate the display within a custom LCD module including integrated PCB, backlight, holder, connectors and a scratch/impact resistant cover. The integrated solution reduced procurement, transaction and design engineering integration costs while simplifying the bill of materials and ordering processes.
Thus by selecting a custom solution- the brand was able to enhance performance and reduce costs compared to available standard products.
The Custom LCD & LED product development process
The first step of a custom design process should always be to ask questions in order to understand exactly what the customer´s needs are for a particular application. Rather than pushing a customer towards a particular product solution already in their portfolio, a quality supplier will instead put their focus on customer needs and identify a solution that is custom-tailored to an application´s specific performance and cost requirements.
Expert and complimentary product design support should be provided flexibly enough to best match the application needs, whether it be designing a solution from scratch or helping tweak an existing product design. Several design options should be presented that meet and exceed expectations, with complementary custom product design support for small, medium and large volume products.
Streamlining the entire production process
Custom product development is not completed until the product has passed through the entire production process – from in-bound inspection, to production, to in-field performance. A quality supplier not only provides tips on how to streamline the entire production process for maximum efficiency, they also have experts available worldwide to provide assistance in each step of the process. This helps ensure that the custom product designed for maximum efficiency and performance can in fact provide superior performance as the product moves out of design and into production and distribution. Representatives worldwide should guide products out of the development process and through production in tangent with any contract manufacturers or other production partners.