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Guide for the New Product Design Process When Hiring a Design Services Firm

Posted on February 3, 2026 by faz_business

A new product development process typically starts with a design opportunity, which essentially is the realization that you have a chance to introduce a new product that offers a solution to an existing user problem. You then connect with a new product design team, asking for a certain product to be developed, prototyped, tested, manufactured, and finally launched to the market. Design opportunities may arise out of unmet needs or unrealized market demand for a better alternative to an existing product. The design team will set out to analyze the viability of the idea. If there’s indeed a design opportunity, the development can quickly move on to the next phase.

While the process itself is important, a great product is more likely to come out of the work of a great design team as well. Most design teams apply pretty much the same development process, from research and ideation to iterative prototyping and manufacturing. But not all of them have an equal level of expertise and experience to execute every phase of the process well enough to deliver a brief, accurate product design. And when it comes to hiring a design team to handle a new product development, Cad Crowd is bar none the most comprehensive freelancing platform to help you discover multidisciplinary professionals with the know-how to transform ideas and concepts into tangible market-ready products.

Research

Each and every phase of a product development process holds an important role in determining success, but the research part must be singled out as the biggest contributor to the way the project moves forward. The information you gather as a product designer during the research phase will define and affect all the major points throughout the undertaking, from design specification and prototyping to manufacturing and even post-launch product management. Research primarily involves taking a deeper look into the design opportunity to better understand and clarify what the consumers want.

Main focus areas may include an analysis of competitors’ products (or anything that basically offers a similar solution), an exploration of the available and feasible materials to make the product, and an assessment of potential manufacturing methods. A lot of the details that emerge from the research may help you gain new knowledge about the market, price points, factory partners, marketing strategies, and other aspects of product discovery that influence many design decisions later on.

It’s just near impossible to launch a new product development without research, as it opens the door to an in-depth awareness of the contexts surrounding the project, including the business goals, market landscape, target consumers, quality standards, buyers’ expectations, brand identity, and so forth. All these contexts will be used as the foundation of every design decision to keep you on the right track and ensure that the eventual product is something people actually want.

Feasibility study

The discovery of a design opportunity brings the excitement of a potential for market success. But it’s important to remember that not every idea leads to a great product. You must first validate the design opportunity by conducting a proper feasibility study and an inquiry into the real-world market demand. A feasibility study is especially crucial when you’re developing a physical product. Bear in mind that you’ll be spending a lot of time and money creating a product and releasing it into the market for people to buy. This is how you regain the initial investment and eventually make profits.

In order to make as much profit as possible, the product designed by expert new concept design & product development firms needs to offer real value to consumers (so it sells in high numbers) while keeping the production cost low. And within the realm of manufacturing, mass production brings down the cost per unit. It follows the same basic formula of “total production cost divided by the number of units produced,” which roughly translates to “the more units you produce, the lower you have to pay for the manufacturing of each unit.

Suppose your new product is a water bottle. In all likelihood, you’ll release thousands of those water bottles into the market at launch. You’ve already spent a vast amount of money researching, developing, and prototyping the product, so you might as well manufacture it in high volume, allowing you to sell each unit at a reasonable price and gain a competitive advantage. Because you’re entering a market already flooded by similar products, a proper balance between quality and price is a clever strategy to give your brand a fighting chance in the competitive landscape.

In the absence of a feasibility study, you blindly send the products to compete with existing alternatives. If the product fails to generate interest among consumers and sells poorly, much of the money you’ve poured into the development is as good as gone. You can’t improve the design when the products are already on store shelves. Unlike software or apps that can receive patches to fix bugs, a physical product comes with a greater sense of urgency to be done right the first time.

A feasibility study isn’t just about figuring out whether the water battle can be produced, but it also concerns the business side of product development. Other than an analysis of potential market demand and competitors’ products, the study should include a comprehensive risk assessment as well. There needs to be an encompassing evaluation for financial risks that may emerge from technical challenges, environmental impacts, operational costs, legal issues, etc.

An accurate estimation of product development cost can provide hints into the financial viability of a product; this is where you calculate how much financial investment the development takes, the cost of production per unit, and the amount of money you make for every unit sold. This information enables the design team (or project manager) to come up with an effective plan for resource allocation. Does the design team have enough budget and human resources to ensure a successful product development? If resources are tight, is there any way to keep the development running more efficiently?

Idea generation

Every product people see and use every day starts as an idea. Some say an idea can arrive out of nowhere and lead you to an innovative product design the market has never seen before, but product developers can’t always count on such a sudden brainwave. It doesn’t happen too often, and when it does, there’s no guarantee it’s a good one. Following the research phase, the design team should gather for an idea generation session. At the very least, the session should involve the project manager, the designer, and the engineer. An ideation phase is meant to generate as many product concepts as possible from differing perspectives.

The main purpose isn’t to define how the final product should look and what features it needs, but to come up with multiple available design options that align with the market demand. An idea generation doesn’t have to be a sophisticated process. It can be as simple as a brainstorming session supplemented by social media exploration and Internet search. Make sure to write down the ideas in an organized fashion, so you can keep track of everything, because you will have to refer back to the notes repeatedly over the course of the session. Sketches and drawings created by CAD drafting professionals (with annotations) are simple yet probably the most effective tools for the job.

Don’t even think about using CAD software. You don’t need it at this point, but you will definitely use it later in the development process. If you want to be a bit more elaborate, the design team can take advantage of tools like Facebook Groups or online forums to conduct surveys. However, you’re not asking the public to give you ideas; the surveys are intended as communication channels to discover consumers’ interest in new products, pain points they experience with the existing products, what features they want, and so on. You can then formulate ideas based on the information.

Back in the research phase, you’ve already defined what problem the product is supposed to solve. Keep in mind that a product can only become an attractive option to the existing alternatives if it offers a good solution to a problem. The idea generation phase must therefore strive to discover a viable design that may take care of this problem in an easy, practical, and affordable manner. That being said, an effective ideation also needs to be judgment-free, meaning everyone is encouraged to come up with any suggestion or concept of a product. Some of those ideas will be bad, others are terrible, but a few concepts may seem promising enough. The focus is on quantity, not quality, so everything is welcome so long as it still makes sense.

Idea screening

Never confuse “idea generation” with “idea screening,” as the latter needs a completely different approach from the former. While they’re both intended to discover viable product design, idea screening is where every single concept generated during the previous phase will be scrutinized for technical and financial feasibility. At the end of the screening process, it’s expected that the consumer product design team has put aside all the ideas that are not going to work, either because it’s implausible from a technical point of view or due to budget constraints. A proper screening prevents you from spending time and money on something that’s highly unlikely to materialize.

It’s better to narrow down the options to the most promising and realistic design, so you can utilize the resources more effectively. Ideas are not actually that difficult to generate; what’s difficult is choosing the right one to develop further. Because a new product development process is almost always an expensive venture, the design team must establish an efficient strategy to manage ideas and implement prioritization. Ideally, only the best option deserves resource allocation.

For example, during an idea generation for a new water bottle, there are more than 20 ideas with sketches and drawings recorded by the CAD drawing expert. In an attempt to be unique or striking, one member of the design team created a concept of a sports water bottle made entirely out of stained-glass materials. It’s not technically impossible, but carrying such a brittle product for outdoor activities isn’t exactly popular. Another member suggests a design of an otherwise typical water bottle, except that the lid is positioned in the middle rather than at the top as normally expected. The design should dismiss those ideas and look for something better.

A scoring system can make idea screening easier. Rate the product based on such factors as manufacturability, potential market size, and alignment with the design team’s capabilities. Features and usability must be taken into consideration as well. For instance, the ideal water bottle should be easy to use, clean, refill, and carry. The materials should be safe, durable, and easily sourced. As for the aesthetics, don’t forget to include ergonomics (the shape and form of the product) into the equation, too. The idea that ends up at the top of the scoring system is the one worth developing.

Working backwards

Sometimes, it pays to use the “working backwards” technique during the idea generation and screening phases, although this is mostly reserved for the more complex products like electronics or mechanical implements. As the name suggests, the technique requires you to start from the endpoint of a design process. Suppose you want to build the thinnest Bluetooth-enabled stereo speaker in the market; the 3D product modeling team uses a sketch or a 3D model of the product in question, and then works backward to figure out the necessary engineering steps to achieve the design.

Design specification

With the market research and ideation phases done, it’s now time to focus on the best concept selected from the screening process. At this point in the development, even the best concept still only represents a rough notion of a product. Everything is imprecise and will need a lot of work until it actually resembles a refined concept. A big part of the work is to define the product specification, which may include details like dimensions, materials, aesthetics (colors, ergonomics, textures, etc.), and cost. Depending on the product type, a design specification may contain information about functionality, technologies to be utilized to fabricate or manufacture the product, and how the product should be used.

Design specification is all about defining the product’s function and form, as well as the user experience it should deliver. The purpose is for the product engineer to create a workable concept that can be feasibly developed into a user-friendly product. More importantly, the concept can give you a clear vision of how this product will provide a solution to an existing problem. Design specification isn’t always final; the concept created from this phase doesn’t necessarily represent the market-ready product. There might be multiple rounds of refinements and changes at a later date, especially after prototyping and testing phases.

Concept development

A follow-up on the design specification phase, the team embarks on concept development work to transform the idea into something a little bit more concrete. You’re not creating a prototype here, but a digital visualization of the product drawn on a computer screen using CAD software. 3D modeling design services are much more preferable than two-dimensional sketches as it offers a clear visualization of the product’s physical shape. The initial mock-up might not look realistic, but at least it can accurately represent the form and proportion/dimension.

Once the wireframe model has been created, the design team can keep on refining the concept by giving it additional details such as colors, textures, and patterns on the surface to achieve a more lifelike appearance. The vast majority of modern 3D CAD software packages offer the option to mimic the looks of various materials such as metal, plastics, woods, stones, and so forth. No matter what you make, make sure every little detail is drawn in accordance with the design specification.

But a product concept development isn’t only about translating the design specification into a 3D visualization design. It’s also about evaluation. The digital mock-up allows the design team to present the concept in a much more discernible format to stakeholders. Having a clear visualization of a product concept as a presentation tool makes it easier to elicit feedback from everyone involved in the project. If you can see and understand the concept, you’re likely to notice whether the design team has done something that accurately aligns with the project brief or misses the mark. Either way, you (as a client) can give honest feedback to the team.

It may take a few rounds of feedback and refinements throughout the concept development phase. The additional insights and criticisms from the stakeholders enable the team to iterate on the design in the hope of discovering the optimal solution. The good thing is that all the modifications to the mock-up happen on a computer screen. There’s no physical object involved in this process to save time and money. The goal is to address potential flaws at the earliest time possible and build an aesthetic design that can differentiate the product from all others in the market.

Business analysis

With the final concept in hand, the next logical step is to analyze and calculate how much money it will take for the product design expert to transform the concept into a physical product. Although it’s difficult to be precise about it, at least the design team has a rough idea of the amount of money (and other resources) required to bring the concept to life. Among the major points of consideration are the cost for prototyping and manufacturing. An experienced design team should be able to provide an estimate, allowing you to set a maximum budget limit to avoid overspending. Based on the available budget, the project manager can set a course of action to make the best of the provided resources.

Prototyping

Certainly, the most exciting step of a new product design process, the prototyping phase, is where the concept transforms into a physical object. A prototype is an early version of a product, with a lot of imperfections. The idea behind physical prototyping is to give the prototype design team the chance to run multiple tests to see if the product looks and works as intended. It sounds like a fun (and potentially expensive) experiment depending on how well the prototype performs, but there can be various mishaps such as dimension errors, poor ergonomics, feature malfunctions, and so forth.

Many things can go wrong, but every discovery of a mistake is a lesson that yields valuable insights into creative solutions. By far, the most widely used prototyping methods are 3D printing services and CNC machining. Each has its own advantages and drawbacks, depending on the nature of the product itself. For example, 3D printing is great for creating a physical prototype made entirely of plastic material. Thanks to the proliferation of consumer-grade 3D printers, it has now become easier, quicker, and more affordable to create a physical object from a CAD file. CNC machining is just as accurate, but the method is mostly intended for a prototype made of metal.

Simulations

Computer simulation software actually allows you to test a product without having a physical prototype. In essence, the technique requires you to build an accurate 3D model (of the product) and run it through many different virtual usage scenarios and stress tests. Popular tools such as Finite Element Analysis (FEA) engineering services and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) offer a detailed overview of product or material behavior when exposed to real-world forces, for instance, exposure to extreme temperatures, electromagnetics, vibration, and weight or load. Virtual simulations help designers and engineers identify weak points in a product assembly and discover room for improvement without creating a physical prototype.

Testing and iteration

Virtual simulations are great and all, but a physical prototype remains a crucial point in a product design process. A physical prototype is still the best way to understand real-world user experience and feel the ergonomics of a design. You need to know if the product actually is easy-to-use and does offer an effective solution to a user problem. Regardless of the prototyping method used, a new product development is always an iterative process. A physical prototype provides clues as to how to make the next one better in every aspect, including usability, safety, durability, and functionality. Note that you may need more than several rounds of testing and iteration before the product achieves its optimal design.

Manufacturing

At the end of the prototyping phase, you have a final design ready to be mass-produced. The design for manufacturing and assembly team collaborates with a manufacturing partner to make sure that the production units are identical to the final prototype. Every detail from the materials, dimensions, forms, functionality, and appearance of the mass-produced units will go through a quality assurance process to verify the overall build quality and performance. Once everything is verified, the product is ready for market launch.

How Cad Crowd can help

A successful new product design process requires a well-balanced combination of creativity, excellent attention to detail, financial sensibility, persistence, and excellent project management skills. From the moment you bump into a design opportunity all the way to the manufacturing process, things might not always run smoothly without occasional mishaps. The mark of a great team is to handle every setback with a positive attitude and a willingness to strive for innovations and effective solutions. And as previously mentioned, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more extensive platform for hiring professional product designers than Cad Crowd. Get a free quote today!

MacKenzie Brown is the founder and CEO of Cad Crowd. With over 18 years of experience in launching and scaling platforms specializing in CAD services, product design, manufacturing, hardware, and software development, MacKenzie is a recognized authority in the engineering industry. Under his leadership, Cad Crowd serves esteemed clients like NASA, JPL, the U.S. Navy, and Fortune 500 companies, empowering innovators with access to high-quality design and engineering talent.

Connect with me: LinkedIn ✦ X ✦ Cad Crowd

Why Design for Manufacturability (DfM) is Essential for Product Success When Hiring a Design Firm

Posted on December 19, 2025 by faz_business

Today’s post covers why design for manufacturability (DfM) is vital for product success when investing in 3D design firms. You may have felt that surge if you’ve ever had a great concept for a product. You look around and see others getting it, using it, and making it their own. Maybe you even drew it on a napkin at lunch or sold it to a buddy in hopes of getting it. But a great idea is just the start, as many inventors and businesses have learned. There is a turning street full of potential minefields between the concept and the buyer.

One of the largest things you can do to save money and time is to ignore design for manufacturability services, or DfM. Don’t scroll on and think this is some boring engineering talk nobody but factory folks wants to sit through. DfM is not some boring checklist factory folks are curious about being the end itself. It is the magic dust that keeps your product idea from becoming a cautionary footnote. It is your idea’s fitness coach, boot-camping it in order to make it through the nasty world of suppliers, factory floors, and customer specs.

Here, we are going to explain to you why DfM is valuable, and how it’s an investment of your time if you’ve got the right design firm to support you. We are going to demonstrate how a platform like Cad Crowd will place you side by side with the pros who will do the heavy lifting for you.

The story of two widgets: a DfM lesson in disguise

Let’s begin with a story. WidgetWorks and GizmoTech are two companies that, independently, came up with the idea of a coffee mug that stirs itself. WidgetWorks hires a product concept design firm that comes up with a terrific, high-tech sketch. It has lines that would be the envy of anyone astride a sports car and a stirring rod that would never be out of place in a science fiction movie. The investors are awestruck. The prototype performs equally well on the laboratory bench. But there’s a catch.

The agitator gear works on five separate vendors, with tighter tolerances than the drum, and a manufacturing process so advanced that seasoned technicians wince with rage. But GizmoTech’s got a company that’s practiced DfM from the start. The mug is trendy and cool, but they made the pieces simple so it’s a snap to buy them. The stir assembly is simple, robust, and easy to manufacture. They’ve even sketched out how it’ll be packaged up and shipped without it getting broken.

Six months later, WidgetWorks is stuck in delay, shock, cost, and angry emails. GizmoTech is filling mugs, posting TikTok selfies of delighted customers smiling over mugs, and making hand over fist money. Tough luck: DfM is working magic.

What exactly is design for manufacturability?

DfM is the methodology for product designers to design a product so that it may be manufactured at low cost, efficiently, and in a dependable manner. It considers materials, processes, assembly techniques, tolerances, and even potential supply chain issues many months before you ever cut anything in plastic or metal. Imagine making a robot toy comprised of a lot of different joints that you could only put together with tweezers and a magnifying lens. It looks great on the CAD display, but making it is a nightmare. DfM makes you think about the hard questions first: Is there a way to make this easier?

Can we use normal materials instead of just using rare ones? Is this group going to need an origami degree? DfM is not stifling your imagination. It is actually a catalyst for your imagination. If you think about manufacturing early enough, you will discover other innovative means of doing what you want to have done, such as putting multiple parts into one molded part or employing an assembly procedure that doesn’t save assembly time but saves integrity.

That’s where your product design company can step in. Most companies have no idea about manufacturing. A seasoned firm with DfM will walk you through solutions to look at, function, and production constraint issues. Cad Crowd, for instance, can put you in touch with design companies and independent designers who walk the tightrope as a business. They can bring a fresh perspective to your idea and infuse it with battle-tested expertise, and save you expensive surprises down the line.

Why DfM avoidance is the same as wedding planning without inviting the wedding venue

Not doing DfM is equivalent to planning a wedding without going ahead to check with the wedding hall to see if they have enough chairs, parking, or even electricity. You might take weeks going about choosing the perfect flowers, choosing invitations, and choosing a band, but on your wedding day, end up having your guests standing in mud listening to an acoustic guitar. The same applies if you dive headlong into product design without DfM services. Absolutely, you can create a good-looking prototype. Then you find:

Tolerances so close that precision machines are unable to measure them.
Your twenty-stage assembly when all it needs is five.
You bought a plastic that is now back-ordered worldwide.
One source recently hiked price makes a critical contribution.

And meanwhile, while you’re busy addressing those problems, your budget’s gone out the window, your schedule’s gone down the drain, and your competitor’s done something a lot simpler but brilliant.

The human side of DfM

DfM is not material or hardware. DfM are individuals. Think of a temperamental, tiny piece of assembly line that seems to have been designed so it will slip out of your hands. Think of a customer who is provided with a shaky product because the design had not been designed to accommodate the material chosen. By doing it right, by following the principles of DfM, you are doing it for every single person in the supply chain: the assembly technician who needs a working process, the quality product engineer who needs accessible test points, and the customer who needs a product that just works right out of the box.

Your shareholders will even sleep better at night because you’ve mitigated risk. When you are selecting DfM, you are not compromising you’re building a solid foundation. You’re prototyping in the field, and not on screen. And that’s more exhilarating than some slick render, ultimately.

How a design firm with DfM capability delivers value

A good design house takes several times as much as a group of talented 3D artists and CAD software. They are your protection against your production nightmares. They will inquire about a pain-in-the-neck part today that will be worth millions in the future. Is the geometry of the parts in the real world for injection molding? Will this fastening system hold up to shocks during shipping? Can we cut down on the number of single products to make them easier to find? Is there something cheaper that works just as well?

These firms with world-class DfM capability also happen to have supply chain relationships or specialized expertise in factory operations. They can dictate manufacturing processes, lead times, and even packaging issues. To add a business like that as a partner is not an added expense. It’s a bet on your product’s future. Sites like Cad Crowd allow you to perform this search. Instead of hearsay or speculation, you can look at portfolios, reviews, and contact specialists whose area of expertise is compatible with what you need. If you need a sheet metal design specialist, an injection molding specialist, or a PCB layout specialist, then Cad Crowd can refer you to your desired specialist.

Common DfM fallacies that trap designers and business people

There are a few myths circulating about DfM, and a couple of them are rather old. Let us separate the fact from fiction and hopefully contemptuously ridicule the myth.

Myth 1: DfM stifles creativity

This is complaining that guardrails ruin the enjoyment of driving along a mountain road. DfM won’t murder creativity. It concentrates it. It is the way in which most of the good stuff occurs along the way, working within the constraints of manufacturing. A wise DfM designer can utilize constraints as the basis for innovation.

Myth 2: DfM is reserved for large companies

Startups are mistaken in thinking that DfM is something to avoid after they’ve “made it.” Small companies have the most to gain by avoiding costly rework. A lean entrepreneur cannot afford to lose the cost of a production failure. DfM is an insurance policy, not a luxury.

Myth 3: If the prototype works, mass production will work

This is maybe the most deadly of myths. Prototypes can be lovingly hand-fashioned with devotion. Mass production is not so. A solution that will work in your basement once will not work when mass-produced in the thousands.

Myth 4: Any designer knows manufacturing

All. Not every good prototype designer has an understanding of the shop floor of the manufacturing world. Some might be excellent at drawing wonderful images, but will have no clue as to how the world is for manufacturing. With. Working with a platform like Cad Crowd, you can avail the best talent who come. Combine the art of the artist with rational capability.

Common product flops due to poor DfM

The world is full of cautionary tales in which ill-considered DfM had the best of it and made a joke with no punchline. Here are some to entertain you – and instill a little fear.

The battery compartment disaster

It was a single company that produced a best-selling toy that employed a battery pack so loosely that parents needed to open the toy halfway, even just to replace batteries. Consumer reaction was merciless: “Great toy, hell to change the batteries.” It cost them millions in redesigning.

The invisible screw

One firm created a cooking appliance that required a one-minute screw to hold an extra mobile part in position. They screwed it in so far inside the machinery that they could not remove it with a standard screwdriver. They had to have them ordered special one at a time per assembler. A professional design for manufacture and assembly designer would have saved them with one moving change.

The impossible snap-fit

One of the electronics manufacturers made a phone case with an advanced snap-fit closure. It was trendy, but in production, they found that a lot of force needed to be used to snap pieces together and snap cases were being produced as well as a pile of scrap. It is funny now, but stressful and expensive then. They also remind us cheerfully that DfM is not to be feared.

How to collaborate with a design firm

Collaboration with a 3D product modeling design firm is essential. The clearer your goal, boundaries, and expectations, the better the result. The following guidelines will guarantee simple and successful collaboration:

1. Clarify your big picture

Decide on the worth of your product, market, and end use. A good designer will make better decisions if he or she is aware of what you envision.

2. Be logical in terms of budget and schedule

Biting the bullet on schedule or budget will not accelerate it or save money. Transparent communication allows the company to make logical choices.

3. Give DFM input early

Customers may present a half-cooked design and ask for a glaze under emergency conditions. But by presenting DfM upfront, problems can be avoided, not just cured.

4. Ask how earlier problems were solved

An experienced design for manufacturing and assembly company will possess sample problems that they work on. They can show problem-solving and creativity by working on these samples.

5. Use aites like Cad Crowd

Cad Crowd allows you to easily find professionals who fit your needs. You can envision the designers who worked on something similar, so that you don’t have an incompatible expectation risk.

DfM across different industries

DfM is not a universal subject. Other items have to be addressed in different industries:

Consumer electronics

With electronics, DfM choices affect heat loss to assembly efficiency. Heat trapped, reduced life, or an assembly nightmare could be the result of bad layout. The experienced electronics designer can turn parts around for air flow and enjoy free flow on the assembly line.

Auto parts

Auto withstands harsh environments and has to function at low costs. DfM provides realistic tolerances, robust materials, and safe designs without extra cost.

Medical devices

Medical devices are regulated and safe in some cases with very minute components, therefore it’s essential to hire a proficient medical devices design firm. One is left without authorization if a design error is committed, at risk of harming life. This cannot be done in DfM’s situation.

Consumer products

From gym equipment to kitchen equipment, consumer goods are subject to competitive markets. DfM enables you to manufacture in batches without sacrificing quality or price creep above what the customer will accept. For each of these markets, the appropriate consumer product design company, employee or hiring one through Cad Crowd, is your promise of premature success.

Why DfM saves more than money

DfM definitely saves dollars on the prevention of costly redesigns and nightmares in production, but the return is so much greater than what ends up in the bottom line:

Time savings

Every postponed production will leave you behind schedule for the launch of your product, and your competition is already ahead of you. DfM gets you ahead of the game and on scheduled deadlines.

Brand reputation

A faulty product will kill your reputation. A hiccup is acceptable once, but if failure is repeated, it will topple even a good brand. DfM saves your reputation.

Environmental impact

Saving money by designing better not only saves your pocket but also the Earth. Design for efficient manufacture can cut scrap material and energy usage.

Team morale

The challenging manufacturing project leaves your 3D design team demoralized. Doing the right thing through DfM leaves everyone proud and satisfied, as much as the final product is concerned.

Cad Crowd advantage

Having an expert can help you with your project when you have no idea what the world of industrial design is like. Platforms like Cad Crowd serve as the middleman, by helping you connect to specialists who are aware of your business and your production needs. Other than that, it can help you:

Sort through portfolios to search for prior experience.
Collect job postings and get quotes from experienced professionals.
Sit down with previous experienced DfM businesses and freelancers for your product category.

When you hire Cad Crowd, you are not contracting the services of a designer – you are contracting the services of an associate who is experienced in how to design to manufacture.

DfM trends shaping tomorrow’s product development

DfM is hardly in slumber. The rate of change of technology is only equaled by the methodology and tools employed in making manufacturing manufacturable. Keeping an eye on the trends will put you at the cutting edge.

Advanced simulation tools

Software programs now allow the simulation of production without a single prototype being created. Simulation designers are able to simulate test stress points, assembly sequences, and material response. It saves costly trial and error.

Sustainable manufacturing

Environmental concerns are compelling manufacturers to produce low-waste and recyclable products. DfM is a central activity in this context. A good designer can choose low-carbon-footprint materials and processes without compromising performance. There are some other robot assembly lines for other products. Design must take into account how parts would be processed by machines and not by humans. Your product must be made compatible with automated machines with an effective DfM plan.

Global supply chain issues

History has shown us how fragile supply chains can be. Design for Manufacturability today involves designing with multiple vendors and materials so this won’t happen. A design for a single factory in one location can be a nightmare with shipping around the world.

Real-life example: when DFM turned a failing project around

A new firm that made kitchen equipment was sure they were ready to start making their goods. Maybe the prototype looked perfect, but manufacturing it for big launches doubled the time it took to make it. The launch was affected by the high price. What they did was, hire a product design and analysis team from Cad Crowd that knew the basics and advanced concepts of DfM.

The professionals were able to decrease the installation time in half by simply changing the housing and adding two screws to a single molded clip. That move rescued the business and brought in hundreds of pounds for each batch while retaining the same schedule for the project. There are a lot of examples of this kind of turnaround. People who work in DfM should be able to see big improvements that will have a big impact.

Creating a culture of DfM in your organization

Even if you’re outsourcing to a product engineering design specialist, it’s worth having a culture of DfM in your organization. Here’s how you do it:

Train employees. Offer workshops or lunch-and-learns about the fundamentals of DfM.
Reward pragmatism. Give attention to those who propose design modifications that make the manufacturing more efficient.
Document lessons learned. There is always something new to be discovered in each project. Record so that you would be able to apply those lessons next time.
Involve manufacturing early. Involve factory representatives or suppliers in design discussions. They could prevent costly mistakes.

By involving DfM as a seamless process and not as an add-on, you enhance your pipeline for product development and make it reactive.

The hidden benefits of early manufacturing input

If the factory workers and suppliers are part of the team from the outset, they have more to gain from your success. They will go out of their way to recommend process efficiencies or make special concessions. It also protects against the fear of “design freeze panic,” when a last-minute modification threatens to destroy your timeline. The earlier the input is gathered, the less agonizing the changes. The end result is a design-to-manufacturing process that is peaceful, and fewer nights in bed for your project managers.

Why startups should give extra care to DfM

Startups have wafer-thin margins. One wrong move while producing can wreck capital or drive investors under the bus. Unlike established companies with war chests of fat, the startup won’t have the room to ride out an expensive rebuild. DfM is insurance. It prevents your great idea from exploding in the air on its way to manufacture. It assures your investors that you’ve considered pitfalls.

It also allows you to concentrate on marketing and expansion, rather than lunatically applying patches over an avoidable disaster. Such a program as Cad Crowd can be a real asset. They offer startups great design resources for a percentage of the cost of keeping an in-house staff.

Pulling it all together

DfM is not a dry formality or a paperwork ritual. It’s the pulse of a successful launch. To be manufacturable-aware and investing in the right design engineering professionals is a courtesy to remind you to keep within your schedule, budget, reputation, and sanity. You’re being considerate to the manufacturers who’ll produce your product, the buyers who will buy it, and the investors who gambled on you.

One of the biggest things to do is to hire a design house with DfM expertise. It’s the difference between enjoying raising a glass to partying over a successful launch and running around making apologies for delays. That’s why sites like Cad Crowd are worth their weight in gold. They put you in touch with experienced DFMEA designers and firms that’ve learned the hard way and understand what not to do. You are not hiring someone capable of creating a nice piece of sketching; you are bringing aboard an investment partner who knows how to take your idea and turn it into something factories can make, customers will buy, and markets will sell. Your Next Step

How Cad Crowd can assist

When you are prepared to turn your idea into a reality, look ahead and consider the process. Will your idea flow smoothly into production or be shelved until such a time as you most likely have changed in the meantime? Don’t leave your product’s destiny to Fortune.

Go check out Cad Crowd today and find design companies and individual professionals who will guide you through DfM and beyond. Their site is full of professionals waiting to transform your doodle into productizable art. You can be a small startup business with big aspirations or a large business seeking consolidation, and Cad Crowd will lead you to the right know-how. Contact us for a free quote.

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The 5 Stages of Prototyping for Any New Product Idea for Product Design Service Companies

Posted on December 4, 2025 by faz_business

Today’s article covers the five stages of prototyping for new product ideas. Every successful product development needs a strong foundation with an organized process and flow. To visualize this, imagine the bottom of the pyramid, which symbolizes the foundation, and the concept of the product. The top of the pyramid symbolizes the result of the refinement in the entire project, which also includes the final product. Just like any foundation and goal, there are other layers that need to be taken into account to achieve success, and sometimes these layers or processes can make or break the product development.

Essential phases of prototyping

Ideation might not be an integral part of a prototyping process, largely because the ideation has been validated by the time you arrive at the first prototyping phase. Be that as it may, this is the point where everything begins. Some people say ideation must be treated as a separate stage in product development services, but others generally agree that, at the end of the day, a prototype is essentially a materialized idea. Key activities at this very first phase are as follows.

Problem identification: all products (or the vast majority of them) are intended to be the solutions to specific problems. For example, a nail exists so you can join pieces of wood together for construction purposes, while a hammer helps you drive the nail easily into the material. For a product to have a chance of commercial success, it has to address an unmet need or at least provide a unique alternative to an existing solution. Identifying a problem may involve extensive research.
Market analysis: Your 3D design team must be able to conduct an analysis of the existing products and see whether they address any of the problems you’ve identified earlier. If such products don’t exist (yet), well then, you’re off to a great start. But if they do, it’s time to figure out how your idea can deliver a better solution and gain a competitive advantage.
Idea generation: In any project, you should include various experts, such as designers and engineers, in any product category to achieve an effective brainstorming session as the foundation. If you want to focus on consumer electronics, your team should be composed of industrial designers, mechanical engineers, and electrical engineers.
Feasibility assessment: The more product concepts your team can generate, the better your chances of conceptualizing a better product. Don’t forget that every approved concept must be assessed to analyze its manufacturing viability, estimated development timeline, resource requirements, cost calculation, etc. At the end of the feasibility assessment, you should be able to pick no more than two possible concepts if you have lots to choose from. This can help you minimize the development process and costs.
Brand identity: This is the part where your prototype design team already reached the feasibility study phase. This is also the part where you want to involve the product branding. The product’s design and functions must be reflected in the name or brand. The logo used for the brand may affect some of the design decisions, too.

The main point of an ideation process is to determine “why a product should exist in the market” and “what values it can offer” to potential buyers. It’s your design team’s responsibility to make sure that the entire development process is actually based on a real market opportunity.

Digital models

You’ll be hard-pressed to find any modern product design firms that build the first prototypes without any kind of CAD tools. Gone are the days when designers and engineers solely depended on hand-drawn diagrams and physical mockups to validate ideas. Design software has reached a point of photorealism where any design team can put the entire technical foundation of a product on a screen for advanced analysis and simulation. Don’t get this the wrong way. CAD modeling services exist not to make physical prototyping obsolete; it exists to make the process much more time-efficient. Think of virtual prototyping as a preview of how the product will look and function, and what materials to use. Major areas to explore with digital models are listed below.

3D models: If you know that you hired good designers and engineers, you can be assured that they will have advanced CAD software to build 3D models of your product with great accuracy. A virtual prototype can be very precise, even when the proposed product design contains complex geometries, intricate mechanical parts, and a fancy finish with a textured surface. Depending on the product type and design, the virtual prototype is possibly done with solid modeling, wireframe modeling, polygonal modeling, digital sculpting, or any combination of those.
Technical specifications: You should keep in mind that 3D models are not just visual representations. They are used to create a simulation of your product without producing a real product, to avoid waste materials and costly tests. What you can do is create a 3D model of a hammer made of a fiberglass handle, steel claw, and head. If you try to run this through a simulation (such as a stress test), both parts can mirror the behaviors of their real-world counterparts. Fiberglass can break under excessive stress, and steel can scratch.
Aesthetic options: The obvious advantage of 3D modelers using CAD software to build a virtual prototype is the freedom in visual design. The team can experiment with any imaginable shape, color, and form factor without even leaving the desk. However, it’s important not to get easily carried away. The purpose of virtual prototyping is to translate the product concept into a feasible design. Although you have the freedom to try countless visuals, not every design is technically viable. Aesthetic design experiments should be intended as a way to make sure that the product can be manufactured in the most efficient way possible.
Simulation: running a design analysis by simulation means you don’t have to build a physical model to test how the product works under many different scenarios. It allows engineering designers and designers to gauge product performance and recognize issues early on. For example, a 3D model of a hammer is put through a virtual analysis to understand how the materials distribute shock and vibration from the point of impact to the handle and eventually the user’s hand. Running multiple sessions of simulation can help engineers discover problems and make design adjustments before moving to the physical prototyping phase.

A lot of the digital modeling phase is about experimenting with various design iterations. Everything is done in a virtual environment to save cost and time. Only when the 3D models and analysis results are found to meet the design requirements, the design engineering team proceeds to build physical prototypes.

Proof of concept (PoC)

It’s an early form of a physical prototype whose sole purpose is to demonstrate nothing but the fundamental feasibility of a product. PoC is never meant to be functional, let alone resemble a finished product. At this phase, your team’s goal is to validate whether your product concept and their process are feasible and manufacturable. Sometimes, a PoC prototype often involves creating a low-fidelity physical model to prove the feasibility of your idea. That’s why it’s important for you to get the best team that you can get. You can follow this workflow.

Defining the objectives: first things first, the team has to specify what technology and mechanical concepts require validation. The PoC prototype has to be able to validate those concepts, albeit in a crude fashion.
Minimalist model: You might be making a bad choice if you decided to allot a big budget to a prototype just to prove that your product idea is technically feasible. That’s why it’s important to hire prototype designers and engineers, so they can advise you not to invest in an unproven and untested product. Your team starts with a minimalist model, which means they are using affordable and readily available materials, such as styrofoam and wood. If the design is complex enough that it requires assembly of multiple parts, a consumer-grade 3D printer should do the job just fine.
Small-scale test: Proof of concept (PoC) is implemented to mimic the final product used by designers, engineers, or other consultants for initial testing and assessment in terms of technical feasibility, electronics, and functionality.

During this stage, public tests that will involve other random participants are prohibited to avoid launching it in public and IP concerns. The feedback from all the involved persons in the team is used to benchmark revisions and design refinement.

Evaluation and final PoC: following the small-scale test, the product design team goes back to the drawing board and makes the necessary adjustments based on the feedback. There can be a final PoC prototype for further analysis, but this is not mandatory.

A PoC prototype is best described as a process to minimize development risk. All the initial concept validations, the scrapping of unnecessary features, and perhaps the additions of must-have functionality happen here at this phase. It’s an important step to answer all the fundamental questions about the product concept and remove all the doubts about its viability. At the end of this phase, the team should be able to come up with definitive design requirements, core product functionalities, an estimated development timeline, a projected development cost, and success criteria.

Mock (3D printed) prototype

All the refinements from the previous phases are mostly applied to the digital model, so that the next prototype (usually a 3D printed one) already shows some improvements over the original PoC. This is why a final PoC prototype is optional; instead of wasting resources on another PoC, the team can go directly for a mock model. Rapid prototyping services using a 3D printer is pretty affordable these days, allowing the team to evaluate the dimensions, ergonomics, and general form factor without having to invest in injection molding or any other expensive fabrication method. For electronic products, a mock prototype serves as an early sample of the enclosure size and shape. This phase mainly concerns the following points.

Non-functional model: A model that is usually used by designers to check the shape, volume, form, and dimensions of your product. This is like a mock prototype that is used to update you with the progress of the product and project. If the product design is simple, your 3D printing team can use readily available items such as styrofoam, but if the design is complex or your team is 3D experts, a 3D printed model made of plastic materials can be used. Non-functional models are usually created in the first phase of the project to reduce the costs of producing prototypes when the functions or features are not yet final.
Haptic exploration: although the team can’t accurately measure the weight and durability of the product due to the differences in materials, at least it’s possible to gauge the portability and usability. A mock model helps clarify how the object looks and how easy (or cumbersome) it is to use and store.
Branding integration: A 3D printed prototype offers a sneak peek into where to put a logo or other branding elements you might want to use. It might seem trivial at first, but proper placement can improve the product’s visual appeal.

Mock prototypes are simplistic, but much more refined than the utterly crude PoC. In most cases, the design team deliberately avoids giving the prototype a detailed treatment to allow for quick iterations. A mock prototype created by a professional prototype manufacturing designer is the first real gateway to an early discovery of mistakes, identifying potential issues, finding new opportunities for design improvements, and basically learning unexpected lessons.

There can be multiple rounds of mock prototyping. Each iteration is based on the feedback gathered from the previous model. The team goes back and forth between the CAD software and 3D printer to make big and small adjustments to the model until the iterative process delivers the desired result. Adjustments aren’t always about major design changes. They can be anything from a tiny reduction in material thickness for better ergonomics to cosmetic changes.

Additive manufacturing is the technology of choice, mostly thanks to its speed and affordability. If the additive manufacturing designer expects to make more than several iterations within a relatively short period of time, a 3D printer is the best tool for the job. CNC machining (which is a subtractive manufacturing technique) is the next best thing if you want to build a physical model using metal materials. But both are relatively low-cost fabrication methods, ideal for creating non-functional prototypes. At the end of the day, discovering design mistakes in this phase is certainly cheaper than fixing them later in the next stage of product development.

Functional prototype

At this point, your team has already produced a prototype that can be tested in real-life conditions. This allows you to check for flaws, features to be improved, and additional features you might want to add. All of your chosen visual design and functionalities are presented here to mimic a real product. Also, your engineers use your real materials instead of the 3D printers, but depending on your decision, you can use other fabrication methods such as CNC programming services, laser cutting, and vacuum casting. These are the things you should check during this testing.

Performance metrics: The team had probably done performance metrics in the concept/ideation process, but it’s necessary to reiterate the objectives when starting the functional prototype phase. Over the course of the product development thus far, there might be some changes, big and small, that affect the design requirements. Ideally, the performance metrics at this phase encompass everything that the final product is trying to achieve, in terms of both visual appeal and functionality. Each metric represents a specific point of the design that requires examination.
Fabrication methods and material selection: as mentioned earlier, the design for additive manufacting team often uses several different fabrication methods depending on the required fidelity and complexity. A professional-grade 3D printer could be good enough to create small mechanical parts in acceptable quality, but vacuum casting can be an excellent alternative as well. In fact, vacuum casting is often more cost-effective than 3D printing for a small production run. Assuming you need to create anywhere between 50 and 100 prototypes for real-world user tests, vacuum casting is the recommended option. For metal parts, CNC machining or sheet metal fabrication are the obvious choices.
Real-world tests: One of the main points of a functional prototype is to observe how the product performs in various real-world usage scenarios by potential buyers. The DFM design team will send the prototypes to multiple users, let them use the prototypes according to their intended usage, and gather feedback from those users.

A functional prototype should be built to the same quality standard as the desired final product’s specifications in every single aspect. That said, the team cannot just assume that the prototype at this point is perfect in every way. No product development process is completed without user testing, which almost definitely leads to the discovery of shortcomings. This is only the nature of users’ feedback; a perfect product doesn’t exist. Some of that feedback, whether constructive criticisms or otherwise, is valuable insight into the market. It tells the 3D CAD drafting designers what features most buyers like and dislike.

Bear in mind that not every feedback can be implemented in a practical fashion without a major design overhaul. For example, some buyers might find the carbon fiber handle to be an unnecessary feature of a claw hammer. It adds too much of a premium when the more affordable materials like wood or fiberglass will do. At the same time, the material of choice is important because you want to differentiate the product from an ocean of alternatives in the market. It is the design team’s responsibility to respond to (or act on) the feedback. If the overwhelming majority of the feedback expresses the same concern, a design modification can be necessary. But because this can also lead to a major overhaul, which increases the development cost even more, there should be a middle-ground solution as the team sees fit.

Final prototype

Based on the results of real-world user testing and adjustments made according to the feedback, the product development team once again refines the functional prototype into an almost production-ready model. Most companies will not make a final prototype until they make sure that there will be no more major changes to the design. They’ve invested so much time and money into the development effort that another modification can cause months, if not years, of setback. Also, a lot of hardware startups use final prototypes for pre-sales, attracting interest from distributors and retailers, or pitching investors. They just can’t afford to make another revision, not without risking a blowback. You can say that the final prototype is the culmination of iterative refinements throughout the previous phases. A final prototype focuses on the following points.

Production-grade materials: Your team uses the same materials they proposed to create your product. This is not a replica, this is the first tangible product, and you should identify if the product is already good enough for it to proceed to manufacturing. At this point, you should check for features to be improved, and at the same time you should also check that the quality, aesthetics and performance are the same as proposed.
Manufacturing validation: the final prototype is the model used as a production sample. This is the prototype that the design for manufacturing and assembly team sends to the manufacturing partner. A production sample is then analyzed (or perhaps digitally deconstructed) for custom tooling preparation if needs be. In an ideal product development world, the final design shouldn’t need any custom tooling at all to save manufacturing costs. But then again, custom tooling is inevitable when the product in question requires the fabrication of unique parts and components.

The idea behind a final prototype is to prepare for the transition from development environment to mass production. Creating a final prototype isn’t just about fabricating a physical model, as it also involves proper documentation and quality control, allowing for a smooth handover to the production team.

Note for electronic products: all the prototyping phases mentioned above apply to just about any physical product development, except for electronic design services. If the product requires PCB and embedded firmware of any kind, the prototyping phase focuses first on the circuit design, along with the features and user interface (especially if the product comes with a screen/display), before it moves forward to the physical enclosure design. That being said, the general principle remains the same that prototyping is an iterative process from ideation all the way to a production sample.

How Cad Crowd can help

In every product development, planning and implementation are the crucial steps that can affect the very outcome of your product. From choosing your team, to rough sketches, iteration, creating functional prototypes, until the final production, is beneficial to the success of the product. This is the cycle of any project, and each cycle allows any team to learn from the previous mistake and improve the model, leading to a successful project and product. If you want a team to turn your imaginative concept into a tangible one, don’t hesitate to contact Cad Crowd for a free quote!

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DFM For New Product Design Excellence: A Guide for Company Success

Posted on June 11, 2024 by faz_business

Any product designer with a great and new idea wants to realize it as soon as possible in any way. Unfortunately, an idea will only be great if a manufacturer can use materials and machines to turn it into reality. This is where DFM companies or Design for Manufacturing enters the picture. For some designers, the manufacturing stage is only a speck in the entire process. It’s often one of their most minor concerns. However, this kind of approach can be hazardous regarding product design.

Manufacturing and design will always be together, whatever happens. This is why this neglectful approach will eventually result in an inferior end and low-quality product. This article guides the company’s success in designing new products for manufacturing excellence.

What is DFM?

DFM, or design for manufacturing, refers to designing products, components, or parts for easy manufacturing to produce a better product at a reduced cost. The product’s design is simplified, optimized, and refined to do this. DFMA (design for manufacturing and assembly services), is often interchangeably used with DFM.

There are five principles assessed during a DFM. These include:

Compliance/Testing
Design
Environment
Material
Process

DFM design services for your company should ideally take place early on during the design process, way before the start of tooling. Aside from this, properly executed DFM must involve all stakeholders, from engineers to designers, material suppliers, mold builders, and contract manufacturers. The purpose of cross-functional DFM is to challenge the product design. The new product design is scrutinized at every level, including holistic, component, system, and sub-system levels, to ensure the optimization of the design without unnecessary cost.

Changes will get more expensive and tricky as the product design moves through the product’s lifecycle. With early DFM, you can execute changes in design faster at the most affordable location. Pulling stakeholders together early on during the new product development design process is easier. However, even when you already have an established product design, one necessary element of a systematic DFM is challenging the original product design.

Product design errors are often repeated by copying an earlier design. Make sure you question every aspect and element of your new product design.

Check the original drawings.
Disassemble the product.
Study the near-neighbor and competitive products together with the lead users.
Sit down with the contract manufacturer, who might have already solved the issue with another client.
Is there someone else who solved the issue in another way?
Can you make it better in any way?

There is a lot of effort, time, and thought to go into prototype DFM services, making it a meticulous process you can’t take for granted. That’s why you need the help of experienced design for manufacturability experts.

Five key principles of DFM

Testing or compliance

Every product should adhere to quality and safety standards. These are sometimes industry standards; some are third-party standards, and the rest are internal standards specific to a company. The manufacturer you choose must have testing facilities certified by the ISO. This is also when you should learn who will perform the ETL, UL, and other similar third-party testing and where the testing will take place.

Design for manufacturing

Product design companies play a critical part in DFM. The actual drawing of a product design or part must conform to sound principles for manufacturing for your chosen manufacturing process. Ensure that you discuss the product design with the product development expert, who will confirm that your product design will adhere to the excellent manufacturing principles for the chosen process.

Environment

Your product or component should be engineered to withstand the specific environmental conditions and challenges it will encounter. Even the best forms worldwide will only be helpful if the part can function correctly under normal operating conditions. A design engineering professional can help your company develop a product for the environment in which it will be used.

Material

You must also choose the suitable material for your new product or part. Several criteria should go into this decision. The following are some of the material properties you should consider throughout the DFM or DFMA process:

Color – What is the specific color of the part?
Electrical properties – Should the material be a dielectric or insulator instead of a conductor?
Flammability – How burn or flame-resistant should the material be?
Mechanical properties – What is the preferred strength level of the material?
Optical properties – Should the material be transparent or reflective?
Thermal properties – How heat resistant should the material be?

Consider talking about the material with the contract manufacturer because they might have access to the existing materials in their portfolio, which will let you score a lower price.

Process

You should choose the appropriate manufacturing process for the product or part. The last thing you want is to use a highly-capitalized process, for instance, mold and die design services involving the development of dies and tools to produce a low-volume part that could have been otherwise made using a method with a lower capital, such as thermoforming.

To determine the suitable manufacturing process for you, the DFM should consider how many parts will be made, the specific material that will be used, the required tolerances, the intricacy of the surfaces, and whether there is a need for secondary processes.

What factors affect DFM?

DFM’s ultimate goal is to lower manufacturing costs without making any compromises in terms of performance. Aside from the main DFM principles stated above, the following are equally important factors that may significantly impact the design and manufacturing of assembly.

Come up with modular assemblies

Using modular assemblies or non-customized modules in your product design will allow you to tweak the product without the risk of losing its functionality in general. An excellent example of this is automotive design firms creating a primary automobile that will let you integrate extras by including a modular upgrade.

Identify surface finishes that are considered acceptable

Try to strive for function instead of flashy for the surface finish, except if it is intended for a trade show grade.

Design for an efficient joining

Is it possible to clip or interlock the parts together? Discover different ways to join the parts without using adhesives, fasteners, or screws. Below are a few helpful tips if you need to use fasteners:

Try to minimize the variation, size, and number of fasteners.
Avoid screws that are too short or too long, flatheads, round heads, tapped holes, and separate washers.
Use chamfered and self-tapping screws to ensure better placement.
Stick with standard fasters as much as possible.

new-product-design-and-development-professionals

Minimize the number of parts

Lowering the part count in a new product design is the fastest and easiest way to lower the cost since you are also reducing the quantity of the required material, the labor involved, production, the amount of engineering, and the shipping costs.

Reduce reorientation of parts during machining and assembly

Designing the components to minimize the need for manual intervention during assembly and production is crucial. In this regard, leveraging DFMA (design for manufacturability and assembly) designers can prove highly beneficial.

Standardise materials and parts

Customization and personalization are time-consuming and expensive. Quality standardized parts can reduce production time because these parts are often available. It also gives you more assurance of their consistency. The material should be based on the new product’s intended use and planned function. You have to consider how it should feel, whether soft or hard. It’s also important to check if it needs to endure pressure. Finally, you must also determine if your product or part needs to conduct electricity or heat.

Streamline the number of manufacturing processes or operations

When making your product involves a more complex process, it will also introduce more variables for errors. Always remember that every process will always have its own set of capabilities and limitations. Only include operations critical to the new product’s design and its function.

How Cad Crowd can help

DFM can work wonders to guarantee operational efficiency and inspire collaboration among international suppliers across vendors and departments. With industries across different sectors expanding and creating more intricate product designs, companies can use DFM services or DFMA services to achieve their goals for launching. Companies require effective methods to lower costs, eliminate delays, increase quality, and simplify processes.

DFM can expedite product development timelines by identifying and rectifying design flaws, thereby preempting costly design revisions and issues. Cad Crowd can help you find product design experts who assist with the DFM process. As a trusted platform for professionals, you will never have to look hard to meet the perfect partner for your product manufacturing and ensure your company’s success! Contact us for a free quote.

Understanding Injection Molding, Insert Molding, and Overmolding for Companies

Posted on May 18, 2024 by faz_business

Have you ever wondered why most tools are easy to hold and grip? It’s all thanks to the introduction of processes, including injection molding and casting services, insert molding and overmolding. However, if you’re not part of the industry or haven’t heard of these terms, they can be confusing. It’s understandable because insert molding and overmolding are two types of injection molding. Continue reading below to learn more about injection molding, insert molding and overmolding processes.

What is injection molding?

Molten plastic is injected into a mold during injection molding. The mold will then cool down, and the plastic will become solid. Companies use injection molding to produce various products, such as consumer goods, automotive parts, and medical devices.

How does injection molding work?

A popular technique used by manufacturing design firms, injection molding is used to create parts by injecting molten materials into molds. This is a relatively common process for plastics, although it applies to glass, ceramics, and metals.During this process, the mold of the product is made first. A mold is a hollowed-out block that will give shape to the liquid or molten material. The mold will then be placed on the injection molding machine.

The plastic pellets will be heated until they melt. This molten plastic will go under high pressure into the mold. While the material hardens as it cools, it will take on the mold cavity’s shape. Once the plastic cools down and solidifies, the product or part will be ejected from the mold. Injection molding allows the creation of parts of all sizes and shapes. Molds can also be designed to produce more complex internal features. This ability to develop intricate designs is why injection molding is applicable in different industries.

What is insert molding?

The manufacturing process of insert molding involves adding parts, mainly metal, on top of the molded parts. Insert molding consists of the use of inserts in the injection molding process. This process is done before the product is cured and helps cut down the processes required during assembly following molding. After the parts that will be molded on top of the product are obtained, another layer will be accepted after the parts are inserted into the mold.

Insert molding can be carried out in two ways: automated and manual. Manual insert molding is relatively cheaper than automatic insert molding. But as far as consistency is concerned, automated insert molding is the ideal choice. It reduces human errors and increases efficiency. Introducing inserts onto the mold cores cast using the automated or manual process will result in plasticizing the plastic pellets after the mold halves are closed.

The pieces will be ejected from the mold after the plastic hardens. The inserts will then be encapsulated in the parts. An excellent example of insert molding is the addition of a plastic layer over the screwdriver’s metal part for the plastic handle to be produced.

What is overmolding?

Overmolding is a manufacturing process involving a seamless combination of different materials into a single item or part. The overmolding process involves two essential steps. Molding and curing the substrate, typically plastic, is the first step. This is followed by direct molding the layer over the initial layer to produce a single product. Product design companies designing a toothbrush is a typical example of overmolding, where a basal layer is formed first, followed by a rubber layer.

Overmolding can significantly reduce production costs. Some of the critical components of the process include the rigid plastic base covered by a flexible, thin, rubber-like material. This manufacturing process has astounding versatility as it is helpful for different home items, including toothbrushes, hand tools, and razors.

Advantages of injection molding

1. High and efficient production

After the molds are developed, it speeds up the process, with cycle times only requiring 10 seconds. This ideal option for high- and medium-volume production runs from 10,000 parts to more than 100,000, depending on the molds used.

2. Intricate detail

High-pressure injection forces molten plastic into the mold, enabling the creation of intricate and detailed shapes.

3. More choices of materials

Choose from a diverse array of plastic materials tailored to meet the specific properties required for the final part.

4. Minimal to no post-production

Little to no post-production is required since the parts often have pleasing aesthetics.

5. Lower cost per part

The cost per part is meager for high-output production runs.

6. Reduced waste

Unlike most manufacturing methods, very little waste is produced during molding.

7. Repeatability

Identical products can be manufactured repeatedly. It’s a good choice for parts with high reliability and tolerances across high volumes.

Disadvantages of injection molding

1. Design limitations

There are several design elements a product designer need to consider during injection molding. These include controlling the thickness of the wall, preventing sharp edges and undercuts, and using radii and drafts to eject the parts.

2. High initial cost

A substantial capital cost might be required for higher volumes of production that require a great deal of machining and time to produce.

3. Longer initial lead times

Some tools may take several weeks to be produced, so consider using other technologies like CNC machining services or 3D printing, especially for lower production runs.

4. Not cost-effective for small production runs

Injection molding might be unsuitable for smaller production runs when other manufacturing processes are more suitable.

Advantages of insert molding

1. Lower cost

Insert molding makes it possible to create thousands of parts of products in just one day. Its economic significance leads to reduced costs for the entire molding production process.

2. Faster assembly time

The assembly of products needed in CNC machining is often challenging. However, insert molding can do away with the need for assembly. The overall production cost is reduced because no assembly time is involved.

3. Multipurpose parts

The parts produced by 3D modeling design services for machine parts using insert molding can serve various purposes depending on the specific function that the product is intended to serve. The combination of metal and plastic parts will benefit not only the end users of the product but even the manufacturers. The use of plastic parts can also improve the design’s flexibility and make it lighter than metal.

Disadvantages of insert molding

1. Multiple technologies for manufacturing

Machining processes such as die casting are required for custom-designed inserts. This is made before the start of the actual process of insert molding. This results in a higher cost per part.

2. The complexity of part design

The injection molding designers must be familiar with the design of the technology’s manufacturing principles for them to produce custom-made metal inserts in insert molding. This is the only time when it becomes practical to integrate the involved technologies.

Advantages of overmolding

1. Eliminate the need for adhesives

Adhesives are no longer required in overmolding since the different parts get the chance to fuse during the process. This will increase the durability of the parts or products produced. It also results in an overall reduction in production costs.

2. Better product performance

Adding other suitable quality materials to a product can significantly improve its performance. Those products that go through overmolding have two edges in terms of materials over the traditional products used in most industries. This will, therefore, enhance the performance of the products made using overmolding.

3. Improved flexibility of materials

Combining several parts is required in overmolding, increasing the part’s flexibility because it leverages each of the benefits of the involved materials. Design for manufacturing and assembly firms can also use an overmolding design guide to enhance flexibility further.

Disadvantages of overmolding

1. De-bonding

The risk of delamination may occur if two different parts are bonded together in an injection mold. Delamination may take place if there is a change in the range of optimal temperatures. Mechanical interlocks will be required when the available heat fails to bond the two materials successfully.

2. Multiple processes of production

Two steps are involved during manufacturing using overmolding, which can increase the cycle time of each part. The production cost may also be higher than just molding one part in one process. Overmolding also needs more tools compared to single molding because the process involves two steps.

How Cad Crowd can help

Injection molding and its two specific types, insert molding and overmolding, are efficient and helpful processes. These techniques help produce different parts with various uses and applications. Before embarking on your project, it’s vital to assess these methods to make a well-informed decision. Knowing what type of finished part you plan to make and its specific application will help you identify the proper process. Cad Crowd offers injection molding and casting services and can help you find specialists to guide you through every step to ensure successful production. Contact us for a free quote.