The electronics design process for a company with its own product consists of five stages: technical consultation and concept validation, design work on the schematic and PCB, prototyping, comprehensive electronics manufacturing (SMT/THT, final assembly), and deployment with servicing and remote device monitoring. Depending on the scope — from designing a single module to full product development ending in production readiness — the entire design process typically takes anywhere from a few weeks (for a simple module) to several months (for a complex device requiring CE certification). Below, we break down each stage in detail: what exactly happens during the design phase, what documents are produced, and where the risk of exceeding the budget or schedule most commonly arises.
Electronics design services today cover much more than just schematics and PCB layouts. Depending on the maturity of the client's product, the scope may be limited to circuit design as an R&D subcontracting assignment for a defined technical task, or it may cover full product development: from functionality, through mechanics and electronics, to firmware and production readiness. The electronics design services market in Poland is fragmented — most companies offer a narrow set of capabilities (e.g. schematics and PCB design only, without production facilities or an EMC laboratory), forcing clients to coordinate several suppliers at once. The electronics design services market in Central Europe is growing alongside the reshoring of production closer to the end customer, increasing the requirements for suppliers capable of managing the entire chain rather than just one part of it. For a technically involved company (CTO, Head of Engineering), this creates additional project risk — every transfer between suppliers is a point where the specification can become misaligned. A scope covering both design and manufacturing reduces the number of contact points on the client's side to a single team.
Electronic device design as a narrowly defined R&D subcontracting service works well when the client already has its own engineering team and needs support with a specific module or function — without transferring responsibility for the entire product. This is the most common cooperation model with clients who have a CTO on board but lack the resources to handle a specific task.
Custom electronics design differs from product development from scratch primarily in the scope of responsibility. In the first case, the client already has a defined functional specification and expects a specific task to be completed — e.g. designing a communication module for an existing device. In the second case, the project starts from a concept, without a ready-made system architecture, and the supplier is responsible for selecting the platform, defining the electronics architecture, and establishing the path to certification. Designing new devices from scratch differs from expanding an existing product line primarily due to the lack of a reference point — there is no previous version to refer to when making decisions. Designing new devices for regulated markets (medtech, aerospace) requires certification requirements to be taken into account already during the technical consultation, rather than after the fact.
We profile power consumption at the hardware level (e.g. using a Nordic PPK2 or an oscilloscope with a shunt resistor) and calculate the expected battery life based on the cell capacity. This means that “3 years on a single battery” is a figure based on actual measurements, not a promise from a presentation.
The most common electronic module projects handled by our R&D team include communication modules, high-speed interfaces (USB, HDMI, Ethernet, PCI-Express, MIPI, LVDS), motor controllers (stepper motors, servo motors), and power supply modules. Electronic module projects carried out under a single contract typically include several variants of the same hardware platform — hence the importance of selecting the appropriate design methodology for each product category. The choice of design methodology depends on which of the above categories the project falls into — the validation process for a fan module in a vending machine differs from that used for a controller designed for heavy industry.
The electronics design stages, regardless of the industry, follow a repeatable process. Below, we describe it step by step — as it works in practice, not as it appears in a sales presentation.
Every design process starts with a discussion to verify whether the client's concept is feasible within the planned budget and timeframe. This is the point at which the biggest client concern is addressed: technical risk — the uncertainty of whether the supplier can handle a specific challenge. The technical consultation includes a review of functional requirements, preliminary architecture selection, and, if required by the project, an analysis of compliance with applicable standards and regulations (e.g. the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU, RED, LVD (Low Voltage Directive), or the Machinery Directive for the EU market). A good technical consultation ends not with a marketing proposal, but with a specific list of technical assumptions and an estimated schedule.
The electronic schematic is the starting point for the entire design process — a map of connections between components that defines the logic of how the circuit operates. Schematic design requires selecting components based on availability (avoiding parts with long lead times), cost, and compliance with environmental requirements. Electronic modules designed for cloud integration already require the connectivity module (Wi-Fi, LTE, LoRa) to be considered at the schematic stage. Once the schematic has been approved by the client, it becomes the basis for further PCB design work — changes at this stage are many times cheaper than modifications after the traces have been routed.
PCB design involves placing components on the board and routing power and signal traces. At this stage, electronic circuit design must account not only for functionality, but also for manufacturability (DFM) and subsequent electromagnetic compatibility — poor trace routing is one of the most common causes of EMC test failures later in the process. PCB design for industrial devices differs from designing a board for a simple IoT module in terms of the number of layers, thermal requirements, and power safety margins. At exa22, schematic design is carried out using the same tools as production documentation, which reduces errors when transferring data between stages.
Although a PCB is commonly associated with the laminate and copper traces, in practice, PCB design involves an entire chain of decisions: the number of layers, laminate material, production class (according to IPC-A-600), and manufacturing tolerances. A well-designed PCB minimizes the number of prototype iterations — and each iteration means an additional week and additional cost. A well-documented electronic schematic also makes subsequent device servicing easier — maintenance engineers do not have to reconstruct the circuit logic from scratch. At exa22, we keep PCB design and production documentation in a single design environment to avoid version discrepancies between the schematic, PCB layout, and assembly instructions — so errors are identified during DFM verification rather than only on the SMT production line.
The design stage concludes with prototyping — building the first physical version of the device for functional and environmental testing. Prototyping makes it possible to verify the assumptions from the technical consultation on real hardware before the company invests in larger-scale production. At this stage, design modifications are often required: technical design optimization may involve adjusting component selection, improving cooling, and changing trace routing based on the first test results. Technical design optimization may also be driven by component availability — a substitute component can require part of the circuit to be redesigned. Good practice assumes at least one iteration from the outset — treating the first prototype as the final product is the most common mistake made by teams without hardware experience.
A working prototype is only the beginning — validation and testing determine whether the design is ready for deployment. We have extensive test and measurement equipment that allows us to conduct most tests in our own laboratory — from signal integrity and electromagnetic compatibility to environmental testing. At the signal integrity verification stage, we check the performance of high-speed digital interfaces — USB, HDMI, Ethernet, PCI-Express, MIPI, and LVDS — analyzing impedance matching and signal reflections using time-domain reflectometry (TDR) and a vector network analyzer (VNA), which we also use to evaluate RF path parameters in the frequency domain. In parallel, we conduct pre-compliance electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing: we measure conducted and radiated emissions using a spectrum analyzer and EMI receiver, verify conducted and radiated immunity — including immunity to surges (Surge) and electrical fast transients (EFT/Burst) — and test harmonic content and flicker. We also verify the device's resistance to operating conditions. We conduct thermal tests to evaluate performance at extreme operating temperatures and heat dissipation, overload tests to verify operation outside rated power supply and load conditions, and single-fault safety analysis to assess how the device behaves in the event of a single component failure.
Production documentation is a set of files and specifications required to start production: Gerber files, BOM (Bill of Materials), assembly instructions, and test procedures. Missing production documentation is one of the main causes of delays when transferring a project to an external manufacturing facility — which is why at exa22 we treat this stage as an integral part of the design process, not as an afterthought.
At the platform selection stage, electronic circuit design typically begins with choosing the right microcontroller and, in some projects, deciding between a microcontroller and an FPGA. For most electronic modules of moderate complexity, microcontrollers are the best fit — we most often use STM32 and ESP32 families, as well as other ARM-based solutions that combine lower unit costs, simpler firmware, and shorter time to market. FPGAs make sense where real-time parallel processing is critical (e.g. signal processing or multi-axis control), or where the hardware architecture needs to remain flexible after deployment — which is why the choice between a microcontroller and an FPGA is particularly relevant for projects with demanding timing requirements. There is no single right answer in electronics design — the platform choice affects the unit production cost for years to come, so it is worth making this decision consciously, based on the project's actual requirements rather than team habits.
Comprehensive electronics design — with mechanics, electronics, firmware, and cloud development under one roof — eliminates one of the most expensive hidden costs in hardware projects: coordination between suppliers. Working with a single team that is responsible both for electronics design and subsequent manufacturing shortens the feedback loop between the designer and the production line. Electronics design based on an iterative R&D methodology — a series of short design-test-correction cycles instead of one long phase before the first prototype — shortens the time to a first working device.
It also creates a different model of cooperation with the client's engineering team — instead of transferring documentation between companies, the design and production teams work with the same data. Cooperation with the client's R&D team in this model works as an extension of its engineering team rather than as a traditional supplier-client relationship. For clients who are just building their own engineering team, cooperation with R&D typically starts with a single project and develops into an ongoing subcontracting model. Electronics projects delivered as R&D subcontracting usually have a narrower scope of responsibility than full product development. Electronics design closely integrated with manufacturing is what distinguishes the comprehensive model from a traditional outsourced design project. For a client without its own engineering resources, this is often the only practical way to get a project off the ground without maintaining a large in-house engineering team.
Comprehensive electronics manufacturing begins where the prototype stage ends — with the transition from a single unit to a production batch. This is the point at which production documentation, component selection based on availability, and EMC test results must all align, because an error detected at this stage can cost many times more than one found during the design phase. At exa22, electronic device manufacturing takes place on an automated SMT/THT production line launched in 2025. Prototype electronics manufacturing differs from series production primarily in its tolerance for manual rework — there is no room for this in mass production, so the design process must account for it in advance. Lower-complexity electronic module projects typically move directly into series production without an additional prototype iteration.
EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services) is a model in which an electronics manufacturer produces electronic devices designed by another company — without taking on the design layer. We have been operating in this model since 2025, using an automated SMT/THT production line to handle both prototype and series production for external clients under the exa-make brand. Electronics manufacturing for external companies follows slightly different rules than manufacturing for exa22's own products (Anyvend, VroX22). For a client that already has a finished design and is looking only for an electronics manufacturer, this means the ability to outsource production without maintaining its own SMT line — while maintaining full confidentiality (white-label manufacturing is the standard, not the exception). An electronics manufacturer that also designs its own products, such as exa22, also understands the challenges faced by clients transferring their designs into production.
Product deployment does not end with shipping the first production batch. Electronic devices delivered to end customers require after-sales servicing and, increasingly, remote monitoring in the field. IoT platforms such as our VroX22, designed to control a wide range of end devices and machines, can detect a failure before the customer reports it and enable servicing to be planned rather than handled reactively. Remote device monitoring also changes the economics of a project: a design company that builds telemetry into the product from the beginning avoids costly electronics redesign when the client later requires real-time operational data.
I design firmware for medical, aerospace, and IoT devices. Specialization: ARM, STM32, ESP32, low-power.
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