KST was co-founded by two Test & Measurement Engineers with more than a decade of experience
working for Hewlett-Packard / Agilent Technologies. One the of the many gifts from that
experience was a robust Product Lifecycle Process. Whether we design a Product for our clients
or for ourselves, we have strict criteria for bringing that Product to life and follow a defined
process -
Explore: Define the overall product objectives, the problem the Product solves,
and the
high-level technical and business goals.
Discovery: Create a Product Requirements Document (PRD) that objectively
defines the Product's
technical and business requirements.
Test Flight: Build a non-form factor, PRD-compliant prototype in a very rapid (
< 60 day) manner. The hardware is normally based on breakout boards while the firmware, mobile
application, Cloud Portal, enclosure, etc. can all be leveraged for future stages.
Development: Create the schematic, layout, enclosure, Cloud, and more with an
eye toward
prototyping and production.
Lab Prototyping: Build a small batch of Product for the purposes of
distribution to early access
customers and the engineering team for further development. Typically, these are 10 - 20 units
and built right here at our facility in Colorado Springs.
Production Prototyping: Build a larger batch of Product that uses the final
production process.
This is for the purpose of FCC/IC Certifcation, IP Certification, BLE SIG Certification, LoRa
Alliance Certification, and more! These may or may not be built in our facility.
Production: Build volume production for end customers. KST is normally actively
involved in the
production flash and test of both our products as well as those brought to us for this purpose.
Fabrication as well as Flash/Test may or may not be done in our facility.
Sunsetting: All good things must come to an end. We typically review when a
product is past its
prime due to technological or other changes in the industry and then ramp down all production
ordering, clearing out inventory, and more.
All engineering is done by KSTers and without any outside contractors. This increases our chances
of building a "harmonized" product from hardware to the Cloud and everything in the middle.
Design and Build happens here in Colorado Springs!
