Product Design

Product Development

When developing a new product, there’s lots to consider.

What’s its reason for being? What makes it stand out from the rest? What’s the price point and profit margin? Who’s the target market? Who will manufacture, assemble and distribute? How will you ensure quality and consistency? What are the performance criteria? Will it need to be tested and accredited to meet any standards and specs? What’s the development lead time? Do you need packaging?...

  Addressing these aspects will help to create a good strategic foundation for your product. 

After understanding your needs, expectations and budget constraints, APD will create a project brief.

Concept Generation with Regular Design Reviews

Communication is key; especially at the early stages of a project. 

We can review the initial ideas quickly through sketches and fast 3d models. 

These can be conveyed via screen captures, drawings or better; 

remote video sessions where we can more interactively review the design.  

From the outset, we can establish a mode of communication that suits you.

Prototypes & 3D Printing

James Dyson is reputed to have made over 5000 prototypes before committing to production. 

Most of us don't have the time or budget for that, but appropriate use of prototypes leads to great design.  

With 3D printing, it's easier than ever to produce useful low-cost mock-ups that reveal areas for improvement.  

APD can manage this process for you, providing early-stage checking and appraisal of prototype parts, 

helping us to quickly converge on a great solution. 

Deliverables

APD can liaise with manufacturers to produce the right documentation to enable excellent quality in production.

3D models: Step, Parasolid, Obj, IGES, ACIS(.sat), STL, Collada and more.

2D Drawings/ presentations: DWG, DXF, PDF

3D print designs can be supplied in STL or IGES formats.

Arrange delivery of the printed prototype parts.

Product Data Management

After years of working in an ISO9000 environment, I know the importance of keeping track of design change. Key to this is good data management and a robust revisioning system. Any document, drawing, model, presentation or spreadsheet for communication with clients or third parties (such as a manufacturer or supplier) will be consistently numbered and revision-controlled. 

Data Security

APD uses a secure Cloud CAD system backed up by Amazon Web Services to ensure that no work is lost. This system never crashes and the data is always secure and accessible to anyone with tightly controlled permissions.  This is invaluable for sensitive projects where emailing files or 3D models is out of the question.   Short of a meteor strike or nuclear holocaust, your design documents and data will be securely backed up to give you peace of mind.