Sentineo - Flam cooperation
Sentineo enabled Flam to adapt the design and regain full control over the electronics from design to production without supplier dependency
After a supplier discontinuation, Flam turned to Sentineo to regain control over the logistics for the production of the control board for its stoves. This PCB controls the airflows based on wood burning temperature and customer heating preferences. Sentineo assisted in recovering the original PCB source files and updated a partially obsolete subsystem, enabling production to resume with the revised control board design. Sentineo consecutively realized design adaptations, pre-compliance, pre-production up to serial production. The entire build-up towards the complete production file ensures that Flam no longer retains any dependencies to its suppliers, which could potentially cause chaos, cost and delay.
Adapt the design and restore supplier autonomy
Manufacturers are sometimes more dependent on certain suppliers than they realize. At a certain point, Flam was confronted with a necessary design change regarding an electronic component on the control board. It turned out that the current electronics supplier was no longer an option. To resolve the situation, Flam reached out to Sentineo. As a longstanding electronics company with a broad network, Sentineo was able to obtain the original electronics source files. This provided a solid starting point.
In a next step, Sentineo adapted the controller electronics design to accommodate a replacement component, which it had selected. Piet Callemeyn, owner of Sentineo: “Apart from the design change, we successfully executed the related PCB pre-compliance testing and verification. This is a mandatory step in building up a production release file in preparation for serial production. The effort covers BOM, gerber file, assembly drawing, pick and place files, schematic diagram, test procedures and work instructions. Additionally, Flam now retains all source files internally, ensuring both their intellectual property and independence.”
Maintain control over electronics design and production
Flam: “Bringing Sentineo on board was extremely beneficial, as they successfully resolved the issue and quickly got us back on track. Sentineo’s electronics expertise is outstanding, supporting us in terms of knowledge and processes. The new controller operates flawlessly and we have it taken into production seamlessly. We feel much more in control now with the regained independence towards our suppliers.”
Piet Callemeyn: “Together we ensured that Flam regained full control over the electronics of its products. For any electronics development project, Sentineo aims at delivering solutions that can be altered and produced independently. It is important for Flam that all intellectual property (IP) remains with them, so that they can decide and implement adaptations freely and transition to production cost-effectively and without risk. At Sentineo, we consistently ensure that our customers maintain full control over their IP, eliminating any dependencies on previous designers, suppliers, or PCB assembly providers.”
