Frequently asked questions
Jump to a question:
What does mBedrock mean?
mBedrock comes from the conjugation of two words: embedded and bedrock. As a company, we design hardware and firmware that is the foundation (bedrock) of an embedded product. We pronounce the name as `embed-rock`.
Get in touch with your requirements
Please fill out this form to give us important information that'll help us serve you better.
What can mBedRock help me with?
mBedrock can help you with two services:
ODM product design and manufacturing
Turnkey EMS for your designs
Our core competency is ODM services for electronics products. We can design custom hardware, managing hardware manufacturing logistics and write low-level firmware and software.
We are adept at multi-layer hardware designs based on microprocessors and microcontrollers with specialisation in low-power designs for any application.
Our ODM services are supported by our automated, turnkey EMS service - so you don't need to juggle between multiple vendors to bring your ideas to life. Your teams can focus on the parts of the product where you bring most value.
I just need help with hardware design! I can design the software myself. Can you do that?
Yes, we can! Reach out to us and if we're able to, we'd be happy to help. We can take care of the design and manufacturing of the hardware (through our PCBKingdom service) and deliver it to you so you can focus on the software.
I'd like to handle manufacturing myself. Can you just design the hardware?
Maybe! We prioritise work where we handle the hardware design and manufacturing. That way we're completely responsible for the hardware working and we don't spend time supporting a different manufacturing workflow to our own.
Reach out to us and if we're able to, we'd be happy to help. We'd be happy to walk you through our PCBKingdom service to see if it can fit your manufacturing needs.
How do you charge for an ODM design service?
We use a monthly retainership model to work on ODM designs. Please refer to our Pricing page for details. Clients will get access to qualified HW and SW engineers, UX and Industrial design specialists in order to:
Come up with a well-defined HW and SW specification for the product if one isn't present
Work on HW design, Schematics and Layout of the electronics based on specifications
Write application firmware and test suites
Work on Enclosure design, UX testing, 3D printed prototyping and mould manufacturing
Electronics Manufacturing including PCB, component procurement and assembly
Box building and factory flashing
If required, we can work on ongoing software maintenance and offer managed warranty and repair services
You are welcome to cancel the service at anytime if you change your mind. You will only be charged until the end of the current month.
Will you do pro-rated billing for the month for ODM services?
We do not do pro-rated billing except for the first month when a project starts.
In other words, except for the first month where the project might start at any time, we will bill for the entire month in subsequent months. We assign engineers and specialists to projects for at least one month.
Can you quote for a fixed-cost project?
We avoid fixed-cost projects for the following reasons:
Most HW projects don't have a well-defined specification for the inputs and outputs which then causes multiple iterations of HW
The multiple iterations to get to an MVP specification increase design costs
Most HW projects require an indeterminate amount of R&D
Specifications change as a result of new information found during prototype testing that wasn't known in the design stage
As the prototypes get tested, the specifications change quite often in response to customer feedback
This again leads to additional design costs
However, if you have a really well-defined specification, reach out to us and if we're able to, we'd be happy to quote a price for a fixed-cost project.
Can you do the industrial/mechanical design for the product?
Yes, we accept commissions for custom enclosure design if it is part of a turnkey project where we're also designing the electronics. This makes it easy for us to argue with ourselves when the connectors on the PCB aren't quite aligned with the openings in the enclosure. :-)
How long will it take to complete the hardware design and get a working prototype?
It depends on the complexity of the design. From a month to several months, depending on how much customisation is needed for the electronics and enclosure design.
We first need to gather the requirements, do component selection to fit the requirements, design the schematics for the circuit followed by the layout on the board. Finally all the signals are routed. There are cross-checks and testing involved at each stage to ensure that the board is operating with-in the design parameters. Each of these requires anywhere from a day to several weeks of effort depending on the complexity.
Product design takes time too since everyone has their ideas on what they'd like the enclosure to look and feel like.
How long will it take to manufacture the boards?
The up to date timelines can be obtained on PCBKingdom, but we try to keep it down to under 6 weeks after the order is paid for. We routinely do much shorter timelines of 2 weeks or less for repeat, prepaid orders and users of our product inventory services.