HMI - Make or Buy?

Start with research on the general stuff, then move on to key technologies. Then specify products, start visualizations and mockups, and ready your project managers! Now create your proof of concept and submit for feedback. Did all go well? Great! Only a couple more steps!

CAD drafting, 3D modeling, simulation and prototype testing, all in the design phase. Closely followed by circuit diagram development, PCB layout, FPGA/VHDL design, selection of components, and general hardware design analysis and prototyping. These are critical steps in designing an HMI.

Not the fun GUI development, but software that merely makes your device function. Bootloaders, operating system, driver development, track support, system analysis, and much more. If this seems overwhelming, hey, we've already got it ready to go with a Garz & Fricke HMI.

All Garz & Fricke products are EMC tested, ensuring that Electromagnet Interference (EMI) never becomes a problem in your machine. With a Raspberry Pi or other fruit salad board, there are no guarantees. Can you afford product malfunction? Are you interested in spending engineering hours checking certifications off your list? Avoid all of these pitfalls by partnering with Garz & Fricke.

A host of challenges presents itself when considering mass producing HMIs - BOM optimization, packaging development, supply chain development, industrial design tooling, production tools & components, quality control - the list is almost endless.

Garz & Fricke support our products for 10+ years. If you buy a fruit salad, or worse, a Chinese here-today-gone-tomorrow, and after one year experience malfunction, what's your next step? With form factors and product offerings changing constantly, what are the chances you'll have to keep reinventing the wheel because you saw a tantalizingly low upfront cost? Is it worth the risk?