When you hand an electronic product development project to an engineering partner, you trust people you cannot watch every day. We understand that, because we sit on the other side of that handoff with every new client. Over the years, we have learned that the best way to earn trust is to show you how we work, so here’s a little glimpse into one of our systems.

We built a quality management system, wrote it down, and invited an independent auditor to check it. An ISO 9001:2015 certified quality system protects your project by documenting each step, reviewing it, and verifying that the team follows it. It gives you the same careful process on project fifty that you had on project one.

What does ISO 9001:2015 certification mean for an electronics design partner?

ISO 9001:2015 is the international standard for quality management systems. Certification means an independent auditor studied how a company really works and confirmed that the work matches the standard.

SGS North America certifies Indesign, and our certified scope is the design of electronic products and systems. That scope matches the work we do for you. We have held the certificate continuously since 30 April 1999. SGS returns on a regular cycle to audit us again, and we audit ourselves in between, so we keep learning.

We like these visits more than you might expect. The auditors talk with our engineers, as well as our managers, so they hear from all angles how the process works on real projects. Those conversations can sometimes help us find a better way to do something.

How does our quality system support your electronic product development?

Think of it as a story that follows your project from the first conversation to the final deliverable.

It starts with your requirements. We document what your product needs to do, and you approve those requirements before design begins. Then the design work starts, and we review the architecture and design outputs against what you approved, recording what we find so everyone can see it.

As prototypes take shape, we test them against your requirements. We document each issue, we verify each fix, and we track every release and change, so you always know which version you control. Throughout the project, status reports, budget tracking, and change requests keep you current on where things stand.

Gary Still, an Indesign Project Manager and Quality Management Representative, explains why we work this way:

“We are engineers, so we like to explain how things work. Our quality system documents our design processes, and it gives us a way to measure whether those processes are working effectively. When we find something that works better, we make adjustments. Every client after that benefits from the improvement.”

Gary Still, Project Manager and Quality Management Representative, Indesign

Does a quality system make electronic product design faster and less risky?

It helps, and the reason comes down to timing. A design costs the least to change while it is still on paper. When your team approves requirements early, and we review at set points, we catch misunderstandings while they cost hours instead of days.

A quality system does not guarantee a perfect product, and we would never promise that. It gives us a dependable way to find problems early and learn from them. Our clients in medical, industrial, and defense markets work under this same system, and we feel that’s why most come back for another project.

What should you ask any electronic product development partner about quality?

We encourage every client to ask these questions:

• Are you certified, and by whom?
• How long have you held the certificate?
• Does the certified scope cover design, or only manufacturing?
• How do you review designs and control changes?
• How does your certification body check that engineers follow the processes

Then come talk to us.

If you are planning an electronic product development project, we would enjoy talking it through with you. Our team will walk you through how we manage the quality of your project and answer whatever questions come up.

FAQ

What is electronic product development?
It turns a product idea into a manufacturable electronic design. The work includes requirements, architecture, schematic and PCB design, firmware, prototyping, and testing.

How long has Indesign been ISO 9001 certified?
We have held certification since 30 April 1999. SGS North America issued our current ISO 9001:2015 certificate.

Does ISO 9001 guarantee a perfect product?
No. It gives your team a documented process that helps us find and fix problems early.

Is ISO 9001:2015 the same as ISO 13485?
No. ISO 13485 is a separate quality standard for medical device organizations. Our certificate is ISO 9001:2015, scoped to the design of electronic products and systems.