Continuing our series of blogs from the Reliability Matters podcast the third installment sees our General Manager Paul Mullen and Display & Input Technology Manager Mike Logan talk about building on challenges to provide better customer service.
As Anders explores new ways to deliver better solutions to its end users, it has morphed to support the changing needs of those same customers. As a result of its focus on design expertise, our engineering group is a bit larger than most.
I think what really sets us apart is that while we're a specialist, we have very strong local engineering resources, to support the UK and Europe, where we predominantly work,” explained Mike Logan. “Most companies that have engineering resources of our size are generally broad line distributors, where they're selling multiple products across multiple lines. Companies that are generally a specialist in the display market may have one or two engineers based locally, but they rely very heavily on their manufacturing partners or suppliers overseas, and that can create delays and issues. We try to deliver the product that the customer wants, not what's in our stock profile or in our supplier stock profile,” Mike continued. “We take responsibility and accountability for the design, and then we choose the manufacturing partner that will deliver the optimum design at the right cost for our end customers.
Grown out of its natural curiosity to solve problems, Anders has developed a handy habit – an inquisitive knack for knowing. If an issue arises, our team will naturally expand their circle of knowledge so that a third party is typically not needed to solve the issue, and the knowledge becomes second nature, so that if the issue comes up with another customer, it’s solved straight away.
As a result, we have developed a plan for just about every situation. With kiosks, for example, we will consider not only location, weather, and usage, but add specific components that make the application more user-friendly. We will design backlights that enable better vision on a bright day, but also know to design in a certain way to draw heat away from the LEDs to avert failure. There are other ways to reliably improve the readability of a display in bright sunlight. Optical bonding - laminating the touchscreen module to the display module – is one.
Rather than just putting double-sided tape or a gasket just around a perimeter to attach the two together, optical bonding fills the gap with a UV-resistant optical glue. This optical glue adds strength and reduces the chances of any internal reflections forming between the gaps that would affect the readability of the display.
Cover glasses often feature logos and paint, so before decorating a cover glass for an outdoor solution, we will monitor the effect that UV has on the paint. A standard ink on a cover glass may flake and peel away from the glass. Anders uses a special type of printing to ensure that doesn't happen – another way we adjust the design to suit the customer’s need for reliability.
Have you ever considered that an outdoor touchscreen has to be designed to withstand rain? When water falls, you can either design a touchscreen to stop accepting any inputs, or you may have a situation where rain is falling on the screen, but it still needs to be used. Anders has seen – and solved - both challenges.
Anders, the people behind the screen, know how to shift with the times and anticipate customers’ needs. For more information, visit https://www.andersdx.com/displays/. Keep tuned, more to come from Reliability Matters.
If you missed the original Anders’ Reliability Matters podcast, it can be heard on the following channels:
If you would like to catch up with the entire series, see the links below:
Part 1: Anders Up Close - the people behind the screen
Part 2: Anders Up Close - ensuring durability in the toughest places
Part 3: Anders up Close - challenges lead to improved customer service
Part 4: Anders Up Close - Reliability as Resilience
Part 5: Anders Up Close - the Anders difference
Reliability Matters Podcast:
Reliability Matters is a podcast on the subject of reliability of circuit assemblies. Reliability "best practices" and success stories are discussed. This podcast features interviews with experts in the electronic assembly industry: https://www.aqueoustech.com/podcast