HEERBRUGG, SWITZERLAND- Outsourcing is always a major consideration, but when the key selling points for your product are high-performance and reliability, there is very little room for mistakes. The key to success is collaboration and the close partnership established between ESCATEC and Napatech is a case in point.
Napatech is the world's largest vendor of intelligent adapters for network analysis. Napatech adapters are used by the largest vendors of management, test and security systems to the telecom, enterprise, financial and government industries. These vendors rely on Napatech to guarantee the delivery of the data they need for analysis of what is happening in networks. This needs to be provided in real-time, at the highest speeds possible without any of the data being lost. Napatech products are therefore required to meet high performance and reliability demands.
Bo Guldager, Napatech's Operations Manager, explained, "As our products are used for a wide variety of critical applications, such as securing networks against hackers and keeping track of financial transactions worth millions, it is important that we can keep up with the latest developments while also assuring the reliability of our products. We need more than just a contract manufacturer; we need a long term partner. We are delighted that over the past seven years, we have developed a very close working partnership with ESCATEC. There are high-security production and test areas within ESCATEC's Heerbrugg facility that are dedicated exclusively to our products along with operational staff that are similarly dedicated to the production of our products. This provides us with the confidence that our products can meet the highest standards."
Reliability is not just a question of dependable performance, but also dependable delivery.
Gerhard Klauser, General Manager at ESCATEC Switzerland, added, "Napatech has very sophisticated order forecasting which enables us to start building products a few weeks in advance of when they will be ordered. These close-coupled logistics means that the products are ready to be shipped same day when the actual order comes in. All that is needed is the final stage of the upload of the appropriate software algorithms, which is done via a direct link from Napatech in Denmark to Heerbrugg, with a backup system in case the link goes down."
The protocol for uploading of the software has been designed to minimise the possibility of human error. The job sheet for each product has bar codes that are scanned by the operator in sequence to upload software and test the product. This removes the need for keyboards and prevents the possibility of miss-keying -- even YES and NO input is done by a bar code input.
This high security link between Napatech's HQ in Denmark and ESCATEC also enables prototypes to be remotely tested the moment that they are assembled for functionality and software to be uploaded and debugged. "This can shave precious days off the time-to-market that aren't wasted couriering boards to and fro," explained Bo Guldager. "It is like having a virtual presence right in the heart of the ESCATEC production and test area. We are delighted to have found a partner with whom we can work so closely in this symbiotic way."
