The Rapid Product Development (RPD) Pathway will enable you to be ‘First-to-Market’ by compressing the time it takes to turn a design idea in to a manufactured product. The process of creating a new product can be a complex one; however, our approach removes many of the barriers that can prevent your product from becoming a commercial success.
Meet with us to discuss your project in confidence. We would be thrilled to welcome you at our offices in Chepstow or arrange a conference call to fit in with your schedule. Once we have a thorough understanding of your design requirements we will prepare a bespoke proposal that details our approach.
1. Foresight
At the start of your project it may be necessary to understand a number of factors that could influence the success of your product. This might include: a deeper understanding of user habits and behaviours; existing intellectual property; key competitors within the market; or any recent technology advancements.
2. Concept
Using a variety of creative tools and techniques, we will generate an array of design ideas that address your project brief. Creative thinking is in our DNA, allowing us to conceive solutions that will exceed your expectations. These design concepts will be presented in digital sketch format for you to review.
3. Development
After reviewing your design concepts and gaining customer feedback, it may be necessary to further develop your design. As a result, a hybrid design concept will often emerge. It is important that the product is fully defined by this stage as major design changes later on in the process will adversely affect the time-line.
4. Detail
Once a final design has been selected, we will create a detailed 3D CAD model of your product. During this stage we will define the intended material, finish, manufacturing process and method of assembly. If your product requires electronics, this will be developed concurrently to the mechanical element of the design.
5. Prototype
Using the latest prototyping technologies, we can build and test a working model of your product. It may be necessary to produce several prototypes so that we can evaluate different aspects of the design and make improvements in between each prototype iteration – before agreeing a final design.
6. Optimise
This phase is dedicated to preparing your product for manufacture; ensuring that all 3D CAD models are fully optimised and that critical to quality (CTQ) features are properly specified using an engineering drawing. In addition, we will source any off-the-shelf components and create a final bill of materials (BOM).
7. Certify
Your product is likely to require safety approval from a recognised body such as the British Standards Institution. We can work with an external test house who will verify that your product complies with the necessary BS EN regulations; allowing us to produce a technical folder that demonstrates CE Certification.
8. Manufacture*
We have a distributed supply chain of manufacturing partners in the UK and the Far East. This enables us to manufacture every part of your product using processes such as: injection-moulding; casting; machining; sheet metal pressing and forming; hand finishing, assembly and quality control (QC).
