Frequently Asked Questions

We get questions, lots of questions!  Here are the questions we receive the most.

Please follow the directions found here.

NCD Enterprise Sensors and Devices were designed for Industrial IoT applications, making it possible to integrate sensors and controllers with both local and remote connectivity.  These devices include pathways to communicate to localized computers and popular cloud technologies.  We current offer the ability to communicate to these devices via Industrial Wireless technologies, Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, RS-232, RS-485, and USB.  Cloud technologies such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Losant, MQTT, Temboo Kosmos, and Ubidots are currently supported.

NCD IoT Rapid Development & I2C devices were designed for programmers and developers who are not afraid of sifting through code to build their own firmware or software to get the product working.  These devices typically have no firmware or cpu on-board (with a few exceptions), and may require you to dig through data sheets.  These devices are sold at a lower cost aimed at developers.  These products are typically focused on I2C communications and work well with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Particle, and Feather tool-chains.  Other smaller platforms are also supported.

NCD Legacy Relay Controllers and I/O Devices typically include a pre-programmed microprocessor for a specific function and are, in many cases, very easy to use because the on-board CPU handles most of the complexity of controlling the device.  These devices were created in our early years and still in production today.  Due to changes in technology, these products are no-longer firmware updated, but they remain in active production due to customer demand.  We have updated the circuit boards on many of these products throughout 2020 and 2021 to accelerate the manufacturing process.

 

National Control Devices moved to lead-free manufacturing many years ago, it was the single most difficult thing we have ever done, as we had to purchase new equipment, change our solder process, and all of our reworking equipment.  NCD uses wave solder equipment that has never seen lead.  NCD surface mount has always been lead-free.  NCD manufacturing staff is operating out of a new facility, built in 2016 and expanded in 2020, which has never seen any form of lead.  Lead is strictly prohibited anywhere on the premises.  National Control Devices manufactures all devices using RoHS compliant solder, circuit boards, and components.  NCD does send solder samples to an independent lab for analysis 2 to 3 times per year.  NCD does not provide conformance documentation for individual products that are manufactured using RoHS compliant materials.

If you would like to learn more about RoHS compliance, please visit the following resources:

NCD Products inherit FCC certifications within the United States by use of FCC compliant radio communications hardware and compliant accessories.

Due to the low volume nature of NCD products, we work with our customers to obtain UL, CSA, CE, and IEC certification for integration of our product into assemblies on an as-needed basis.  We do not directly certify or seek certification for individual products. While individual circuit boards and components may carry these certifications, the assemblies as a whole do not carry any certifications.  We do not charge for design changes that may be required to obtain UL or CSA certification.

You may contact us by phone at (417) 646-5644, however, we ask that you please contact us through the forum whenever possible.  Our engineers each have a specialized area of expertise, so your questions may require multiple engineers to join the conversation.

Please use our Contact Us page if you have a private support request.  Please reserve email communications for confidential correspondence only.  Some email communications may be redirected to our forum.

If you need to check an order status, or if you need to correspond with our order processing department, please click here.

Most orders are shipped 2-3 business days AFTER the order is placed.  Some products are more complicated and can take up to 10 business days to process.  

Complex orders with a wide variety of items can take 10 business days to process.

Orders of 10-25 pieces of the same item typically take 5-10 business days to process.

Orders of 100 pieces or more of the same item can take up to 20 business days to process.

Please contact us if you have any concerns about lead times.  These are just estimates, and we may be able to beat these estimates depending on current stock levels.

NCD is the master company behind ControlEverything.com.  We are not a dealer, we are the manufacturer behind all ControlEverything.com and ControlAnything.com products. ControlEverything.com is a product line.  ControlAnything.com is a deprecated web site.  NCD.io seeks to combine all products from all of our web sites into a centralized place.

ncd.io is the replacement web site for ControlAnything.com, which also incorporates the ControlEverything.com product line.  We are the manufacturer behind both web sites.  ControlAnything.com. We are no-longer developing content for ControlAnything.com, as it will all be focused on ncd.io.

ncd.io is a small company of approximately 25 employees and contractors.  We have a development office that is 10,000 sq. feet in Osceola Missouri.  Our manufacturing facility is located 3 miles away, and is about 8,000 sq. feet.  NCD uses Juki RS-1 High-Speed Multiplacers to assemble NCD surface mount devices with a team of 2 to 3 people depending on workload.  We utilize RF series component feeders which prevent incorrect parts from placing.  We have 5 trollies of components that can be loaded into our machines for rapid product changeover.  NCD is equipped with two Nitrogen Wave Solder Machines, an Ultrasonic Cleaning Station, and Nitrogen Selective Soldering Station, a Reflow Oven, and a GKG Stencil Printer.  NCD is capable manufacturing several thousand circuit boards per day with our facilities that were last upgraded in 2020.  NCD has been in business since October of 1995 and has serviced tens of thousands of customers worldwide.  You can read more about us here.

National Control Devices opened for business in October of 1995.  You can read more about us here.

National Control Devices has many domain names to help you find us.  If you have difficulty remembering ncd.io, perhaps one of the following domains will be more memorable:

  • ControlAnything.com
  • ControlEverything.com
  • RelayControllers.com
  • EthernetRelays.com
  • ControlledByWeb.com
  • ContolIO.com
  • IOAmp.com
  • IORelay.com

Please note, this is partial list of our most frequently used domains, we have many more!

Yes, we accept purchase orders from pre-qualified customers.  All orders must be placed on our web site, as we custom manufacture product according to your exact needs.  We typically need 2-5 business days to manufacture and test your order prior to shipment.  We do not accept faxed orders unless there is a on-line order that matches the faxed order.

To share your shopping cart with your co-workers, please follow the directions posted here.

Yes, we provide many custom design services provided the services requested fall within our design framework.  For more information, please contact us.

When orders are placed online, our web site generates a “build sheet”, which directs our manufacturing department on how to fulfill your order, including all associated options that you have selected during the checkout process.  The build sheet contains vital information on how to manufacture your order, including the location of blank circuit boards in our warehouse, where the solder paste stencil is located in our stencil library, which pick and place machine files to load for boards that require automated assembly.  The build sheet also directs our testing department on how to load firmware into a controller and how to test the controller prior to shipping.  Additionally, your order is linked to our accounting and shipping department, so that we may expedite order processing.  Building your order is no small task, but online orders keep us organized and efficient, and have reduced order processing delays considerably.  All customers as well as NCD staff are required to submit orders online.

A Letter of Volatility and a Complete Disclosure of Memory Usage within NCD Devices can be found here: Letter of Volatility

NCD pricing is driven by purchase quantity.  NCD currently offers quantity-based discounts, which are calculated by changing the quantity to any number up to 999 units using the on-line shopping cart.  In select cases, NCD may issue discounts or coupons to customers on an individual basis once quantities reach 250, 500, 1,000 units or more of a particular product.  With the exception of occasional email promotions, NCD does not typically issue discounts beyond quantity based pricing.  NCD sales staff will be happy to discuss your future needs and what discounts/special pricing may be available for the products you are using once purchase volumes approach a major threshold.