The prototype works. It sits on the bench, connected to a laptop, and sends perfect data. Then the first units go to customers, and new problems appear: batteries that last a week instead of a year, condensation inside the case, a bug that needs a fix on devices hundreds of kilometres away. Most of these can be planned for before the first hundred units ship.
Power
- Measure consumption over the real duty cycle: how often it wakes, measures and transmits, not the average on the bench.
- Test at the real temperatures: batteries lose capacity in the cold.
- Decide what happens when power runs low: warn early, save data, shut down cleanly.
Enclosure and environment
- Dust, water, vibration, sunlight, heat, being dropped: list what the device will really face.
- Choose a protection rating to match, and test it, including cables and connectors, where water usually gets in.
- Plan how the device is mounted, and how an installer who has never seen it gets it right first time.
Connectivity
- Test coverage where the device will actually be: basements, metal cabinets, fields.
- Store data locally when the connection drops, and send it later.
- Check the running cost of the connection for every unit, every month.
Updates
You will need to fix something after shipping. Plan for it from the start:
- Updates delivered remotely, signed so only your firmware can be installed.
- A safe fallback: if an update fails, the device returns to the previous version instead of stopping.
- Roll out in stages, a few devices first, then the rest.
Seeing what is happening
- Each device reports its health: battery, signal, errors, last contact.
- A simple dashboard shows which units need attention before customers notice.
- Every unit has an identity: serial number, firmware version, where and when it was installed.
Certification
Radio, electrical safety and electromagnetic compatibility rules differ by market (for example KC in Korea, CE in the EU). Find out early which apply, because design changes after testing are expensive.
Production and support
- Test every unit at the end of production, not a sample.
- Decide who answers when a unit fails, how it is replaced, and how the faulty one comes back to be examined.
- Keep spare parts, and know how long your components will stay available.
A short checklist before the first hundred
- Power measured over the real duty cycle and temperature range.
- Enclosure tested for the real environment.
- Remote, signed updates with a fallback.
- Device health visible remotely.
- Certifications for each market identified.
- End-of-line test and a support process in place.
We design devices together with the software that runs them, and support them after launch. Tell us about your device.
