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Blog
Manufacturing insights, quality engineering, and lessons from shipping hardware at scale.
Product Revisions Done Right: How AN Factory Tracks Every Hardware Change
How the AN & Factory platform manages product revisions, file uploads, and test program assignments — so your CM always builds the right version.
Incoming Quality Control: Catching Defects Before They Reach Your Line
How IQC prevents defective components from entering your production line — AQL sampling, inspection criteria, and the cost of skipping it.
Why Your CM Isn’t the Problem — Your Process Is
Most quality issues aren’t your CM cutting corners. They’re gaps in your process that leave good manufacturers guessing.
The Real Cost of Skipping Factory Testing
Field failures, warranty claims, and brand damage — what happens when hardware startups ship without testing every unit.
Production Yield Analytics: Measuring What Matters
First pass yield, failure Pareto, batch comparison — the metrics that turn manufacturing data into actionable quality improvements.
How to Onboard a Contract Manufacturer Without Losing Your Mind
The checklist every hardware team needs when bringing on a new CM — from NDA to first article inspection.
Setting Up Your First FCT Station: A Hardware Startup Guide
Step-by-step guide to building your first functional test station — fixtures, software, pass/fail criteria, from $5K to full automation.
Device Traceability: From Component Lot to Customer Return
How to track every unit from component sourcing through testing and shipping — the difference between a targeted recall and a full recall.
What Is FCT and Why Your Contract Manufacturer Should Run It
What Functional Circuit Testing is, why it catches defects that visual inspection misses, and how to get your CM running FCT on every board.
Factory Testing Costs Less Than Skipping It
The real numbers on what factory testing costs versus what you lose when defective devices reach customers. Field returns are 10–100x more expensive.