How can Startups Benefit from Solcept?

If you have an initial product idea, but are not yet sure how to develop it in detail, we can support you with advice on „System Definition”. In workshops with you and, above all, with your customers and other stakeholders, we develop initial requirements (i.e., the „Lastenheft”) and detailed concepts, e.g., for operation.

Or are you still unsure how you want to implement your idea or which technologies are most efficient to use? Then you can take advantage of our Technology Consulting service, in which we work with you to select the most appropriate technologies.

These can then serve as a basis for the development or for the estimation of your product development investments.

If you want to launch a new product, there are always risks involved, otherwise the product idea typically does not make sense. And these risks are not only technical, but often commercial in nature. First, you need to identify the risks, then plan how to mitigate them and track them (risk management). Planning means prioritizing the risks and eliminating the biggest ones first, typically by mitigating them as early as possible and assessing the results with clear milestones.

Solcept has many years of experience in identifying and prioritizing risks. This results in a risk list that serves as the basis for project and milestone planning. We can also support you here with planning and effort estimation. Good planning also helps you plan the necessary investments in your company / your product

For example, you have developed the perfect sensor, your system works autonomously, or... In other words, you have a functioning technology. How do you turn it into a marketable product?

To get from a technology to a product, its basic function must be „packaged” in such a way that you can sell it. You need to offer interfaces, not least to the user, but what should these look like? You also need to comply with regulations. But which ones?

We can support you in all these areas to offer an MVP (Minimum Vviable Product) that is also „viable,” i.e., usable. With interfaces that are intuitive for the user and make integration into your customers' systems as easy as possible.

And that always includes regulatory requirements, at least EMC (ElectroMagnetic Compatibility), usually also protection against elevated temperatures, electric shock, safety, and possibly even compliance with functional safety. We have the experience to help you meet the right standards, efficiently .

Once it is sufficiently clear what needs to be developed, i.e., the first requirements („Lastenheft”) exists, the actual development can begin.

We start with the System Design phase, in which the detailed specifications (requirements specifications / „Pflichtenheft”) are established and the architecture of the product is defined. The architecture describes the parts that make up the product (electronics, software, mechanics) and the key components used.

On this basis, the product can be developed to series-production readiness and introduced into production as a pilot series. Either at a manufacturer (EMS: Electronic Manufacturing Service) of your choice or at one of our partners.

In order to estimate your investment requirements and verify the business model, you need to know, among other things, what the development costs and manufacturing costs are. We can support you in this with project estimates and manufacturing cost clarifications.

One of the most frequently underestimated expenses is the cost of certification. This cost and these efforts depend greatly on which standards your product falls under and, of course, which markets you want to sell it in, primarily Europe or the US.

Thanks to our extensive experience, also with critical products, we can efficiently compile a „Certification Base” for you, i.e., a list of the product and process standards that apply to your product. This is important first and foremost as a base for estimation of development cost and possibly also manufacturing cost. The latter are primarily influenced by functional safety, as this affects the choice of components and sometimes requires redundant architectures.

If you want to sell your product in Europe, you cannot avoid CE marking. The same applies to the USA with UL (Underwriter Laboratories, CSA (Canadian Standards Association) is also accepted).

It is much more efficient to incorporate the applicable standards into the planning stage early on, especially in the architecture and design, as this avoids the need for expensive redesigns shortly before production launch.

We can also coach you on your own development projects, so get in touch with us at an early stage!

Many products, including machine components, are subject to the Machinery Regulation or machine safety standards (usually ISO 13849). What does this mean for you?

First, you must identify and document the hazards in a risk analysis (typically in accordance with ISO 12100). Based on this, the system must be designed and developed in such a way that it meets the safety level specified in the analysis.

We can support you with the risk analysis, and then above all with the system architecture (diagnostic paths, redundant systems, etc.) and all further development steps.

If your device or software („software as a medical device”) is intended to have a medical benefit, then you are subject to the Medical Devices Regulation (MDR) in Europe and similar regulations in the US and other countries.

What do you need to do, even as a start-up?

On the one hand, there are process standards that you must comply with, i.e., standards governing how you must proceed in development. At a minimum, the general process standard ISO 13485 and the risk management standard ISO 14971, as well as IEC 62304 for software development, apply. These standards will determine most of the processes in your organization, not just in development, but e.g. also who you can hire as suppliers.

On the other hand, there are technical standards, both general and for specific device classes, such as the IEC 60601 series. Compliance with these standards is crucial for product development and can have a major impact on your product.

We can support you with all standards, both process and technical, as we live and breathe them ourselves. Among other things, we are certified to ISO 13485. You can also use this knowledge to determine the certification basis, i.e., which standards apply.

The choice of manufacturer, whether domestic, European, or Asian, needs to be carefully considered.

The aim is to find the ideal partner for the entire life cycle of the product: with modifications, quality and, in the medical sector, for example, certifications. It makes sense to set the course early on. For example, a product that has been optimized for fully automated production from the outset can massively expand the range of possible manufacturers and thus enable an attractive price, even domestically.

If you want to develop a product that is functionally safe, you must comply with process standards, i.e., standards that prescribe what must be done during development (planning, requirements management, test coverage, etc.) and these processes must be described throughout the organization. Cybersecurity regulations are also increasingly requiring such processes. But: how do you get started with these processes?

If you build and document the processes from scratch, you can expect to spend several man-years on the task. How can you shorten this time?

We offer your engineers the opportunity to work with our engineers on an initial functional safety / cybersecurity project using our processes and tools. You will then receive our process assets (process descriptions, templates, checklists), which your employees will now be familiar with, as the basis for your own compliant process landscape.

This is probably the most efficient and fastest way to achieve certifiable and efficient development processes.

If your idea is really good, we would be happy to discuss other remuneration models instead of direct payment for our development costs. Of course, this only applies to product ideas that really convince us!

We can offer you licensing models or „work for equity,” always with a corresponding risk premium, of course.