From design to manufacture: 6 tips

When preparing your design and finalizing it for manufacture, you will need to compile a range of information and documents that will enable your manufacturing partner to understand and execute your design into production.

In order to confidently and comprehensively issue your product information to your suppliers, the design itself needs to be optimised and rationalised according to your design intentions and requirements, as well as your production partners capabilities, processes and resources.

To allow your suppliers to prepare a thorough and realistic quotation for the set up and manufacture of your product, try to provide them with the following information:

1. Production process to be used: You may need moulding, fabrication, machining, casting… Your choice will be determined by the product’s intended function, your forecast quantities (see item 4 below), how it should look and feel and many other technical / performance requirements you may have, and of course, what your ideal price-point (sell price) may be

2. Materials, colours and finishes: There is almost an infinite amount of exciting materials, colours and finishes available to today’s product developer. Whether your product is moulded, cast, painted, polished, etched, shrink-sleeve labeled… the opportunities for producing a unique and distinctive design through colour and finish are virtually endless. Some of these opportunities may be found locally; other’s you might need to travel further afield (interstate) or offshore.

3. Annual or total volume forecasts: I know, this is a tough one… and only those who have a crystal ball can be certain what these volumes are going to be. In order to adequately assess the feasibility of your product, production process, and in the broader scheme of things – your market – you need to carefully consider your options in relation to your proposed production volumes. Don’t invest huge money in multi-cavity injection-moulding tooling if you only need to produce 50~100 parts per year… conversely, if your quantities are in the thousands, you may have many more production options available to you. If you only plan on producing a small number of items, expect to pay a higher unit price. Conversely, the higher the volume, the more you will be able to save per unit (by utilising mass-production efficiencies) “Low Volume = High Unit price… High Volume = Low Unit Price”. Do your sums and work out what is the best balance of Volume to Unit Price.

4. Leadtime requirements and deadlines: Be ready to wait many weeks before your parts come rolling off the production line. Depending on the process(es) you choose, you may have to wait months before you see any fruits of your production investment. Consider investing in some rapid-prototypes (3D printing, SLA, SLS, CNC and others) to get a sample of your design built whilst you wait for full scale production. Rapid prototypes can also be invaluable to explain to your production partners what the product must do, look, perform and how its assembled. When considering your projects schedule, discuss timing issues with your potential production partners and let them advise you on how much time they may need. These discussions will not only help you set realistic timelines, it will also enable your production partner to plan ahead of time so that when you are ready to commence, they are too.

5. Design information to be supplied – 3d and 2d information: Not much large-scale production happens these days without some form of 3D CAD (computer aided design) data being produced. 3DCAD is used to specify the physical geometry of your product. I’ve been working with various CAD systems for many years, and 99.99% of all projects I carry out with clients will involve some form of 3DCAD stage. 2D drawings are still a fundamental aspect of communicating your design to your manufacturer, and will include a series of individual component, assembly and exploded view drawings which describe all the information that the 3D data doesn’t. In addition to the usual elevations (front / side / top views etc), things like materials, finishes, colours, textures, critical dimensions, tolerances, notes, quantities, and many other technical attributes of the design will need to be documented within these 2D drawings so that your manufacturer understands all of your intentions and requirements. Ask your manufacturing supplier what format they would like to receive this 3D and 2D data as there are many different CAD systems out there – and only a few “common” (aka generic) data formats we all can read and use.

6. Quality requirements (accuracy, tolerances, finishes): “Quality” expectations can be the source of major frustration and problems during production programs. Before you commence production, spend time considering what your quality expectations are… for instance, do you need a highly polished surface on an area of the product that will never be seen or non-essential for the function / performance of the design? A quality specification will help your suppliers understand before they start what you want in terms of smooth / flat / round / polished / matt / square / plumb / rough / parallel / tight / loose etc etc etc… When briefing your manufacturing supplier, try to cite examples of similar products or other references that help you quantify your quality needs. Again, a prototype can work wonders here, because you can finesse and tune your shape, colour, finishes, assembly clearances, moving parts, bearings etc and provide this to your supplier as a quality reference or “master” sample.