Shenzhen Supply Chain, Fast Turnaround and Iteration
Prototyping from schematic through to a production-ready revision. Bare boards return from Shenzhen fabs in three to five days after GERBER release, with assembly adding roughly a week. Design, fabrication, assembly, bring-up and iteration handled as one continuous engagement.
XTELL runs hardware prototyping from schematic through to a production-ready revision. Design, fabrication, assembly, bring-up and iteration are handled as one continuous engagement rather than as separate purchases you have to coordinate yourself.
Being in Shenzhen is the practical advantage here. Once GERBER is released, bare boards typically return from local fabs in three to five days and assembly adds roughly a week depending on component lead times. The board houses, assembly lines and component markets are within an hour of the office, which means a failed first article becomes a second revision in days rather than weeks.
We plan for iteration because production boards need it. Most of our projects go through two or three revisions before they are ready — the RK3128 mainboard, the Type-C reference board and the gas sensor module all did. Treating the first spin as a draft rather than a delivery is what keeps the total schedule short, and it is why we hand over the production document set at the final revision rather than at first GERBER.
Prototyping frequently pulls in the mechanical side, and we take that on where it makes sense. The microscope motorized stage involved STEP and FreeCAD structural design alongside the micro platform PCB; the medication feeder needed a P25_MEGA main board, a speaker amplifier board, 12V to 5V power management and a 1CELL/3CELL battery arrangement inside a designed frame. The board fits the product rather than the product being built around whatever board arrives.
For prototype runs there is effectively no minimum order quantity — five to ten boards is a normal first article batch. Small-batch production in the hundreds is where the local supply chain turns into a genuine cost advantage rather than a talking point.
P25_MEGA main board with Raspberry Pi control logic, a speaker amplifier board, 12V to 5V power management, 1CELL/3CELL battery supply and fd1_frame structural design.
Micro platform PCB with ATMEGA32U4 and A4988/HR4988E stepper drivers, delivered alongside STEP and FreeCAD structural design and an Arduino CNC Shield expansion.
FPGA-driven plotter control with Gerber file parsing for graphic data, taken through multi-version hardware iteration to optimise the design.
Schematic, layout and DFM review targeting a first article that is worth building.
Fast-turn bare boards from Shenzhen fabs, typically three to five days after GERBER release.
Stencil, placement and reflow coordinated locally, adding roughly a week depending on parts.
Power-up sequence, peripheral validation and rework, documented as a bring-up report.
Two or three revisions is normal; production documents are delivered at the final one.
Once GERBER is released, bare boards typically come back in three to five days from Shenzhen fabs, with assembly adding roughly a week depending on component lead times. The design phase before that is the longer part of the schedule.
For prototype runs there is effectively none — five to ten boards is a normal first article batch. Small-batch production of a few hundred units is where the Shenzhen supply chain becomes a genuine cost advantage.
Yes. Most boards need two or three revisions before they are production-ready. We stay through first-article bring-up, rework guidance and iteration, and deliver the production document set at the end rather than at first GERBER.
Often, yes. Enclosure and structural design has been part of several projects — STEP and FreeCAD structural work on a microscope stage, and frame plus power and audio subsystems on a medication feeder — so the board fits the product rather than the other way round.
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