Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
(Source: Image by Kipp Bradford)
Figure 13.3
Samples shipped from a distributor. All were damaged in transit.
Twice, I've had manufacturers send me parts that were not what I designed and
ordered, and once I had to chase a battery vendor for four months to have it fill the order
that I had paid for in full. Sending wire transfers to factories sight unseen is always a risky
endeavor. If you don't have the stomach for this risk, you are better off working with local
factories. Even if you do work with offshore factories, it's a good idea to send your money
through a bank that has extensive international wire transfer capabilities. Large multina-
tional banks typically have a wire fraud department that can perform a full trace on a
transfer and help you recover lost funds.
Ideally, if you've done your homework, at this point you will have identified a good
factory that is trustworthy, has integrity, and has given you a reasonable quote. You should
have done a design review of all your files and some optimization to work with this fact-
ory's engineers. You will have sent the first payment and the factory will have received it.
Now it will begin to make a small production run of your parts, and will send you
