One-stop test shop has information and pricing availability all in one spot

Dynalab, Inc., based in Columbus, Ohio, is a medium-volume designer and manufacturer of printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs). Its clients include Fortune 500 companies. The company provides through-hole and surface mount printed circuit board assembly, wire harness and cable assembly, insert molding, and electromechanical assembly services to the industrial controls, precision instrumentation, and telecommunication industries. Dynalab also supplies proprietary continuity test equipment to the general electronics, automotive, and telecommunications industries.

Using TestMart’s Web site, first-time customer Dynalab recently purchased a power supply and experienced more efficiency and less ambiguity than with using manufacturers’ catalogs only. Test engineering manager Dale Hachtel says that the site is an intuitive one-stop test shop with powerful product search and comparison features that allowed him and Dynalab’s engineering technicians a fast and easy shopping experience and also gave them the best price.

Test Equipment Vital to Test Strategy

The role of testing at Dynalab is critical, and the availability of the right equipment contributes to a successful manufacturing strategy. "The PCBAs we produce must perform in environmentally sensitive, rigorous industrial and instrumentation applications," says Hachtel, who works in the company’s contract manufacturing division. "Our challenge is engineering the most cost-effective manufacturing process with the fastest time to market, and developing a test strategy that will ensure a high-quality, robust product."

"The whole procurement experience at TestMart’s site was positive, fast, and simple."
-- Dale Hachtel

Dynalab develops test fixtures and special engineering processes, using in-house technology combined with off-the-shelf equipment. Tests range from optical inspection to electrical test (in-circuit and functional) to temperature cycling.

Welcome to TestMart

Hachtel’s pursuit of the power supply led him to TestMart’s Web site where he discovered that he could shop smartly and also receive pricing and availability. He was looking for an instrument, which would replace three existing units, with the capability of a wide range of voltage and current measurements. Dynalab planned to use the power supply during functional testing, and also utilize it on future product lines.

"TestMart lets me search by manufacturer or model type and perform side-by-side comparisons. There’s no need for me to surf manufacturers’ sites."
-- Dale Hachtel

"Having worked in the engineering and manufacturing business for more than 32 years, TestMart is a much welcomed tool for buying test equipment," notes Hachtel.

One-Stop Test Shop

On his first visit, Hachtel immediately found TestMart’s home page very intuitive and effortlessly mouse-clicked his way around.

"Instead of traditional shopping by searching manufacturers’ catalogs, which is time-consuming and difficult to compare makes, models, and features, I can simply go to TestMart’s site, which has everything I need in one spot. TestMart lets me search by manufacturer or model type and perform side-by-side comparisons on the same parameters," Hachtel explains. "There’s no need for me to surf manufacturers’ sites because the information I want is here, and it’s current," he says, with relief. "Using the site has saved me considerable time and has helped me decide quickly on the exact model needed for our test strategy."