When our development department at Partner Tech starts planning and designing new products, customers are involved at an early stage. After all, it is ultimately our customers who know exactly what requirements need to be met in the respective market segment and how new products can provide support in this regard.

We regularly invite international customers to joint workshops to analyze the challenges in various markets, develop new concepts and preview new products or their prototypes.

Most recently, we offered an innovation tour to Asia prior to the Corona pandemic, which a number of European customers from various industries were happy to participate in. Our customers got the opportunity to discover new ideas and concepts for retail and hospitality, which are of course quite different in Asia. In the subsequent workshops, the impressions gathered were discussed and adapted for European requirements. We incorporated the results into our product development.

The next innovation tour to Asia will take place as soon as the travel restrictions are lifted. On the agenda this time are Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Workshops with customers contribute a part for the development of new products, but on the other hand we also invest about 6-8% of the annual turnover directly in research, market observation and development. In addition, we regularly receive feedback from the day-to-day business processes of our global customers from all vertical markets. We also keep an eye on the consumer market, because these are products that each of us uses and knows on a daily basis. Comparisons of consumer goods with industrial goods are, of course, not left out by customers.

In today's rapid technological change, where every year the manufacturers of products for end consumers outdo each other with innovations, trade, hospitality and industry also expect the same. At the same time, there is a need for products with long availability and a long service life. In our product development, we manage precisely this balancing act between innovative design coupled with long sustainability. For example, we use components with availabilities of up to 15 years and a service life of 7-10 years.

We ensure long service life and product quality under a wide range of stress scenarios. Cold, heat, liquid and dust chambers test the robustness of products. Robots rotate or swivel terminals, bend cables, push physical buttons, or connect connectors in thousands of cycles to simulate long life. Chemical material analysis, acoustic tomography scans and radar images are used to examine microscopic defects in the motherboard to prevent later failures. We also use vibration and drop tests to ensure that products are robust and that their packaging gets them safely to customers.

Various ISO certifications and legal guidelines also have a major impact on the development and production process. Certified with the ISO 9001 quality mark, all steps in production are monitored so that quality can be maintained and continuously improved. Similarly certified with the environmental management standard ISO 14001, the processes for compliance with environmental performance are continuously improved. QC 080000 certification ensures that Partner Tech manufactures electronic products in compliance with RoHS and WEEE directives and minimizes or avoids hazardous substances.

As a member of the QISDA Group, Partner Tech is the leading developer and manufacturer of POS solutions, POS peripherals and mobile solutions. Since 1990, Partner Tech has been selling its innovative technology worldwide, from mobile ordering systems to compact all-in-one systems and self-service terminals.

With its European headquarters in Norderstedt, Germany, Partner Tech Europe takes care of European needs in today's globalizing world. In addition to traditional sales, Partner Tech Europe also offers services including installation, maintenance and repair, and all other point-of-sale related topics. Also consulting to optimize sales processes and product/project management for individual solutions, the Partner Tech Europa team is the right contact.

Profile guest author Jörg Voyé

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