An undefined product concept
The original request concerned a plastic front panel, without a complete hardware specification.
Project Example / Access Control Hardware
Access control hardware
Developing Complete Hardware from a Hand Sketch
Starting with a hand sketch and broad functional requirements, Actech developed the mechanical concept and coordinated specialist suppliers to deliver assembled, tested and packaged hardware for the customer to configure with its own software.
- Product
- Fingerprint / RFID access control and attendance hardware
- Starting point
- A hand sketch and broad functional requirements
- Actech’s scope
- Mechanical design, sourcing, integration, assembly, testing and packaging
- Design & delivery responsibilities
- Specialist-designed industrial computer; customer-developed software; assembled hardware supplied by Actech
01 / THE STARTING POINT
Challenge
A plastic front-panel request became a broader hardware-development project, with the product definition and mechanical structure still to be resolved.
Limited mechanical design resources
The customer needed help translating functional requirements into an appearance concept, component layout and manufacturable structure.
LCD fit and assembly constraints
The existing LCD specification and available assembly space required repeated adjustments to resolve interference between parts.
02 / OUR RESPONSE
Actech’s Approach
Actech defined the mechanical concept and coordinated the specialist contributions needed to deliver complete hardware.
Define the complete hardware
Actech proposed appearance concepts, clarified the requirements and developed the mechanical design and 3D CAD.
Coordinate specialist suppliers
The customer specified the fingerprint and RFID readers. Actech helped select other components, sourced an industrial computer supplier and served as a single point of contact.
Integrate and verify
The front panel, rear housing, LCD, fingerprint reader, RFID reader and industrial computer module were integrated through assembly, functional testing and packaging.
03 / PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
Engineering to Production
The design progressed through sample adjustments, a pilot build and production, followed by a change to rear-housing fabrication.
Mechanical concept
An injection-molded front panel and laser-cut sheet-metal rear housing balanced appearance with the initial tooling investment.
Sample refinement
Approximately 3–4 sample versions incorporated requirement details, LCD fit adjustments and findings from assembly.
Pilot build and fixtures
A pilot run preceded production. Actech made assembly and functional-test fixtures to check RFID, fingerprint, display and I/O.
Production and optimization
Hardware was assembled, functionally tested and packaged. Rear-housing fabrication later changed to NCT (CNC turret punching).
04 / WHAT CHANGED
Results & Impact
~8 months
From initial engagement to first production
500 units
First production batch
~50% lower rear-housing unit cost
After switching from laser cutting to NCT
This reduction applies to the rear housing, not to the complete product or total project cost.
Project context
The collaboration ran approximately from 2006 to 2024. Later batches were approximately 200–300 sets, each fully assembled, functionally tested and packaged before shipment.
Long-term value
An early concept became complete hardware, with mechanical adjustments supporting later changes to the host-computer specifications.
05 / KEY TAKEAWAY
From an idea to a complete product
Mechanical design, specialist sourcing and coordinated production turned an early concept into complete hardware for the customer’s own system.