If you work in a highly technical industry, then you probably already know something about reverse engineering services. But just in case you don’t, we’re going to give you the run down.
What are reverse engineering services?
Reverse engineering services are any procedures that involve taking apart an object in order to figure out how it works and possibly enhance it. Another alternative to reverse engineering is non destructive, or ndt testing, which involves taking something apart using some sort of imaging technology rather than physically breaking down a prototype.
Why is reverse engineering important to my industry?
Again, if you’re in the greeting card business, it’s probably not. However if you work with products that would put consumers in jeopardy were they to fail, such as cars or airplanes, then reverse engineering can help you understand intimately the product hazards and fix them before anything terrible happens. Reverse engineering services can also help you get a leg up on the competition. For example, if you work for Apple, you could conceivably go out and buy an Android phone, take it apart or scan it, and know all of the competition’s product building secrets. (In fact, this probably happens every single time the two infamous phone manufacturers roll out an upgrade).
What should I look for in reverse engineering services?
Whether you go for reverse engineering or non destructive testing, it’s important to have a handle on the technological playing field as it exists today. RE and NDT technology is changing at an astounding rate. For example, computed tomography scans (you know them better as CT scans), used to take hours to create a single result. Now, you can create an entire set of images in just seconds.
While speed of imaging or reconstruction is an obvious thing to consider, another is quality of imaging. If you’re not sure what counts as quality, it’s useful to research the standards of your industry and go from there. For example, a resolution of 2.88 is considered the minimum standard in medical X-ray technology, whereas in the automotive industry, the needed resolution depends on the size of the internal parts being photographed.
How do I solicit reverse engineering services?
For sure, this is a niche industry and that can present some problems with the search. Our best suggestion would be to do some digging on the internet and come up with a short list that you can then ask colleagues in related industry about. These days, attacking a research question of this type from all angles is your only option if you’re looking for quality and legitimacy.
Of course, anyone who has some insight and comments below would got a long way in helping fellow engineers out!
