Manufacturing Readiness Self-Evaluation

This assessment is intended to help guide you where you are in the development process and the amount of work that remains to achieve production. Some questions may not be relevant, so select the best answer – this is mostly for your use. When you have more no’s than yes’s, then you are likely in that phase. You will receive a copy of the survey with your answers, which can be used as milestones and tasks to scaling production.

While every industry seems to use similar terminology, we recognize that there can be great differences in definitions. Regardless of what it is called, the activities to marketability and productization are generally the same. The details for each phase should help to guide you where you are in the process.

Do you have an idea that solves a problem in a novel way?

Yes No

Do you have a sketch of the idea?

Yes No

Can you describe the function?

Yes No

Do you have an industrial design of the final appearance?

Yes No

Have you created a physical version or mocked-up the function?

Yes No

Have you evaluated market feasibility?

Yes No

Have you completed research, testing, and calculations for viability?

Yes No

Are you planning to file a patent?

Yes - continue to next question No - skip to bottom and move to Proof of Concept

Have you completed a patent search to ensure you won't encroach on an existing patent?

Yes No

Have you completed a patent application with a drawing and description?

Yes No

Have you filed your application with the US patent office and/or other international offices?

Yes No

Have you received notice of patent pending?

Yes No

Has your patent been awarded?

Yes No

Do you have a proof of concept?

Yes - continue to next question No - skip to bottom and move to MVP

Do you have an electrical block diagram?

Yes No

Do you have mechanical CAD of your prototype?

Yes No

Have you identified the key components in the design?

Yes No

Do you have a physical prototype? (electrical function may be separate from physcial appearance)

Yes No

Is your physical prototype made using 3D printing?

Yes No

Are you using development boards like a Raspberry Pi in your prototype?

Yes No

Have you tested your prototype for functionality?

Yes No

Have you proven out the science and technical theory of your concept?

Yes No

How many prototypes are you making of each iteration?

1 2 3-5 6+

Do you have an electrical schematic and.or Gerber/CAD of your prototype?

Yes No

Do you have a list of the electrical and mechanical components in your prototype?

Yes No

Do you have an MVP?

Yes - skip to bottom and move to Alpha No - continue to next question

Have you used your prototype to get user feedback?

Yes No

Have you written down all of your product's requirements?

Yes No

Do you know how big the market is and estimated your portion?

Yes No

Do you have a clear definition of your value proposition?

Yes No

Do you know what your market advantage is?

Yes No

Is your product designed for manufacturability and thoroughly tested against the requirements?

Yes - skip to bottom and move to Beta No - continue to next question

Do you have sufficient funding to complete the design process, purchase production tooling, and other non-recurring engineering?

Yes No

Have you selected all of the components for the design?

Yes No

Have you confirmed all of the components are avaialble for production?

Yes No

Do you have a complete bill of materials that includes all mechanical and electrical parts, including consummables (e.g. epoxy, adhesives)?

Yes No

Do you have all of the long lead time parts identified?

Yes No

Is all of your mechanical CAD detailed and include features for manufacturability (e.g. draft, corner radii)?

Yes No

o you have preliminary drawings for every custom part?

Yes No

How many prototypes are you making of each iteration?

1-2 3-5 6-10 11+

Have you created a test plan based on your requirements?

Yes No

Have you tested at least 1 part against every line in your test plan?

Yes No

Is your product ready for initial production?

Yes - skip to bottom and move to Pilot No - continue to next question

Are your iterations mostly 'tweaks' instead of significant changes?

Yes No

Is your Bill of Materials complete and revised as changes are made?

Yes No

Is your mechanical CAD finalized for every component and assembly?

Yes No

Do you have detailed mechanical drawings with requirements for every custom part?

Yes No

Has your tooling for production been ordered?

Yes No

Are your long lead components on order for Pilot and early Production?

Yes No

Are some of your production manufacturers making prototypes to support your builds?

Yes No

Are you building a statistical quantity of parts in each build?

Yes No

Are the designers still assembling the subassemblies and system?

Yes No

Have you started writing work instructions for production?

Yes No

Are the parts/ system mostly passing the test plan with minimal failures?

Yes No

Are the production test stations designed and in process of being built?

Yes No

Have you built your first production build at the manufacturer?

Yes - skip to bottom and move to Production No - continue to next question

Have you raised sufficient funding to build up inventory and launch the product?

Yes No

Is the design of every part finalized and submittted to documentation control?

Yes No

Is the bill of materials locked?

Yes No

Are the first version of work instructions released to the production floor?

Yes No

Has the day-to-day management of the assembly and part ordering been transferred to manufacturing?

Yes No

Are production manufacturers fabricating all custom parts?

Yes No

Are production floor leads and/or manufacturing engineers building subassemblies and sytems?

Yes No

Are production test stations qualified and released to production?

Yes No

Has yield tracking and quality recording been implemented?

Yes No

Are you in scalable manufacturing for the product?

Yes - skip to bottom and submit form No - continue to next question

Are any changes documented through a formal change process?

Yes No

Are significant design changes captured for inclusion in the next generation of the product?

Yes No

Are production volumes determined by product sales?

Yes No

Are parts being ordered based upon lead time and build quantities?

Yes No

Are manufacturing engineers making changes to improve efficiency?

Yes No

Is yield tracked for improvement?

Yes No

Are quality issues being investigated for root cause?

Yes No

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Manufacturing Readiness Self-Evaluation

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