The Team

The people who work on your product — their specific roles, what they know, and how they work.

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Team

LEADERSHIP AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project ownership and client relationships

The person who owns your project at Peakingtech is the person you talk to throughout — from the first conversation through prototype builds, revision cycles, production runs, and beyond. Project ownership at Peakingtech is not a handoff process.

Joe Zhai -Founder and project director

BACKGROUND

Joe has spent the past decade working inside Shenzhen's electronics manufacturing ecosystem — not as an observer but as a participant in the processes that take a hardware product from design to market. His background covers the supply chain side (component sourcing, BOM management, distributor relationships), the production side (factory coordination, quality management, first article inspection), and the NPI side (design review, DFM analysis, prototype build management). He is not an electronics engineer but he understands electronics well enough to read a schematic, follow a DFM report, and ask the questions that matter when a design is being reviewed for manufacturability.

HOW HE WORKS

Joe's operating principle on a client project is that you should never be surprised by something he already knew. Problems are communicated in the conversation where they first become visible — not held until a weekly update, not softened in formal written language. When a DFM finding is serious enough to affect the production timeline or cost, you hear about it on the day it is found. When a component supply issue arises that will change the production schedule, the call happens before the schedule is confirmed, not after. This is not a communication style — it is a commercial commitment to the view that a founder who knows what is happening can make good decisions, and a founder who doesn't know cannot.

The engineering and manufacturing specialists

PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE WITH

Founders who are working with a contract manufacturer for the first time and need to understand the process as well as navigate it. Founders with products that have real technical complexity — multiple PCBs, custom enclosures with tight tolerances, connectivity stacks that need careful RF layout, IP-rated assemblies — where the project management requires genuine manufacturing knowledge to stay on top of. And founders who prefer direct communication over formal project updates — the kind of founder who would rather hear a problem stated plainly than receive a report that buries the problem in professional language.

AN HONEST NOTE

Joe manages a limited number of active projects at any given time deliberately — the project ownership model only works if the project owner actually has time to own the project. At full capacity, new projects are either waitlisted or deferred to a confirmed start date. If your timeline is urgent, ask directly about current capacity at the first conversation. The honest answer will be given.

ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING

The specialists behind each discipline

A hardware product moves through six distinct disciplines between design and delivery. Each discipline at Peakingtech is owned by someone who has spent years in that specific area of Shenzhen's manufacturing ecosystem — not a generalist filling multiple roles, but a specialist whose depth in their function is the thing that makes the difference when a difficult problem arises.

PCB design and electronics engineering

EXPERTISE

The electronics engineering function covers schematic capture, component selection against Shenzhen market availability, PCB layout with signal integrity and EMC review, and design for assembly — the complete electronics design discipline from architecture through Gerber output. Experience spans single-board consumer products through multi-board industrial systems, including RF layout for BLE and Wi-Fi, power management design for battery-powered products, and sensor interface design for environmental and motion sensing applications.

SCOPE NOTE

Electronics engineering at Peakingtech covers design for manufacturable products within the commercial electronics domain. It does not extend to safety-critical system design (IEC 61508), high-voltage power electronics above 48V bus, or medical device electronics requiring IEC 60601 compliance as a primary design requirement.

How the team works together in practice

ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

EXPERTISE

The mechanical engineering function covers 3D CAD enclosure design in SolidWorks and Fusion 360, 2D engineering drawings with GD&T, DFM review for injection moulding and sheet metal, tooling design coordination, and mechanical integration review — checking that the PCB, enclosure, and all mechanical components work together before any physical parts exist. Experience includes IP-rated enclosure design through IP67, wall-mount and desktop form factors, overmoulded soft-touch assemblies, custom snap-fit and assembly interface design, and metal-to-plastic transition design for mixed-material enclosures.

SCOPE NOTE

Mechanical engineering at Peakingtech covers plastic enclosures and mixed-material product assemblies within standard commercial temperature and environmental ratings. It does not cover structural engineering for load-bearing applications, ATEX-rated explosion-proof enclosure design, or military-specification environmental ratings (MIL-STD).

Enclosure design and mechanical engineering

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

EXPERTISE

The injection moulding function covers tooling specification and commissioning, first shot qualification, process parameter optimization, cosmetic acceptance management, secondary operations coordination, and ongoing tooling maintenance for production runs. The depth here is specifically in the tooling qualification process — knowing when a first shot deviation requires a tooling adjustment versus a design revision, what a given adjustment will cost and how long it will take, and how to communicate the options to a client who is seeing first shots for the first time. Experience includes aluminium rapid tooling, P20 steel production tooling, and H13 hardened steel for high-volume and glass-filled material applications.

SCOPE NOTE

Injection moulding process management at Peakingtech covers standard thermoplastic materials within the commercial product domain. It does not cover liquid silicone rubber (LSR) injection moulding, insert moulding for high-load structural applications, or two-shot moulding as a primary production process.

Injection moulding and tooling management

INJECTION MOULDING

EXPERTISE

The SMT assembly and quality function covers the complete PCBA production process — SMT programming and setup, AOI and X-ray inspection, IPC-A-610 Class 2 quality management, first article inspection, yield monitoring, rework management to IPC-7711, and production test fixture coordination. The specific value this function adds is in yield management and root cause investigation: knowing whether a yield issue is a paste volume problem, a placement offset, a reflow profile deviation, or a component quality issue, and resolving it before the problem propagates through a production batch.

SCOPE NOTE

SMT assembly and quality at Peakingtech covers IPC-A-610 Class 2 as the standard. Class 3 high-reliability assembly is available on request for specific applications and requires additional setup, inspection investment, and lead time. It is not the default standard and should be discussed at project planning if required.

PCBA assembly and production quality

SOURCING AND SUPPLY CHAIN

EXPERTISE

The project coordination function covers build traveler management, quality documentation compilation, client reporting, milestone tracking, and the documentation infrastructure that connects the engineering decisions made at design stage to the manufacturing outcomes at production stage. The specific value is in maintaining the thread between what was decided in the project brief, what the DFM review found, what was authorized for prototype, what was conditionally authorized at production, and what the production run actually produced — so that at any point in the project lifecycle, the complete decision trail is visible and auditable. This function also manages the export documentation, HS code classification, and freight coordination at the shipping stage.

SCOPE NOTE

Project coordination at Peakingtech covers the documentation and reporting functions for NPI and production projects within our scope. It does not cover client-side regulatory submission documentation, CE technical file compilation for regulated product categories, or FDA 510(k) preparation — these require specialist regulatory consultants and are outside manufacturing scope.

Project coordination and technical documentation

PROJECT COORDINATION

SMT ASSEMBLY AND QUALITY

Component sourcing and BOM management

EXPERTISE

The sourcing and supply chain function covers complete BOM sourcing from authorized distributors, line-by-line lead time analysis, alternative component qualification, counterfeit prevention at incoming inspection, and ongoing supply chain management across production cycles. The depth here is specifically in the Shenzhen component ecosystem — knowing which authorized distributors hold stock of which component categories, which components carry counterfeit risk in the current market, and how to navigate a BOM revision when a component is discontinued or placed on allocation. This function has direct visibility of component supply conditions as they change, not with a two-week lag.

SCOPE NOTE

Component sourcing at Peakingtech covers electronic components and standard mechanical hardware within the Shenzhen authorized distributor ecosystem. Custom manufactured components — bespoke displays, custom battery packs, proprietary RF modules from specific certified manufacturers — are sourced through direct supplier qualification and may carry different lead times and minimum order requirements.

How the team works on your project

On a live project, the six functions above are not independent — they work as a coordinated team with Ethan as the integration point between the engineering and manufacturing work and the client relationship. The electronics engineer and mechanical engineer work concurrently during Chapter 1 design, cross-referencing each other's work on the PCB/enclosure interface. The injection moulding specialist and SMT assembly lead work concurrently during Chapter 2 prototype builds. The sourcing function is active from the first BOM review and remains active across every production cycle. Project coordination maintains the documentation thread from project brief through final delivery.

If your product requires a capability that sits outside what is described above — specialist RF certification engineering, embedded firmware development as a primary deliverable, Class 3 assembly as a non-negotiable standard — we will tell you at the first conversation rather than after we have started the project. are outside manufacturing scope.

HOW WE WORK TOGETHER

What working with this team actually feels like

The process is documented in the How It Works section. What the process documentation cannot convey is the texture of working through that process with the people described above — the rhythm of the communication, the quality of the judgment you will get access to, and what happens when something difficult arises.

The first conversation is an engineering conversation, not a sales conversation

When you contact Peakingtech, the first substantive conversation is with Ethan — and its purpose is to understand your product, your constraints, and your current stage well enough to give you an honest assessment of what working together would involve. You will not be told that Peakingtech can build anything before the conversation has established what your product actually needs. You may be told that your project is a good fit, that it is a fit with specific qualifications, or that it is not the right fit and here is why. All three of those outcomes are useful. The conversation ends with either a clear path forward or a clear explanation of why the path goes elsewhere.

During the project, you hear about problems before they become crises

The communication rhythm on a Peakingtech project is driven by events, not by a fixed reporting schedule. When a DFM finding has implications for your timeline or cost, that conversation happens on the day the finding is identified. When a component supply issue arises that will change the production schedule, the call happens before the schedule is confirmed. When a first shot shows a deviation that needs a decision from you — tooling adjustment or design revision — you are presented with the specific options, the cost and timeline of each, and a recommendation, before any action is taken. You are never in the position of receiving a formal update that describes a problem that has already been decided on your behalf.

When something goes wrong, you are the second person to know

Manufacturing involves problems. Prototypes reveal things that design review didn't catch. First shots produce deviations. Component lots occasionally fail incoming inspection. Production yields occasionally dip below threshold. None of these are exceptional events — they are the normal range of manufacturing reality, managed by a quality system that is designed to catch them early. What determines the quality of a manufacturing relationship is not whether problems occur but how they are communicated and resolved. At Peakingtech, the sequence is: problem identified, client informed immediately, options presented with specifics, resolution initiated with client approval. You are never the last person to know about a problem with your own product.

If you come back for a second product, the relationship doesn't start over

One of the specific commercial advantages of working with a focused NPI operation rather than a large contract manufacturer is that the knowledge accumulated on your first product does not disappear when the first project closes. Ethan knows your product's BOM, your enclosure's tooling history, your supply chain's strengths and weaknesses, your communication preferences, and the specific technical decisions that were made on previous projects and why. The second product starts from a significantly more informed position than the first. The second production cycle is simpler than the first because the reorder parameters are calibrated, the supply chain agreements are established, and the quality baseline is documented. This accumulation of knowledge across projects is one of the things a long-term manufacturing relationship produces that a series of discrete transactions does not.

None of this can be evaluated from a web page. The most useful thing a web page can do is give you enough specific information to decide whether a conversation is worth having. If what you have read on this page — and on the Our Story page and the How It Works section — is consistent with what you are looking for in a manufacturing partner, the right next step is to tell us what you are building.

Tell us what you're building

We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right team for your product — and if we're not, we'll tell you why.

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