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OEM / ODM Hardware Development

Hardware customization, PCB design, firmware development, small batch production and mass production — delivered by one engineering team, in one building, under one contract.

How We Work

A customisation business with a standard catalogue

Every platform in our range began as a customer-specific design. That is why the answer to "can you change this?" is almost always yes, and why the schedule for a derivative is measured in weeks rather than quarters.

Most projects arrive in one of three shapes: an obsolete board that needs a modern drop-in replacement, a working prototype that needs to become manufacturable, or a blank sheet and a machine specification. We are comfortable with all three, and we will tell you early if a standard platform gets you most of the way for a fraction of the cost.

3 daysFeasibility and fixed quote
4 weeksTypical first prototype
50 pcsMinimum pilot batch
SoC / CPUDDR / eMMCPOWERFIELDBUSDISPLAY / TCONI/OSCHEMATIC · REV B · CORETRON ENGINEERINGDFM / DFT REVIEWED
Capabilities

Five services, one accountable team

No sub-contracting chain between design and production. The engineer who lays out the board sits down the corridor from the line that builds it.

01

Hardware Customization

  • Start from a proven platform and change only what your product needs
  • Board outline, mounting pattern and connector positions to your 3D model
  • Interface remix: swap Ethernet for CAN, add isolated RS485, expose GPIO on terminal blocks
  • Memory, storage and temperature grade selection with cost impact stated up front
  • Power input stage redesign: 9-36 V, 18-75 V, PoE or battery with ride-through
02

PCB Design

  • Schematic capture in Altium Designer with reviewed, version-controlled libraries
  • 4 to 16 layer stack-ups, controlled impedance, HDI and blind/buried vias
  • Signal integrity and power integrity simulation before the first prototype
  • DFM, DFT and DFA review carried out jointly with the production engineers who will build it
  • EMC-aware layout with pre-compliance scanning before you pay for accredited lab time
03

Firmware Development

  • U-Boot and kernel porting, device tree authoring, driver development
  • Yocto, Buildroot and Debian image build systems with reproducible toolchains
  • Application layer: Qt 5/6, LVGL, Slint, Chromium kiosk, ROS 2
  • Secure boot, encrypted rootfs, signed A/B OTA update with automatic rollback
  • Long-term maintenance contracts with CVE patching and quarterly releases
04

Small Batch Production

  • Pilot runs from 50 pieces with full AOI, ICT and functional test
  • No tooling charge on standard platform derivatives
  • Serialised units with individual test records for field trial traceability
  • Fast iteration: design change to new pilot batch in 2-3 weeks
  • Ideal for certification samples, field trials and early customer deployments
05

Mass Production

  • Partner lines with SMT capacity above 200,000 units per month
  • AOI, X-ray for BGA, ICT, functional test and burn-in as standard flow
  • IPC-A-610 Class 2 or Class 3 assembly, conformal coating and potting available
  • Partner facilities operating ISO 9001 / ISO 14001 systems, with full material traceability
  • Direct drop-shipping to your distribution centres in the EU and North America
Development Process

From specification to volume supply

Indicative durations for a typical derivative project. A ground-up design adds roughly four to six weeks at the architecture stage.

  • 01

    Requirement & feasibility 3 days

    You send a specification, a competitor board or just a description of the machine. We return a feasibility assessment, a platform recommendation and a fixed quotation within 3 working days.

  • 02

    Architecture & schematic 1-2 weeks

    Block diagram, part selection with lifecycle checks, schematic capture and a formal design review with your engineers before any layout starts.

  • 03

    PCB layout & prototype 3-4 weeks

    Layout, DFM review, fabrication and assembly of the first article. Prototypes arrive with a test report and an EMC pre-compliance scan.

  • 04

    Firmware, BSP & integration 2-6 weeks

    Bootloader, kernel, device tree, drivers, OTA framework and your application. Delivered as a flashable image with build instructions.

  • 05

    Certification & pilot batch 4-8 weeks

    EMC, safety and radio testing coordinated with accredited labs. Pilot batch of 50-500 units for field validation.

  • 06

    Mass production & supply Ongoing

    Volume manufacturing with full test coverage, plus lifecycle management: PCN discipline, buffer stock and last-time-buy planning.

Quality & Compliance

What gets tested, and what gets documented

Certification deadlines slip when evidence is missing, not when hardware fails. We generate the evidence as we go.

Certifications

Partner facilities run ISO 9001 / ISO 14001 systems and IATF-aligned processes. Product-level CE, UKCA, FCC, RoHS 3, REACH; E-Mark and EN 50155 on request. Certificates supplied with every batch.

EMC pre-compliance

Radiated and conducted emissions, ESD, EFT and surge pre-compliance through our EMC partner lab, so you find problems before you pay for accredited test time.

Environmental testing

Thermal cycling from -40 °C to +125 °C, humidity cycling, vibration and shock to EN 60068-2 at accredited partner labs, plus 24-hour burn-in on every production unit.

Production test coverage

AOI on both sides, X-ray for every BGA, in-circuit test and functional test against a written test plan at the partner factory, with a serialised record kept for 10 years.

Frequently Asked

The questions buyers actually ask

What is the minimum order quantity?
50 pieces for a pilot batch of a standard-platform derivative, 100 pieces for volume production. A fully custom board from a blank sheet is normally quoted from 500 pieces because of the NRE amortisation, but talk to us — we have done smaller when the project made sense.
Do you charge NRE for customisation?
Derivatives of an existing platform — connector changes, interface remixes, outline modifications — usually carry no tooling charge and a modest engineering fee. A ground-up design carries NRE that we quote as a fixed price, and we will tell you honestly whether a derivative would get you 90% of the way for 20% of the cost.
Who owns the design and the IP?
Anything you bring is yours and stays yours. For NRE-funded custom designs, the schematic, layout and firmware developed specifically for you are assigned to you on final payment. Our platform base designs and generic BSP work remain ours and are licensed to you for the product's life.
Can you support our certification submission?
Yes. We run EMC pre-compliance through our EMC partner lab, coordinate testing with accredited labs, and supply the technical construction file, material declarations and test evidence. For medical and rail projects we work to your quality system's documentation requirements.
How long do you guarantee supply?
10 years from production start for the platforms shown on this site, backed by silicon vendor longevity commitments. We operate a formal PCN process, hold buffer stock against your rolling forecast, and give at least 12 months' notice plus a last-time-buy window before any end-of-life.
Can you work with our existing design?
Often, yes. Send us the schematic and Gerbers and we will review manufacturability, component lifecycle risk and cost-down opportunities. Taking over the manufacture of an existing, working design is a common starting point for our customers.

Send us a specification and get a fixed quotation in three days.

Schematic, competitor board, mechanical drawing or a paragraph describing the machine — whatever you have is enough to start.

Start a Project

Tell us about the product you are building

Include the interfaces, the environment, the certification path and the volume you expect in year one and year three. Those four numbers determine almost everything else.

NDA first? Say so in the form and we will send ours, or sign yours, before the first technical discussion.
Email us directly

Your enquiry goes straight to an application engineer, not a call centre. We reply with a technical proposal, indicative pricing and lead time within one business day. NDA available on request.