Designing Orbyt for Scale: A Deep Dive into Design for Manufacturing (DFM)

Designing wearable tech that works is only half the battle - making it manufacturable at scale is the real challenge. This blog dives into how we applied Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles to transform the Orbyt ring from a working prototype into a production-ready smart ring. From fixing Bluetooth performance and resolving post-assembly yield issues to refining electrode design and perfecting the protective seal, every decision pushed us toward a product that could scale - without compromising on precision or aesthetics.

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Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash

There’s a moment in every hardware journey when the team collectively agrees: “It works.” But what comes after is a much harder question - “Can it scale?”

At Sensio, we crossed that threshold with our earlier Orbyt prototypes. We had a smart ring that captured health signals with promising accuracy. But while the core functionality was in place, it wasn't yet a product we could manufacture at scale with confidence. Bluetooth range issues, unreliable charging, and post-assembly inconsistencies were symptoms of a deeper problem: our product was engineered for performance, not yet for production.

That’s when we entered a phase of deep DFM - Design for Manufacturing.

What is Design for Manufacturing (DFM)?

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is the process of engineering a product not just for performance, but for efficient, scalable, and repeatable production. It involves anticipating challenges that may arise during assembly, reducing complexities that affect yields or increase cost, and ensuring that design decisions translate seamlessly to the production floor. For wearables like Orbyt, DFM means navigating tight constraints of space, precision, and durability - while still delivering a refined user experience.

This stage was not just about technical fine-tuning, it was about aligning three powerful but often divergent forces: engineering, user experience, and industrial design.

Iterating Not Just for Function, But for Manufacturability

DFM isn’t a phase - it’s a mindset. In the early days, our focus was on testing whether the sensors were accurate and if our algorithms delivered usable insights. We now approached the redesign systematically, treating manufacturability as a core design principle, not an afterthought. As we shifted from lab prototypes to production-grade builds, the questions evolved:

• How repeatable are our yields?

• How well do parts survive post-assembly?

• How does the device hold up under daily wear and tear?

To answer these, we went beyond PCB layout and began revisiting nearly every aspect of Orbyt's physical and electronics design. Our goal wasn’t just to build a smart ring. It was to build one that could be manufactured without surprises, defects, or trade-offs.

Bridging Design with Scalable Execution

Once we committed to redesigning Orbyt with manufacturability in mind, we took a ground-up approach. That meant reworking physical architecture, simplifying subcomponents, and finding production techniques that could deliver precision at scale. The changes that followed were some of the most transformative in Orbyt’s development - refinements that made it manufacturable without compromising its identity.

Refining the Ring Design

One of our first major DFM challenges was manufacturability of the housing itself. Processes like 3D printing, CNC machining, and sheet metal bending helped us prototype, but when we moved toward volume production, they failed to deliver the consistency or yield we needed.

After months of brainstorming and prototyping, we developed a completely new form factor:

• Dimensions: A sleek width of 9.1mm and thickness of just 2.84mm

• Size Range: Maintained availability across 8 sizes

• Battery Fit: Redesigned the internal layout to maximize capacity without increasing dimensions

We eliminated design elements that looked good in renders but complicated production. Every edge, wall thickness, and chamfer was optimized for molding, sealing, and repeatability. This redesign achieved not only practicality but also a distinctive, elegant look, balancing functionality with style.

Perfecting the Protective Seal

Sealing the electronics inside the ring was deceptively hard. We needed something that was:

• Transparent, UV-resistant and hypoallergenic.

• Durable with a smooth, glossy finish.

• Easily applicable.

We went through over 30 iterations across 5 months, testing different materials. Some discolored under UV light, others introduced microbubbles or shrank unevenly. The final material we chose ticked every box: transparent, UV-stable, hypoallergenic, and easy to apply with high consistency.

The result was a seal that looked like glass - but performed like a shield.

Fine-Tuning the Electrodes

The electrodes are the ring’s interface with the wearer - and among the most critical (and complex) elements of its design. The initial design featured:

• 3 curved ECG electrodes for accurate ECG signal detection.

• 1 temperature electrode to measure skin temperature.

• 1 reset electrode to act as a reset trigger.

• 2 charging electrodes for secure and reliable charging.

That’s 7 exposed contact points on a miniature ring — and it showed. Manufacturing these consistently was difficult, and the more openings we introduced, the more we compromised water resistance and yield. After rigorous testing, we simplified the design by combining functionalities:

• Reduced ECG and temp to 2 shared electrodes

• Combined reset + charging electrodes into a single unit

This drastically reduced cutouts, minimized weak points, and made the entire structure easier to assemble - all while preserving sensing accuracy.

Designing for Yield, Not Just Output

A critical mindset shift was moving from “can we build this?” to “how many can we build without failure?” DFM forced us to confront yield as a performance metric. Even a 10% failure rate in a lab might seem manageable, but in production, that translates into lost time, wasted materials, and rising costs. We had to choose materials, processes, and tolerances that were not only high-performance but also high-consistency.

An often-overlooked challenge in DFM is alignment - not just of components, but of teams. Engineering wants performance. Industrial design wants elegance. UX wants comfort and simplicity. And manufacturing? It wants repeatability.

We had to get everyone to the table - mechanical engineers, electronics designers, firmware developers, all of them - to co-own the product at every stage. This cross-functional collaboration is what enabled Orbyt to move from version 5 to version 6: not just smarter, but smarter to build. The outer design got subtler. The inner structure got cleaner. The ring looked more polished, felt more premium, and performed more consistently across units.

Orbyt’s current design is the result of countless iterations aimed at aligning function and aesthetics with manufacturability. That’s what turned a promising health wearable into a product we could proudly scale.

DFM wasn't a one-time phase; it was a mindset shift. It taught us that building a beautiful prototype is only the beginning. Building a product people can trust - and we can ship at scale - is where the real engineering begins.