The Mechvision Path to a Successful Design
How it usually happens:
Step 1: Initial teleconference. We’ll discuss the proposed project, without getting into specifics that might be intellectual property, and determine whether or not a non-disclosure agreement is in order.
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Who are your competitors? (We need to check and make sure none are our clients before we move forward.)
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Whether you’re looking for a part or an assembly, or making a part out of an assembly?
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What are your preferred materials and processes (if any)?
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What warranty are you placing on this product?
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What is your project timeline? Most customers are already way late by the time they find us. It’s OK, we’re used to it, and can usually help expedite.
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What agency certifications will you be seeking?
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Who and where your preferred vendors for manufacturing (if any) are? We have a list of manufacturing shops worldwide that we’ve worked with successfully.
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Determine whether or not you want us to walk you through the manufacturing or testing process, or if you just want a design package you can carry to your existing sources.
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Do you want us to design any of your manufacturing equipment?
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Do you want us to design any of your test equipment?
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Do you want us to create any assembly documentation?
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Do you want us to create any test documentation?
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Do you want us to create datasheets for your product?
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Do you want us to create instructions for your product?
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Do you want us to design the shipping box for your product?
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Do you want us to create photorealistic renderings of your product for your marketing department?
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Discuss annual and lifetime product volumes. The right process for your job varies wildly according to expected volume. The right tooling and fixturing can make parts far more affordable in high volume, but if it’s only ever going to be a low volume part, there’s no point.
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Pricing is discussed at this meeting. CCC (we’ll explain that) is discussed at this meeting. A form will be provided at the end of this meeting asking for a variety of design requirements common to product design.
Step 2: After NDA’s are processed, a teleconference, or in-person meeting, to discuss potential paths to a design solution. This meeting will primarily be Mechvision collecting requirements from the customer in order to create a Product Requirements Document. Mechvision keeps their clients tightly informed from this point forward as most jobs are billed hourly and we want you to approve of the design direction you are paying us to go, and each iteration, as quickly as possible.
Step 3: Concepts Review (CR). Provide the customer with a menu of concepts to pick from based on the customer requirements observed. Often times a rough 3D printed concept is presented for review at this point.
Step 4: Customer selects concept.
Step 5: Preliminary Design Review (PDR). Customer reviews concepts pursued and provides feedback. Often times high quality 3D printed facsimiles of the expected final design are presented. Final design instructions received from the customer.
Between Steps 5 and 6 customer receives regular progress reports at a predetermined interval.
Step 6: Design for Manufacturing Review (DFMR). Customer has design from PDR reviewed by, either their manufacturer, or has Mechvision liaise with another manufacturer to verify the design is producible and is manufacturing friendy.
Step 7: Critical Design Review (CDR). Customer reviews completed design and advises any required changes. Changes not derived from the original requirements require additional hours and cost to complete.
Contact us today to leverage our 30 years of experience in wireless, medical, defense, automotive, aerospace, subsea, manufacturing, machine design, and IoT.