Guidelines – For Developing Product Prototypes

Guidelines – For Developing Product Prototypes

Conceived a brilliant idea for a groundbreaking new product? That is great! So now what? Well, as a prudent inventor, what you first need to do is build a prototype of your conceived product. No matter how simple and obvious your product concept sounds, the hard fact is that, realizing a new product is a very complicated task. Developing prototypes for your concept, however, can ease a lot of pain.

Prototype development plays a vital role in the new product development. Not only do prototypes give you a clearer picture of how your conceived product will look, feel, and function like, but they also help you attract the stakeholders as well as better the final product. With our years of experience in the field product development, we advise every inventor not to overlook the importance of building product prototypes. Product prototypes are the foundations of a new product. Here are some important guidelines to follow when developing product prototypes.

  1. Scale: One of the cardinal drawbacks when designing your concept in a computer application, like CATIA or SOLIDWORKS, is the lack of scale. A small 1-inch component or part of the conceived product can look big on the computer screen, but in the real-world, it is just a 1-inch component or part. To overcome this issue, what you need to do is 3D print the components as often as you can, especially for the small parts. 3D printing is not too expensive these days; you can either buy your own 3D printer or outsource your requirements to someone specializing in 3D printing. By 3D printing small components to judge the scale, you can avoid a lot of complications later on.
  2. Make a lot of prototypes: Don’t just create a single prototype; develop five or ten or as many as you can afford. When your product design is near its perfection, it is best to build several product prototypes. When assembling prototypes, try to do so with your hands. When you build the prototypes with your hands, you will know how they come together. Take notes of how each part fits and how many times you need to make the adjustments. If you can videotape yourself assembling the prototype, then by all means, do so. You can later re-watch the videos and figure out what is going wrong.
  3. Let someone else assemble the prototype for you: Ask your friend, family member or someone you know to assemble your prototype. Watch them closely. See how they interact with your prototype, and ensure that you give minimum instruction to them. That way, you will be able to easily and quickly identify all the pain points regarding the assembly of your prototype. It will certainly be frustrating to watch someone assemble your prototype, but believe it, this is a great way to gather knowledge about your prototype.
  4. Team up with a product prototype development company: When building your product prototype, you will, at some point, wish that you had a professional helping hand. After all, product prototype development is not a piece of cake! This is where a professional product prototype development company comes into play. Such a product prototype development company has skilled mechanical, electrical and all sorts of engineers who have years of experience in product prototyping. Not to forget, a prototype development company also has all the necessary tools and resources that help in product prototyping. Partnering with a product prototype development company is definitely not a bad idea. The company can point out where you are going wrong with your prototype, assist you overcome various problems, and can even help you build product prototypes from scratch.

Developing product prototypes is never a waste of time, efforts or resources. Prototypes help further your conceived product idea to reality. As an inventor, never overlook the importance of product prototype development. Just remember, developing prototypes is one of those important keys that lead to a successful outcome of your conceived product.

If you need help with new product prototype development, then partner with GID Development Corporation today. A leading product prototype development company in California, USA, GID Development Corporation provides product design, rapid product prototyping, product development and other product fulfillment services. Utilizing contemporary technologies, like the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform from Dassault Systèmes, which includes 3DVIA, CATIA V6, SOLIDWORKS, BIOVIA, and other CAD / CAM / CAE computer applications, and 3D printing processes, experienced engineers at GID Development Corporation can create accurate product prototypes, swiftly and economically.

Whether it is creating prototypes for electromechanical products, sports products, medical device products, embedded software products, or any novel products, GID Development Corporation, an expert product prototyping company in California, will “GET IT DONE!” Learn more about GID Development Corporation.

Have any queries regarding product prototype development? Or perhaps 3D printing? Just call Jim Grimes at 714-323-1052 between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST, for a FREE 15-minute telephonic conference.

The Most Common & Important Steps Involved in Product Development

The Most Common & Important Steps Involved in Product Development

Product development is all about materializing a new product from just a mere concept. Whether it is a medical device product, a product with electronics, electromechanical product, sports product, a product with embedded software or any other kind of a unique product, there are a number of steps involved in order to realize it. Here are some of the steps that entail in product development:

Step 1: Research

Performing an extensive market research is where the product development begins. A market research helps identify the prospect of the new products. Is the conceived product unique? How ergonomic the product should be? Will the product be helpful to the potential customers? Are there any alternatives for the conceived product yet? Answers to these and many other questions shape the success of the new product, and in order to get the answers, performing research is necessary.

Step 2: Product Design

A conceived idea is actually elucidated during the product design stage. In fact, all the detailed drawings, from concept to envisioned final product, are drawn during the product design stage. Product design is one very tough step of product development.

A conceived product can be simple or complex in nature. If it is a simple product with few parts or components, the product design process will be a single step. On the other hand, if it is a complex product with numerous parts or components, product design process will be broken down into two sub-steps: Preliminary Product Design and Final Product Design.

  • Preliminary Product Design: When a product consists more parts or components, like an electromechanical power unit, which has over hundreds of parts and components, then the preliminary product design step is useful. Preliminary product design is all about the appearance and function of the conceived product, and less about the product’s manufacturability. Once preliminary product designs are made, they become the frameworks for the final product design.
  • Final Product Design: Final product design is all about product manufacturability. In simpler words, it is about creating product designs in such a way that the said products are easy to fabricate or manufacture. The final product design specifies everything required to dictate production or mass manufacturing. It considers everything on a part level. The result of final product design is detailed drawings, 3D image and rendering files, a complete bill of materials, and details to source and assemble.

Step 3: Product Design Analyses / Feasibility Analyses

After realizing the final product design, detailed analyses are carried out on the design prior to product prototyping and prototype testing. These analyses verify the feasibility of the product, as well as its performance, like strength, weight, dimension, etc., prior to developing a physical prototype. This important step lowers the cost and performance risks related to prototype development and prototype testing.

Step 4: Product Prototype Development

Once a definitive product design is ready, alpha and beta product prototypes are made. This is the step where the actual, physical form of a conceived product takes shape and comes into being. Product prototypes are made using suitable plastic product manufacturing techniques. If it is a product with electronics, then breadboards or generic electronic kits, like Arduino kits, are used to make prototypes. 3D printing and rapid prototyping techniques can also be utilized for product prototype development.

Step 5: Prototype Testing

Before moving the product into production, exhaustive testing of the definitive prototype is carried out to make sure that it functions and performs as expected. The prototype is used in all the possible ways it is intended to be used. The general public and potential customers are also allowed to use the prototype; this way, valuable feedbacks from them are taken and implemented before the product is sent for mass manufacturing.

Step 6: Hazard Analysis

The hazard analysis is performed throughout the product development process. It is, however, finalized before the product is sent for production. The purpose of hazard analysis is to identify any possible safety issues that may surface by the product, in the future. If possible, the safety issues will be addressed by the change in the product design. If not, it will be addressed by the accompanying product manual and safety warning labels.

Step 7: Mass Manufacture & Release

The final step of the product development is placing the product into production. If the capital is not the constraint, then own production facility can be set up. If it is the constraint, then outsourcing the production is the sensible and economical way.

Once the product starts to roll out in larger quantities, it can be taken to the market, into the hands of potential customers.

Product development is indeed a time-consuming, mentally-challenging, and exhausting task. For individual inventors, it is next to impossible to realize their dream products on their own. Fortunately, there are product development companies, like GID Development Corporation, that can help inventors with product development.

GID Development Corporation is a leading product development company in the US. Based in California, it offers swift, agile, economical, and top-quality product design, product prototyping, and product development services to inventors throughout the United States and across the globe.

With their vast experience, professionals at GID Development Corporation can help develop large, complex products, products with embedded software, sports products, products with electronics, electromechanical products, and other unique products. No product development project is too big or too small for them; these professionals at GID Development Corporation will “GET IT DONE!”

Have any product development-related questions or queries? Just call Jim Grimes at 714-323-1052 between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST, for a FREE 15-minute telephonic conference. He will answer various questions regarding new product development.

Plastic & Metal Product Manufacturing Processes

Plastic & Metal Product Manufacturing Processes

One important aspect that every industrial designer and mechanical engineer should consider is the selection of the right product manufacturing process. For product development, there are many manufacturing processes that engineers can utilize; however, choosing the right one can greatly affect the cost of manufacturing as well as the success of the final product. Here is a brief on some of the most common plastic product manufacturing and metal product manufacturing processes.

Plastic Product Manufacturing Processes

For the sake of this discussion, let us assume that you need to make at least 10,000 parts. For less quantity, rapid prototyping or 3D printing processes are more appropriate and economical.

Here are some plastic manufacturing processes that plastic product manufacturers commonly utilize to mass produce plastic parts and components.

  1. Injection Molding: Plastic injection molding is the most preferred process that produces parts and components with the lowest cost per part. The process is ideal for moderately sized production runs. The production tooling cost is a bit of a concern, especially if you do not have a definitive mold for the plastic part. Nevertheless, you can use aluminum molds until you get the definitive mold design. Once you have the definitive mold design, you can shift to stainless steel molds, which are durable and suitable for a high-volume production.
  2. CNC Machining: Computer numerical control machining or just CNC machining is the process in which computers play a big role in controlling the CNC machines like mills, plasma cutters, drills, etc. CNC machining is an ideal process to employ for small-sized production runs for small parts. The process allows precision and good surface finish too. The drawback of CNC machining is the high costs. Nevertheless, CNC machining offers automation, which eliminates manual labor and errors caused by manual laborers.
  3. Rotational Molding: Rotational molding is an appropriate plastic product manufacturing process to produce soft, rubbery parts. Both simple and complex parts can be produced using rotational molding. It also helps produce several pieces of a single part, which can then be assembled together. This eliminates overall fabrication costs. Rotational molding also eliminates significant wastage of material. The drawback of this process is it does not facilitate precision. And just like plastic injection molding, the production tooling cost is a concern.
  4. Thermoforming: Thermoforming is a suitable process to manufacture large plastic parts. The production tooling cost is lower than other plastic product manufacturing processes. The production time is also lower. The disadvantage of thermoforming is that it does not offer precision. Intricate shapes and good surface finish are also hard to achieve with thermoforming.

Metal Product Manufacturing Processes

Metal product manufacturing is more expensive than plastic product manufacturing because metals are more costly than plastic materials. It is possible to rapid prototype or 3D print some metal parts, but it will prove uneconomical.

Here are some metal manufacturing processes that product manufacturers commonly utilize to mass produce metal parts and components.

  1. CNC Machining: Aside from the plastic parts, with CNC machining, it is possible to produce metal parts. Thanks to computers, playing a role in controlling CNC machines, the process is appropriate for making complex parts. Precision is easy to achieve with CNC machining. The drawback of CNC machining is the high costs, even for producing small parts.
  2. Die Casting: Die casting is a suitable metal product manufacturing process to produce metal parts with high dimensional accuracy and smooth surface finish. The process facilitates rapid production rates. The per part cost is also lower than other metal manufacturing processes. The drawback, however, is the high production tooling cost – perhaps it has the highest tooling cost.
  3. Investment Casting: One of the oldest processes, investment casting is appropriate to manufacture complex parts with a very smooth surface. The process also offers exceptional dimensional accuracy. The drawback, aside from the cost, is the long production-cycle times. For high-volume manufacturing, the process could prove to be expensive and infeasible.
  4. Sand Casting: Sand casting is one of the most popular processes to produce small and complex metal parts. Instead of metal molds, this process utilizes sand molds. This substantially reduces the cost. With sand casting, it is possible to achieve high dimensional accuracy. The process is suitable for low to medium production runs, but for high volumes, it will prove to be infeasible.

Aside from these processes, there are many other plastic product manufacturing processes and metal product manufacturing processes. Choosing the right one will affect the cost of manufacturing and the success of the final product.

Looking for a good plastic product manufacturer in California? Look no further than GID Development Corporation. A product development company, based in California, GID Development Corporation provides exceptional product design, product prototyping, plastic product manufacturing, 3D printing and other services. With their experience and expertise in injection molding, CNC machining and other processes, the professional industrial and mechanical engineers at GID Development Corporation can help you develop exceptional new products.

Have any queries regarding plastic product manufacturing? Just call Jim Grimes at 714-323-1052 between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST, for a FREE 15-minute telephonic conference. He will answer to various questions regarding plastic product manufacturing and rapid prototyping.

Rapid Product Designing & Rapid Prototyping – Advantages

Rapid Product Designing & Rapid Prototyping – Advantages

New product design and product development, both have come a long way today. Traditionally, product designs were hand drawn. Now, Rapid Product Designing are creating detailed, clear product designs using special-purpose computer applications, like Dassault Systèmes’ 3D EXPERIENCE 2016, SOLIDWORKS, and 3DVIA among many others.

For product development, specifically the product prototype development, engineers nowadays are utilizing revolutionary additive manufacturing (popularly known as 3D printing) processes, which include selective laser melting, fused filament fabrication, direct metal laser sintering, and stereolithography to name a few.

These modern rapid product designing and rapid product prototyping techniques are geared toward the swift, precise, and effortless development of new products. More importantly, with these state-of-the-art techniques, it is possible to minimize the cost of new product development! Let us look at some of the advantages that these computer-assisted 3D product designing and 3D printing techniques offer.

  1. These contemporary techniques radically minimize the time of turning a product concept into reality. Simple product concepts can be brought to life in a matter of days, and complex product concepts in a matter of a few months. Therefore, inventors can quickly realize their dreams of swiftly getting groundbreaking products into the market and selling them to make profits.
  2. These techniques help save money. Creating product designs using computer applications means getting definitive designs with a minimum number of attempts; hence, it avoids the redundant costs of creating multiple product designs. 3D printing, on the other hand, eliminates the need for plastic product manufacturing tools or other molding tools needed for building product prototypes. This elimination of tools substantially saves money for the inventors.
  3. The modern techniques help mitigate product redesigning risks. Since the product designs are created virtually on the computer, they are, in most instances, ideal in every manner. Even if they are not, or if any changes are required, the product designers can quickly and effortlessly modify or change the product designs. These new product designs are then efficiently and economically 3D printed, saving time, money, and more importantly, the efforts of doing everything from scratch for the inventors.
  4. The techniques facilitate in the creation of the definitive product. Because 3D product designing is carried out virtually, using special computer applications, the chances of leaving out any product construction requirements are almost next to nothing. In the virtual world, the product designers and product developers can test almost every aspect of the conceived product. This way, they can add, remove, and experiment with the various features of the imagined product without actually creating any mockup or prototype!
  5. These techniques allow quick creation of product prototypes. Once the product designs are ready, they will be fed to a 3D printer (it’s a kind of an industrial robot). The 3D printer is then configured according to the required specifications. Once the 3D printer is configured, it will then extrude material into the desired shapes. The entire process, from feeding the product design into the 3D printer to the extrusion of the material into the desired shapes, is substantially swifter than injection molding techniques.
  6. These breakthrough techniques enable the creation of custom shapes. The 3D printer extrudes the material into desired shapes or geometries based on the instructions received from a computer. In simpler words, a 3D printer prints a material, instead of ink, based on the design it is provided. Ergo, it is possible to create custom, intriguing shapes effortlessly. This advantage of these techniques is very beneficial when it comes to medical device product development as well as electromechanical product development.
  7. These techniques make it possible to develop product prototypes using any material. Not only polymer and its variants, but 3D printers are capable of accepting and printing materials like rubber, ceramic, edible materials, and almost any metal alloy!

These were just some of the many advantages that rapid product designing and rapid product prototyping techniques offer. They are just ideal for new product design and new product development, especially product prototype development.

If you are an inventor and want to realize your product idea with these revolutionary product design and product development techniques, then partner with GID Development Corporation. A leading product design company in California, USA, GID Development Corporation provides rapid product design, rapid prototyping, rapid product development and other new product fulfillment services. They even have the ability to develop CNC-machined prototypes using different plastics and metals. This ability of GID Development Corporation comes in very handy, especially when the raw materials for rapid prototyping processes are not suitable or durable enough for the conceived product.

Whether you have a revolutionary idea for a medical device product, sports product, electromechanical product, a product with embedded software, product with electronics, or any unique product, the product development company in California, GID Development Corporation will absolutely “GET IT DONE!”

Have any queries regarding rapid product prototyping or 3D printing? Just call Jim Grimes at 714-323-1052 between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST, for a FREE 15-minute telephonic conference. He will answer to various questions regarding product design, product prototyping, and product development. You can like our Facebook page well.