[sdiy] Productionisation Service for the SDIY community

Mon Sep 21 21:42:29 CEST 2015

Yes, Ian Fritz pointed out yourselves, Bridechamber and Elby but we have precious few in the UK and Europe. 

Someone else was asking what I would bring to the table, so I thought I'd give a bit of background. I'm currently a Senior Project Manger a large banking group here in Scotland. I was recently managing the Infrastructure element of the new ApplePay service rolled out in the UK. So I've got a good understanding of facilitating technical teams to get new products into production. Before I got into IT, I spent 12 years in the Army as an Electronics Technician working on Challenger tanks and MILAN rocket launchers. Lots of box changing but it gave me a good insight into the logistics machine and support structures that sit behind the front line, all the way back to manufacturers. It also taught me what good technical documentation looks like. I spent many cold nights on top of tanks reading through huge folders of docs trying to fault find. Basic trade training was 2 years and I left with a BTEC in Electronic Engineering, we then returned to training after 3 years in the field to complete Class 1, which I think gave us 2 modules short of a degree. They didn't like to give us to many qualifications in case we've used them to get jobs elsewhere!

In my spare time I run Glasgow, Make Some Noise, which is a Synth Building community in the West of Scotland. It started off as a Saturday afternoon meet up to build kits and very quickly escalated into a design, build and repair shop. I recently repaired Slam's SH-101 which appeared in DJ Magazine.

I've got accounts at RS and Avnet to spice components at wholesale prices and through the repair service am building up relationships with some of the vintage spares guys.

In terms of software, I regularly use Autocad and Adobe Illustrator for panel design. I use RS DesignSpark for schematics and PCB layout. I have used Eagle but I prefer to be able to look up parts using RS part numbers so I can be sure of getting a good supply of components. I also have a CNC Router which is used for prototyping panels.

In terms of assisting people with getting designs to a certain standard I have loads of guys who come to the build workshops who concentrate on getting their design to do the function but right, but haven't necessarily thought about the non-functional parts like protection diodes, etc.

I'm not saying this service is for everyone, but if you've got designs you'd like to get out there, but don't want to be tied down with the boring stuff, then please give me a shout :)

Cheers

Rob

> On 21 Sep 2015, at 15:59, Synthcube <info at synthcube.com> wrote:
> 
> That's similar to what we do for circuit designers as well-- with some success improving access for DIY. We try and pick up those aspects of the value chain that are least interesting or hardest for designers, engineers and musicians. Panel design, production, kitting, documentation, distribution, etc... Whichever parts of the process a designer doesn't want to take on. 
>  Thonk in the UK does to a degree as well. There's very little money in it of course because you need some scale and velocity to avoid getting chewed up by fixed costs but it's a great deal of fun and a service to DIY. 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Sep 21, 2015, at 4:21 AM, DeclareUpdate <declareupdate at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Howdy Rob, 
>> 
>> Assuming the procedure was all worked out, and it sounds like you’ve got a fine start, I think this is a great idea. I have a few designs that I’d love to offer as kits, but have little to no time to do so, as well as past kits that I don’t have much time to support or re-run. 
>> 
>> For instance, the CEM3328 Filter module that pops up on muffwiggler is my design, and people dig the filter, but I had a hell of a time getting the documentation and BOMs up to date, and don’t have the time to re-run, bag up, or sell the kits any more. Maybe that’d be a fine place to test the waters with your service, even :) 
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Chris
>> 
>>> On Sep 21, 2015, at 6:10 PM, Rob Spencer <Rob at gmsn.co.uk> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi Jack,
>>> 
>>> I see there being a few stages of testing starting with a review of the design. At a minimum there would be polarity protection diodes, bypass caps at IC, etc. I could put together a design standards doc, which we could circulate here to get some kind of quorum on. I'm by no means an expert on design, far from it, but happy to facilitate. The info at dintree.com is fantastic.
>>> 
>>> This would help get designs to a minimum standard and protect people's kit. Obviously there's people who know far more than me about Synth designs so I'll probably be asking most of the dumb questions.
>>> 
>>> PCBs would then be ordered and test builds completed. The build docs would also be written at this point. The build would then be fully tested by both the designer and myself so we agree it's doing what it should. Together with calibration and test routines.
>>> 
>>> A further test build would then be completed by a third person using the build docs.
>>> 
>>> On successful completion of the final build, the design would be classed as productionised and go on the website.
>>> 
>>> With regards to the figures, these would be agreed on a case by case basis depending how much effort each party has put in to ensure everyone gets a fair deal.
>>> 
>>> Cheers
>>> 
>>> Rob
>>> 
>>>> On 21 Sep 2015, at 09:30, Jack Jackson <jackdamery at hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hi Rob,
>>>> 
>>>> It sounds like a good idea. I'm just wondering how would you ensure quality of the designs when receiving them from people of different levels of experience and different points of view on design? Perhaps some QA/testing procedure?
>>>> 
>>>> I definitely think that clear documentation and explanation of the designs would go a long way to help the newcomers to the community.
>>>> 
>>>> Best Regards,
>>>> Jack Jackson
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> > From: Rob at gmsn.co.uk
>>>> > Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2015 09:16:04 +0100
>>>> > To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>>> > Subject: [sdiy] Productionisation Service for the SDIY community
>>>> > 
>>>> > Hi guys,
>>>> > 
>>>> > I've been toying with the idea of launching a service for people who want to share their designs with the wider community but don't want the hassle that comes with sorting out kits and dealing with all the shipping.
>>>> > 
>>>> > I know most people on this list have no problems etching PCBs and sourcing components, but there's a lot of others out there who would benefit greatly from this sort of thing.
>>>> > 
>>>> > It wouldn't be a get rich quick scheme, purely a service for the SDIY community.
>>>> > 
>>>> > GMSN would handle pretty much everything from sourcing the PCBs and components. Putting kits together and all the shipping. Panel design could either be done by the designer or could be done by GMSN.
>>>> > 
>>>> > Modules would be offered as PCBs, PCB and Panel, Full kits or Prebuilt Modules. I would also put together the build docs and it would be up to the designer on whether they wish to include schematics.
>>>> > 
>>>> > Example build docs can be found at gmsn.co.uk/support.
>>>> > 
>>>> > Like I said earlier this isn't a get rich quick scheme, it's a service to the SDIY community. There would be a mark up of, say 20% for GMSN and the same for the designer.
>>>> > 
>>>> > The whole ethos of GMSN is to make SDIY more accessible to beginners and help grow the community. Giving the community somewhere to share their designs, not just in schematic form but also in actual kits they can build would be a huge help.
>>>> > 
>>>> > What do people think? Would people just getting into SDIY benefit from this sort of thing? Are the figures ridiculous? Does this sort of service exist elsewhere?
>>>> > 
>>>> > Cheers
>>>> > 
>>>> > Rob
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