Where the time goes
- Evaluation and concept work, so the budget is pointed at the right problem before detailed design begins.
- Prototype iterations: each board spin, firmware cycle and test round teaches something, and each takes weeks, not days.
- Certification: test house slots must be booked, and a failure means redesign and retest.
- Tooling: enclosure moulds have lead times measured in months, plus test shots and revisions.
- Components: parts on long lead times, or that go obsolete mid-project, can stall an otherwise finished design.
What keeps a project fast
A clear brief and specification at the outset, compliance planned during evaluation, electronics and mechanical design running in parallel instead of in sequence, pre-certified modules where they fit the product, and decisions made promptly at each gate. Rushing by skipping prototype or test stages is a false economy: too many projects have missed a fatal flaw that cost far more time than the stage would have taken.
For what each phase involves, see what are the stages of the development process.