Category Archives: Manufacturing

CNC, Mill, Lathe, Injection Molding, Laser Cutting

The Product Development Process

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The 3D Innovations Product Development Process Explained

Concept
The conceptual phase typically begins with developing the basic idea and requirements into a visual object that depicts what the final product could look like. This involves integrating industrial design methods that include various materials, surface finish of the parts, and overall aesthetics.

Design/Prototype
With the requirements fully or partially defined, the conceptual design can be transformed into a virtual design that is not only functional, but manufacturable. Design For Manufacturability (DFM) is a critical part of this design phase. The DFM process will be based on the product type and ultimately, the production manufacturing method(s) that will be used. Once a virtual design is completed using 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design), it must be validated to ensure the proper functionality. Having a tangible item to feel, touch, hold, and test is always recommended and can save on the cost of re-design and re-working of production tooling and molds if errors are not caught before proceeding with the manufacturing phase. With 3D Printing becoming more mainstream and with more materials available for use, this is often times the preferred method for prototyping a design. Other prototyping methods can also be used if required. Prototypes can also be produced to be used as marketing tools to present to investors, potential partners, or for media releases.

Manufacturing
Once the design has been fully validated to ensure that form, fit, and function have been accounted for, the production manufacturing phase can begin. If high volume quantities are required, special molds and tooling are likely needed to efficiently and cost effectively produce final production parts. Low volumes can also be produced using various molding methods, but may not be feasible for quantities less than several hundred parts. Depending on the products functionality, an appropriate manufacturing method will be selected. If the product requires integrating electronics or assembly of other parts, this would be done during the manufacturing phase once all individual components have been produced.

Product
Product packaging and marketing play an important role in getting the product launched and promoted in the marketplace. Specialized packaging can be design and manufactured to fit the product specifications. With a team of Marketing and Graphic Design specialists, promotion/marketing, product packaging, graphic design for collateral and websites can be created to showcase the product capabilities.

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

The Product Design & Development Process

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Many entrepreneurs are often taken back slightly when they are working on their very first product because of the time and effort involved in product design and development. Below is a summary discussing the design and development phases and what exactly goes on behind the scenes to ensure you launch a successful product.

“Product development is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business or enterprise to its customers.Design refers to those activities involved in creating the styling, look and feel of the product, deciding on the product’s mechanical architecture, selecting materials and processes, and engineering the various components necessary to make the product work. Development refers collectively to the entire process of identifying a market opportunity, creating a product to appeal to the identified market, and finally, testing, modifying and refining the product until it is ready for production.”

The task of developing a new product is challenging, time-consuming and can be costly. “Great products are not simply designed, but instead they evolve over time through countless hours of research, analysis, design studies, engineering and prototyping efforts, and finally, testing, modifying, and re-testing until the design has been perfected.”

A good new product is the result a methodical development effort with well defined product specifications and project goals. The first stage of product development is concept development. “During this stage, the needs of the target market are identified, competitive products are reviewed, product specifications are defined, a product concept is selected, an economic analysis is done, and the development project is outlined. This stage provides the foundation for the development effort, and if poorly done can undermine the entire effort.”

Once the concept development stage has been completed, you then move on the the system-level design of the product. “System-level design, or the task of designing the architecture of the product, is the subject of this stage. In prior stages, the team was focused on the core product idea, and the prospective design was largely based on overviews rather than in-depth design and engineering. Designers and engineers develop the product architecture in detail, and manufacturing determines which components should be made and which should be purchased, and identifies the necessary suppliers.”

Once the architecture of the product has been established you move into the design detail phase. “Detail design, or design-for-manufacture, is the stage wherein the necessary engineering is done for every component of the product. During this phase, each part is identified and engineered. Tolerances, materials, and finishes are defined, and the design is documented with drawings or computer files. Increasingly, manufacturers and developers are turning to three-dimensional solid modeling using programs such as Pro-Engineer. Three-dimensional computer models form the core of today’s rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing technologies. Once the database has been developed, prototype components can be rapidly built on computerized machines such as CNC mills, fused deposition modeling devices, or stereo lithography systems.”

When your design details are complete your product is then ready for testing and refinement. During this phase a number of prototypes are built and refined. These prototypes are necessary to determine whether the performance of the product matches the established specifications. “Models and prototypes are necessary because of the limitations of theoretical work and artificial mediums. A product can be designed and put into simulated use on computer, but one doesn’t really know how it will work until the item is built and tested in its intended environment. Prototyping and modeling efforts begin virtually at the inception of the project and continue into production.”

Once your models have been perfected your product is then ready for production! During this time your product is slowly  being assemble. The production is comparably slower because it provides time to work out any final issues with supplier components, fabrication and assembly procedures. Once things get going though, production will ramp-up and you will begin to see the fruit of your labor!

*If you have any question about product design & development, you can contact us at info@3d-innovations.com

Research:

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

3D Printing Lets Design Creativity Flow

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This week we came across an article, Rethinking objects and form are key to 3D printing revolution, and it really got us thinking about all of the possibilities 3D printing brings to the design and engineering table. If you ever find yourself on Pinterest, 3D printing blogs or anywhere that showcases 3D printed objects, once you get past all of the Yoda heads you are bound to see items that we already have, just re-created using a 3D printer (chairs, lamps, knobs, etc.). Though these items are cool to look at, we can’t help but think “Where is the real creativity?” in these products.

In the article (above) Terry Wohlers,  an independent analyst who advises companies on the 3D printing sector, states the following regarding 3D printing: “You are almost unlimited as to the type of geometric complexity…You can do shapes and forms that otherwise would be very expensive to do with traditional manufacturing, or would require many parts that then are later assembled.” These new design and manufacturing possibilities are something that as designers we need to really gravitate towards. Thinking outside of the proverbial box. With all of the creative design tools at our disposal we should be showcasing unique products that stretch the boundaries of imagination.

Certain industries have already harnessed the creativity associated with 3D printing and are using the technology to better the lives of people everywhere. For example, “well over 90 percent of in-the-ear hearing aids are made using 3D printing, and that lets clever software, which can work out exactly how to optimize the acoustic properties of the hearing aid, into the manufacturing process”. When using 3D printing, design can look very organic and very different than what you would normally see.

We challenge our designer and engineering friends out there to begin rethinking objects during the design phase and allow more creativity into the process.

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

Could Crash Modeling Have Saved the Costa Concordia?

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Event simulation helps automobile manufacturers design safer vehicles — and it can do the same for shipbuilders.

The Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster has generated many questions, but one in particular haunts survivors and onlookers alike: Could this disaster have been prevented?

The Costa Concordia tragedy has been a major headline on newsstands in recent months, and today Cadalyst posted a viewpoint article, by Mr. Robert Yancey, discussing ways in which shipbuilders should start modeling their event simulation programs after that of the automotive industry, to help prevent future accidents. Advancements in simulation modeling has allowed the automotive industry to build safer and more reliant vehicles, and the shipbuilding industry should adopt the same design and testing processes to keep passengers safe.

In simulation modeling, engineers use a digital design of a vehicle to generate a simulation model that represents all of the key elements of the design, including material properties, mass properties, occupant models, and the impact event (e.g., side impact, frontal offset, etc.). The accuracy of these models is now so high that most automotive companies do extensive virtual testing of their vehicle designs before ever building prototypes, and the physical testing is really just a final verification of the crashworthiness of the design. In most cases, there are no surprises during the physical test. 

Land to Sea

Could ship designers follow the automotive industry’s example? Could we employ simulation modeling to create more advanced designs that can better respond to the type of event that destroyed the Concordia? The answer is yes.

Engineers could use much of the technology developed for automotive crash modeling to model a ship’s impact on rocks, icebergs, sandbars, and other hazards. We cannot always prevent these events from happening, but if we can develop ship designs that more effectively respond to these impacts — especially to provide sufficient time to safely evacuate the passengers — we could improve passenger safety and confidence.

In the case of the Concordia, the ship’s hull was divided into several watertight compartments; one or two sections of the hull could flood without sinking the entire ship. The ship had longitudinal bulkheads, intended to keep it from listing when flooded. During the recent disaster, however, the ship came to rest on a rock ledge; this caused the vessel to become unstable on the uneven bottom and roll on its side. This position complicated the rescue operation, because many of the lifeboats could not be deployed with the ship listing to one side.

Collision of Costa Concordia 5
Disaster simulations could help ship designers prepare for uncommon scenarios, such as having a ship run aground and roll onto its side. Image courtesy of Roberto Vongher, via Wikimedia Commons.

This occurrence, and many other unusual situations, could be simulated on a computer. Just as a car-crash simulation varies according to speed, direction, impact zone, and other elements, a good simulation model of a ship could replicate many of the conditions that the vessel might encounter. Armed with the results of these simulations, engineers can adapt the ship design to better respond to each of these situations.

Can simulation modeling help with the design of cruise ships?

To read the full Cadalyst article, please click here.

3D Printing/Additive Manufacturing IS Changing the Manufacturing Industry

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How will 3D Printing/Additive Manufacturing change the way conventional manufacturing methods are utilized?

Is 3D Printing just a cool process or are there added benefits and value gained to using this additive fabrication process over conventional machining methods? 3D Printing is cool, but the manner in which it is being used has greatly added to its appeal. 3D Printing is now moving beyond the prototyping and design validation stages and into production applications.

If you’re manufacturing low volumes of a product, using Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM) might be a more cost effective method for producing end-use production parts. Of course one off prototypes or even production parts can benefit from DDM, but did you know it is now being adopted and used as implants in medical applications? Another emerging industry that has begun to utilize 3D Printing are the many food manufacturing sectors.  3D Printers can now produce parts using chocolate!

With these new technologies emerging, how will 3D Printing be used and will it be available for the home/consumer markets at an affordable price while providing similar quality as higher end production 3D Printing machines?

 

Image provided by: http://technabob.com

Crowdsourcing: Insight from 3D Innovations’ Collin Kobayashi

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Crowdsourcing can be a great way to launch and get your product idea off the ground.  While this method of fundraising and collaboration has some particular issues that have become hot topics lately, the right project could successfully benefit from this newly mainstream process.

Crowdsouring has worked best when Inventors or Entrepreneurs seek funding for their innovative ideas or projects.  Using the various crowdsourcing sites that exist, Inventors can post images, videos, and design data to display the products that they are trying to develop.  If the right idea is desirable, many will support the idea in hopes of it being developed and introduced to the market.  One of the benefits for the Entrepreneur is that they are able to in a sense “pre-sell” their idea to test  the market’s interest before investing and jumping into the large manufacturing process.  This provides them with an opportunity to have a large focus group to see the product and provide feedback which can be used to improve the design and functionality.  While there are a few downsides to using crowdsourcing for this process, the benefits of have potential customers pay for the products design and manufacturing seem to outweigh all of the other concerns.

Interested in learning more about crowdsourcing or getting started on a product design and prototype? Contact us today at info@3d-innovations.com

Article image by: http://ayeblog.wordpress.com/tag/crowdsourcing/

Sustainable Product Design

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Now that the holidays are complete and we are all having fun learning how to use our new “toys”, we thought that it was an appropriate time to take a moment to think about the ecological lifespan of our gifts. Many of our gifts will probably break by next Christmas and will make their way into our trash cans, and our time with them will be complete…but these items will continue to impact our environment for many, many years in most cases. Desktop Engineering featured an article “Sustainable Design as a Balancing Act” and we wanted to share with you some highlights from it and how CAD is helping manufacturers and consumers learn more about their product’s ecological lifespan.

“The sleek mobile tablet at your fingertips, the stylish sunglasses in your pocket, and the point-and-shoot camera you use to capture your Kodak moments–they all have an ecological lifespan that’s much longer than you think. The time the product remains in your possession–its duration of operation and service–may be just a few months (a pair of sunglasses) to a couple of years (a tablet or a digital camera), but its ecological footprint has been established long before you pick it up from your local mall. It will continue to grow long after its disposal. A series of decisions made in the manufacturing process–using polycarbonate instead of scratch-resistant borosilicate materials for a lens, or using injection molding instead of machining for a latch–affects a product’s environmental impact.

The office of Fred Sparks, an industrial design agency has, quite literally, helped shaped many familiar household products, ranging from football helmets and golf bags to outdoor furniture. Fred Sparks is often hired as a design consultant to develop sustainable solutions to existing products. Because its role is consultative, the firm doesn’t always have access to 3D CAD models of the products. “Sometimes, those files exist in a factory somewhere in China, and the factory doesn’t want to give up that [intellectual property],” observes Harris.

Just as CAD users would catalog the content of their assembly in a BOM, Sustainable Minds subscribers use the software’s web-based input system to create an itemized bill of a product’s lifecycle. In this case, the lifecycle includes not only a list of objects to be manufactured (camera housing, lens, battery, memory chip release latch, etc.), but certain aspects of manufacturing that are bound to have an impact on the environment as well–such as transportation methods, choice of materials, and disposal methods.

SolidWorks Sustainability Xpress

CAD Integration
Sustainable Minds works as a standalone web-based program, but the company has worked with Autodesk to ensure that, if you upload a BOM exported from Autodesk Inventor CAD package, the appropriate fields are automatically populated with the right numbers–for instance, component volumes and material specifications, as deduced from the 3D CAD assembly model.

Increased attention to LCA and green design has prompted some CAD software makers to add environmental impact assessment tools to their 3D modeling interface. SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor–two fierce competitors in the design software market–have both incorporated the function.

In manufacturing today, the challenge is to find the right balance of durability (how well does the product perform under duress?), sustainability (how safe is it for the environment?), and cost (how much does it cost to make it?). It is, indeed, a tall order to come up with a design that satisfies all three criteria, but such is the demand of the consumers today.”

To read the complete article from Design Engineering click here.

3D Innovations Assists With Design Of Shark Deterrent Device

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The challenge: Finding an effective way to design and prototype the enclosure for a Shark Deterrent device. From here 3D Innovations needed to develop a functional design for the enclosure that can be massed produced for manufacturing and market readiness.

Our Solution: We utilized 3D Technologies to create digital designs and functional prototypes for testing and verification of the enclosure.  Final designs were used to produce tooling needed for mass production manufacturing of the final enclosure design.

3D Innovations has helped one of their customers develop an enclosure for a Shark Deterrent system, a small device that repels sharks from your area while in the ocean.

The enclosure needed to be designed to be mass produced using Injection Molding Manufacturing.  Design challenges included miniaturizing the design to keep a small and compact form factor while ensuring the design could be molded.  Another challenge was to add style to the overall design and appeal of the product.  The product needed to blend in with the ocean environment and have an attractive appeal to the consumer.  Using a finishing process, the product mimics a carbon fiber coating as well as blue or brown camouflage patterns.

Results:

  • Reduced prototyping costs by as much as 350%
  • Shortened time to market by 60%
  • Produced a manufacturable product at a low cost

Throughout the design process, 3D Innovations helped to go From Concept to Prototype to Product.

 

Robotics Testing Takes on Hockey Sticks

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Design News posted an interesting article about the strides that robotics testing is taking in the world of ice hockey. Golf clubs have routinely been tested to evaluate the technical claims of the manufacturers using robotics, but these same concepts had not been applied to hockey sticks…until now.

“John McPhee, a mechanical engineering professor in the Systems Design Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo and an avid hockey player, saw an opportunity to apply similar robotics testing to hockey stick designs, helping manufacturers develop high-performance sticks with lasting durability.”

Check out this video for more details: Chris Goodine, Builder – Control & Electrical Lead

The full article can be found at the Design News website: http://bit.ly/tn602d

From Design to Manufacturing: The SquareWRAP

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One of our customers, The SquareWRAP, just launched their project on KickStarter. 3D Innovations provided design and manufacturing support to turn this idea into a tangible reality.

The project was based around the easy to use Square Credit Card reader and their free application that allows just about anyone to start accepting credit cards.


-Click here for a short video about Square

The only downfall with this device is that the small compact size of the Square Credit Card reader makes it prone to becoming misplaced, lost or damaged. This is where 3D Innovations came in to help develop a solution for this vulnerable device.

The SquareWRAP invented an intuitive, simple and easy to use carrying case solution for the Square Credit Card reader that allows you to safely and securely carry it with you at all times on your key ring, attached to your bag, a belt loop, on a neck lanyard or any number of carry configurations and 3D helped design and manufacture the end product.

AND, it also protects the Square Credit Card reader from being damaged by the day-to-day exposure to the contaminants and environmental elements you may encounter on a daily basis.

Video: See the project on Kickstarter

For more information on this product or the design and manufacturing process, please email: info@3d-innovations.com