ADDRESSING ALL ASPECTS OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT FROM CONCEPT THROUGH PRODUCTION, TIMBERLINE PROVES PRODUCT DESIGN VALUE LIVES IN THE DETAILS.

Electronic Controls Design Inc., or ECD, is a globally recognized company known for pioneering the design and manufacture of innovative solutions for the electronics, solar, and baking industries.

Its award winning thermal profiling technologies put ECD on the map for engineering professionals worldwide. The SmartDry™ Intelligent Dry Storage™ desiccant dry cabinet is the latest innovation from the 52-year-old solutions provider.

THE SET-UP

Recognizing an opportunity in the electronics manufacturing industry for a more advanced desiccant dryer than the utilitarian and relatively unsophisticated options currently available on the market, ECD began developing a new system with the aim of outperforming the current competition. Pinpointing improvements that could reduce drying times while simultaneously improving system recovery, the new dryer cabinet would also include superior control and handling features for users.

ECD began its search for a design partner that could not only deliver an industrial design to set the new dryer apart from others on the market, but would also be ready to take on the challenging task of integrating the cabinet with electronics and software used to control the cabinet’s heat and humidity settings. The design needed to provide users easy control of the system while also addressing mission-critical sealing and air leakage prevention for the cabinets. Most of all, ECD needed a partner that could help them prepare the cabinets for successful manufacturing.

“We evaluated several design firms for the project, asking each to provide some initial design concepts. Timberline came back with ideas that blew us away, showing us just how far our products could go with an elegant design that was clearly unique from anything else already on the market.” Paul Austen, Senior Project Engineer Electronic Controls Design Inc.

The team at Timberline gladly accepted the challenge and returned to ECD equipped with ideas that were both creative and forward-thinking. Taking a ‘show, don’t tell’ approach, Timberline created an initial concept that incorporated many unique elements into the cabinet and doors to prove the dryer could be both functional and attractive

THE PROJECT

Timberline’s requirements-driven approach meant first starting with ECD’s goals and objectives for the new cabinets:

• Maintain low relative humidity as required by J-STD-033 while preventing ESD. Under J-STD-033, the cabinets would need to meet certain qualifications for recovery and humidity removal.
• Improve dryer cabinet recovery time. Every time a desiccant dryer cabinet is opened, the temperature and humidity control must restabilize. ECD believed the current 15-30 minute window could be improved, making it possible to retrieve components from the dryer more often throughout the day.
• Integrate electronics with cabinet controller and electronic desiccant chamber. The new cabinets would need to seamlessly integrate with the product controller as well as the separate chamber used to store the desiccant.
• Address airtight sealing and LED integration while maintaining product aesthetics.

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The ECD SmartDry Cabinet desiccant dryer cabinet has dramatically changed the way manufacturers approacch storage for moisture-sensitive devices and components.

THE ADVANTAGES OF TIMBERLINE’S PROCESS

Timberline’s requirements-driven process provides many benefits for Timberline clients. By spending additional time upfront to understand project goals and educate clients on the process itself, Timberline provides a clear roadmap from conceptualization to production and a proactive approach to dealing with any potential challenges during the process.

“Phil and his team make it easier to stay on track for success by making sure the project always follows Timberline’s highly-defined process, which works for a wide range of designs.”

Uninterested in simply delivering a design, the team at Timberline views product design as an initial step towards a shared end goal: getting quality products to market. In addition to heavy-duty lifting in terms of industrial and mechanical design, Timberline also provided support throughout prototyping and testing to ensure ECD’s final design was both buildable and functional.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION

While design expertise was essential to differentiating the ECD dryer, what proved even more crucial was Timberline’s collaborative approach to the design process. The team at Timberline believes a design partner should feel like an extension of your own team. This means Timberline works to avoid any closed doors or extended periods of time without communication during design.

This approach allowed Timberline to seamlessly integrate with ECD’s own internal resources, offering ECD an experience that improved project visibility and enhanced communication around the project itself.

DESIGN CAPABILITIES

During the SmartDry™ Intelligent Dry Storage™ development project, ECD took advantage of all that Timberline’s design team has to offer, including:

• Industrial Design - The industrial design of the cabinets provided a creative new take on the SMT desiccant cabinet that integrated elements of the drying process itself into the design.
• Complete Mechanical Design - This included mechanical integration with the electronic desiccant chamber storage as well as integration with software to control the cabinet’s operations. Sealing and integration with LED lights that would be used to communicate drying status were also addressed.
• Design Validation & Testing - Timberline provided structural analysis and FEA (Finite Element Analysis) as well as coordination with vendors to provide a first prototype of the new cabinet.
• Project Management - Timberline’s project management expertise was invaluable to the product development process for the ECD SmartDry Cabinet, and included both management of the design and validation process as well as seamless vendor and supplier management.

THE RESULTS

The ECD SmartDry Cabinet desiccant dryer cabinet has dramatically changed the way manufacturers approach storage for moisture-sensitive devices and components. Following successful product development, the new cabinets were introduced to the market in the spring of 2015. Since then, the product line has evolved quickly; together, ECD and Timberline expanded the cabinets to include 10, 30 and now 48 cubic foot models this past year.

The sale of the SmartDry cabinets exceeded ECD’s first-year projections by almost 200%. As of Spring 2016, plans are underway to expand SmartDry sales into Europe following the products’ great success in North America.

Learn more about the SmartDry™ Intelligent Dry Storage™ cabinets.

Get more information about Timberline's requirements-driven approach to product development.