Prototyping & Pilot Testing
A process window that works on paper still has to survive real parts, real fixtures, and a real shift. We build the pilot, measure what actually happens, and hand you the data — not just the parts.
In plain terms
What a pilot run actually is
A chef can plate one perfect dish. A restaurant has to plate three hundred of them, identically, on a Friday night. A pilot run is where you find out which one you have — before the production line finds out for you.
We actually build it
Your parts, your adhesive, our dispensing and curing equipment. Nothing here is a simulation or a slide — they are real units coming off a real setup.
We build enough to see the pattern
One good sample proves nothing. A few hundred units show whether unit #1 and unit #400 came out the same — and that is the number that decides whether a line can run.
You get the recipe, not just the result
Every setting, every measurement, and everything that misbehaved, written down — so your team can repeat the build without us in the room.
For sourcing and program management, a pilot is the cheapest place to find a bonding problem. Finding it here costs one pilot batch. Finding it after tooling is cut costs a schedule.
Scope
What a pilot run covers
The checks we run on your parts during the build — each one a place where a bond that looked fine at the bench stops behaving at volume.
Bead Formation Check
We dispense your adhesive samples to check bead shape, volume, and bubble/overflow issues.
Pilot Run Parameter Setup
We define repeatable dispense and cure parameters (speed, pressure, dose).
Fixture & Assembly Validation
We assemble your samples and verify alignment, pressure, and possible displacement.
Dispense-to-Cure Timing
We measure open time and wet-out behavior to lock in the right cure timing.
Environmental Sensitivity
We test how temperature, humidity, and viscosity changes affect your bonding behavior.
Repeatability Test
We run 200–500 pcs pilot builds to evaluate consistency across the batch.
Initial Reliability Sampling
We run small-sample reliability checks (TC / Drop / Aging).
Why outsource
Why not just build the pilot in-house?
A fair question — most teams can assemble parts. What is hard is producing a build that a DVT gate, an automation engineer, and a second factory will all accept.
Prototyping & pilot builds in-house vs. with us
| In-house reality | What we do instead | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Parameters are found by trial and error — slow, and different every time. | We converge speed, pressure, and cure dose from measured data, so you leave with a copy-exact baseline instead of a lucky setting. | Talk to an engineer → |
| "It holds together" counts as a pass, even when glue volume varies unit to unit. | We treat variable bead volume as a failure and enforce consistency to DVT/MP standards — a scalable process, not a one-off sample. | Talk to an engineer → |
| Hidden failures such as incomplete wet-out go unnoticed in a hand-built batch. | We validate flow behavior, cure uniformity, and automation feasibility — a small-scale process review before you commit tooling. | Talk to an engineer → |
| You receive the finished parts with no record of how they were made. | We hand over build videos, parameter logs, and a Do & Don't list, so your team gains the know-how to run the line. | Talk to an engineer → |
| Good samples with poor documentation still stall mass production. | We deliver process windows, inspection methods, and limits — process docs your factory can use as they are. | Talk to an engineer → |
What you receive
A pilot ends with a data pack, not a parcel
Pilot Build Documentation
Bead data, curing data, and parameter records from the run — the evidence a DVT review will ask you for.
Gap & Issue Summary
Where the process was unstable, why we think it drifted, and the specific improvement directions worth taking into the next build.
Measured Process Window
A process window backed by pilot data rather than by estimate — ready to carry into DVT and future mass production.
Engagement
How a pilot run goes
Share your build
Parts or CAD, the adhesive you are evaluating, any fixture concept, and the reliability targets you have to hit.
Talk to an engineerSet up & build
We lock dispense and cure parameters, then build the batch on production-grade dispensing and curing equipment — not by hand.
Measure & sample
Bead, fixture, timing, and environmental checks during the run; TC / Drop / Aging on a small sample after it.
Data pack & handover
Documentation, gap summary, and a measured process window your team takes into DVT.
FAQ
Before a Pilot Starts
Once the adhesive and joint design are settled enough to build, and before DVT locks the process. If you are still choosing chemistry or geometry, process design comes first — we will tell you so rather than build the wrong thing.
We run 200–500 pcs, sized to the question being answered. A bead-consistency check needs fewer units than a repeatability claim you intend to defend at a DVT gate.
Parts or housings, the adhesive you are evaluating (or we propose one), any fixture concept you already have, and your reliability targets. If no fixture exists yet, we can work from the assembly drawing.
You receive the documentation, the gap summary, and a measured process window. From there we either transfer the process to your line or run the next build with the corrections applied.
Solidify Your Process Before DVT
Tell us what you are building and where it has to hold, and an application engineer will scope the pilot run with you. Bring us a build, leave with data.
Vendor-neutral · NDA available on request