needCode

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Director of an other industry company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We bring core radio frequency (RF) and power technologies and solutions to mobile, infrastructure, the IoT, defense/aerospace and power management markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire needCode to accomplish?

• Develop embedded SW for BLE, Matter and Ultra-wideband
• Provide customer support for BLE, Matter and Ultra-wideband
• Define, create and release SW development kits for BLE, Matter and Ultra-wideband

SOLUTION

How did you find needCode?

Online Search

Why did you select needCode over others?

• Great culture fit
• experience

How many teammates from needCode were assigned to this project?

10+

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Needcode supported us with the development of wireless communication stacks for BLE, Matter and Ultra-wideband. Their scope included, but was not limited to development of embedded SW and system/unit tests, develop models and tooling, and study performance and power efficiency for our System-On-Chip products. The Needcode resources were assigned to various project teams and reported to our team leads. An agile software development methodology was used with the Needcode resources taking part in daily stand-up meetings to share status with our project team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Needcode supported us with the development and release of various SDKs. Specifically:
* A remote control SDK supporting Bluetooth and 802.15.4
* A smart home gateway SDK supporting Zigbee, Bluetooth and Thread for Matter. Needcode also provided direct customer support on this product.
* A Matter SDK for battery-powered devices. They supported us from initial delivery up to customer mass production
* An Ultra-wideband SDK

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Needcode resources were integrated inside our project teams. They reported directly to the project manager where their work was assigned using a sprint cadence. They have consistenly shown flexibility in task assignment and were able to focus on the priority items we agreed upon with them.

What was your primary form of communication with needCode?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Whatever the problem or need, needCode was able to always find the right resources to support us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something needCode could have done differently?

The quality is high, but you pay accordingly - they are not the cheapest vendor in their region. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Project Engineer of an agriculture technology company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an agriculture-based company that provides technology for cross-pollinating plants, primarily corn, to increase yields.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire needCode to accomplish?

Create controllers (hardware and software) for our in field pollen application system.

SOLUTION

How did you find needCode?

Referral

Why did you select needCode over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from needCode were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Our company is an Agricultural Technology company in which we have machines doing 2 different operations in an Agricultural field.  We needed a custom CAN based control system developed that could control five motors in different ways and read multiple sensors (rate, material temp, level, relative humidity, air temp and etc) PER row on a machine that could have up to 24 rows as it passed through the field at up to 12 mph (19 kph) and work for both operations.   
We also needed the control system to be developed in record time.  So, for this project we needed to develop the overall architecture for the system, each controller, decided on an operating system and develop the software application for each of the 3 different controllers. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Since we are an Agricultural company, we needed the system to work throughout the plant's flowering cycle on multiple machines.  The measure of success was the fact the prototype system developed by needCode was used on 4 machines in the field and worked virtually flawlessly with only a few minor issues that were easily resolved.  Since we are a startup company, the success of our company depended on the control system working and it did.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The project started by us creating documentation outlining technical specification and the CAN messaging and needCode creating a schedule.  We met weekly and made changes as needed so that needCode was able to deliver an minimal viable product (MVP) for us on the date we needed it.  
Once the schedule was completed needCode met the deadline laid out AND created a well functioning prototype system which our company to use on 4 machines. In the end I would say there were no real surprises or things that were desperately needed but didn't get completed.

What was your primary form of communication with needCode?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I was a bit worried about the language difference and distance apart (Europe / USA), but in the end it was a none issue.  My concern was over them really understanding what we needed for a system, details that can't really be explained, but needCode really undersstood what we needed out of the system.  
They asked excellent questions and gave great feedback on the specifications which resulted in some changes for the better.  I would also add they delivered a reliable prototype system on the schedule they created, thus on time!

Are there any areas for improvement or something needCode could have done differently?

Working with needCode was great.  If I could improve on the project, I wish I would have started sooner with them.  The projected was rushed, which means things can get missed and not tested as well as they could be.  I also would have liked to keep going with the project after the prototype system was developed to finish out the MVP into a for sale product.  The project was stopped after the prototype stage due to lack of funding, so nothing on needCode's part.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the president of Creative Werks Inc., a company that designs and manufactures embedded electronic control systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with needCode?

We needed help with embedded software and hardware designs to take our products to the next level.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

needCode took some existing projects, revised them to be future-proof, and created hardware and software solutions for us. We worked on a marine lift control system and some experimental agriculture equipment applications. The team handled hardware, firmware, CANBUS, and app development.

What is the team composition?

We worked with more than 10 individuals.

How did you come to work with needCode?

I did extensive research and ended up using the internet. After visiting needCode, I was extremely impressed by them and their capabilities.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2024, and we've completed two projects, with more ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

needCode addressed our problems head-on and made some very eloquent solutions for our issues. We had a very detailed timeline and value proposition, with a simple progress chart. The team delivered the MVP, which included hardware, software, app functionality, and systems testing.

How did needCode perform from a project management standpoint?

needCode was on time and very attentive. We communicated via email and Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism is impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Both sides made assumptions, but after the first project, we were much more in sync.