Design Reviews & Compliance Support for Embedded Products

Most costly engineering failures are preventable.

A board respin can cost:

• $10,000–$150,000+
• 6–12+ weeks of lost engineering time
• Missed purchase orders or lost revenue

A failed compliance test (FCC, EMC, UL, CE) can stall a launch for months.

At Simple Innovations, we help embedded engineering teams avoid expensive surprises by performing structured, engineering-led design reviews, compliance planning, and risk reduction throughout the entire product lifecycle.

We don’t just look at schematics.

We evaluate the whole system — architecture → hardware → firmware → manufacturability.

You get confidence that your product will:

• Pass certification
• Survive in the field
• Scale into production without redesign

More than engineering — disciplined, predictable execution that protects budgets, timelines, and outcomes.

What This Service Includes

We examine:

• Schematic accuracy and functionality
• Power integrity
• Noise, grounding, and shielding
• Component selection and lifecycle risk (EOL / availability)
• PCB layout and routing best practices
  

We analyze:

• Code structure and maintainability
• Efficiency and resource utilization (memory, CPU load)
• Misalignment between firmware and hardware intentions
  

We ensure:

• The PCB can be manufactured without costly manual steps
• The product can be tested in production environments
• JTAG / SWD / test pads are placed correctly
  

We prepare you for:

• FCC / CE EMC compliance (radiated/conducted emissions, ESD, RF performance)
• UL and IEC safety requirements
• Environmental or regulatory constraints (temperature, vibration, drop)
  

Every review includes:

• Findings ranked by severity (Critical / Major / Recommended)
• Corrective actions with suggested solutions
• Visibility into cost + timeline impact
  

Why Compliance & Design Reviews Matter

Embedded devices fail certification or require redesigns due to:

• Incorrect grounding strategy
• EMI noise coupling into sensitive traces
• Firmware timing issues that affect peripherals
• Component placement that violates RF spacing requirements
• Missing isolation or surge protection in power circuits
  

These issues aren’t obvious to junior engineers or generalists.

But our team designs and reviews embedded systems every day.

The simple math:

$1 spent on early review saves $50–$100 during redesign.

Types of Reviews We Offer

Examples of Problems We Catch Early

❌ Not enough thermal relief on high-current paths



Fix: wider traces, copper pours, heat sinking strategy.

❌ Improper isolation between high-voltage and low-voltage domains

Fix: clearance / creepage spacing requirements.

❌ Missing test points means production testing becomes manual

Fix: add access points, increase test automation.

❌ Noise from switching power supply coupling into ADC lines

Fix: grounding partition, trace separation, filtering.

These small fixes can save:

Thousands of dollars in redesigns

Weeks or months in delivery delays

Our Compliance Support Process

Tools We Use in Review

• Altium Designer
• OrCAD
• KiCad
• Mentor/Siemens EDA
• Git / GitLab / Bitbucket
• Code review platforms

If your team uses proprietary or NDA-protected tools — we sign NDAs as standard practice.

Who This Service Is For

This service is ideal if you:

• Are preparing for FCC / CE / UL certification
• Have experienced multiple prototype redesigns
• Don’t want to pay for another board respin
• Need a second opinion before committing to layout

Common customer problems:

• “We already built the board but it doesn’t behave correctly.”
• “Our firmware team blames hardware, hardware blames firmware.”
• “Certification keeps failing and we don’t know why.”

We break the cycle.

Why Simple Innovations

Deep embedded specialization.

We are not generalist designers. We live and breathe embedded systems.

Hardware + firmware excellence.

We review how code and hardware interact — not just one or the other.

Design ownership.

We don’t just suggest fixes. We help you implement them.

Midwestern integrity + national-level ability.

You get responsiveness, transparency, and reliability.

Pricing (Value-Based, Not Hour-Based)

We offer:

• Fixed-fee design reviews (based on board complexity)
• Optional add-ons (pre-compliance testing, lab coordination)

You will always know:

• What you're paying for
• What deliverables to expect
• When to expect them

No surprises.

Ready to Reduce Risk and Get to Market Faster?

Send us your schematic & layout files. We’ll handle the rest.