Let us take a step back and walkthrough the definitions as presented earlier in this article.

New Product Development: The process which involves forming strategy, organizing requirements, generating concepts, creating product & marketing plan, evaluating and subsequent commercialization, thereby bringing a new product to the marketplace.

Product development is a complete cycle which starts from market analysis, product specifications to concept/industrial design, costing, scheduling, testing, manufacturing and ends at logistics, customer feedback, improvements and the final act of getting a product into the market.

Industrial Design:The practice of forming concepts and designing products, which are to be manufactured through techniques of mass production.

Product Design is complete process that includes product industrial design, user experience, 3D Cad modeling, design calculations, simulation. Responsibility of a good product design is to make product working as per design specifications. It is safe to say that product industrial design is one of the many stages of NPD. It is a crucial subset of NPD which is necessary for the successful completion of entire development cycle.

Over the years, the term “Design Analysis” has found a significant place for itself in the manufacturing sector. Instead of making a prototype and creating elaborate testing regimens to analyze the physical behavior of a product, engineers can evoke this information quickly and accurately on the computer.

Design analysis is a specialized computer software technology designed to simulate the physical behavior of an object.

If an object will break or deform or how it may react to heat are the sort of queries design analysis can answer. Design analysis helps in minimizing or even eliminate the need to build a physical prototype for testing. As a result, the technology has gone mainstream as a prized product development tool and found its presence in almost all sectors of engineering.

This article discusses three major design analysis software, namely:

• Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
• Mold Flow Analysis

Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a specialized simulation of a physical entity using the numerical algorithm known as Finite Element Method (FEM). It is used to reduce the number of physical prototypes and experiments and analyze objects in their design stage to develop better products faster. The term ‘finite’ is used to denote the limited, or finite, number of degrees of freedom used to model the behavior of each element.

FEA will analyze an object in question by breaking down its entire geometry into small ‘elements,’ which are put under simulated conditions see how the elements react. It displays the results as color-coded 3D images where red denotes an area of failure, and blue indicates fields that maintain their integrity under the load applied. However, note it down that FEA gives an approximate solution to the problem.

Mathematics is used to understand and quantify a physical phenomena such as structural or fluid behavior, wave propagation, thermal transport, the growth of biological cells, etc. Most of these processes are described using Partial Differential Equations. Finite Element Analysis has proven to be on of the most prominent numerical technique for a computer to solve these PEDs.

FEA is used in:

Problems where analytical solution is not easily obtained,

And mathematical expressions required because of complex geometries, loadings and material properties.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a specilaized simulation used for the analysis of fluid flows through an object using numerical solution methods. CFD incorporates applied mathematics, physics and computing software to evaluate how a gas or liquid flows and how it affects an object as it flows past. CFD is based on Navier-Stokes equations which describe the way velocity, temperature, pressure, and density of a moving fluid are related.

Aerodynamics and hydrodynamics are two engineering streams where CFD analyses are often used. Physical quantities such as lift and drag or field properties as pressures and velocities are computed using CFD. Fluid dynamics is connected with physical laws in the form of partial differential equations. Engineers transform these laws into algebraical equations and can efficiently solve these equations numerically.The CFD analysis reliability depends on the whole structure of the process. The determination of proper numerical methods to develop a pathway through the solution is highly important. The software, which conducts the analysis is one of the key elements in generating a sustainable product development process, as the amount of physical prototypes can be reduced drastically.

CFD is used in almost all industrial domains, such as:

• Food processing
• Water treatment
• Marine engineering
• Automotive
• Aerodynamics
• Aerospace

With the help of CFD, fluid flow can be analyzed faster in more detail at an earlier stage, than by tesing, at a lower cost and lower risk. CFD solves the fundamental equations governing fluid flow processes, and provides information on important flow characteristics such as pressure loss, flow distribution, and mixing rates.

CFD has become an integral part of engineering and design domains of prominent companies due to its ability to predict performance of new designs and it intends to remain so.

Mold Flow Analysis

Moldflow, formerly known as C-mould, is one of the leading software used in processwide plastics solutions. Mold flow computes the injection molding process where plastic flows into a mold and analyzes the given mold design to check how the parts react to injection and ensure that the mold will be able to produce the strongest and uniform pieces. Two of the most popular mold flow analysis software are Moldflow and Moldex3D used exclusively by many mold makers.

There are three types of Mold flow analysis which are as follows:

• Moldflow Filling Analysis (MFA): It facilitates visualization of shear rate and shear stress plus determination of fiber orientation and venting. MFA can predict fill pattern and injection pressure while optimizing gating and runner system.
• Moldflow Cooling Analysis (MCA): MCA specializes in finding hot spots and calculating time to freeze. It helps in determining uneven cooling between core and cavity while specifying required cooling flow rates.
• Moldflow Warpage Analysis (MWA): Moldflow warpage is all about predicting, finding and determining warpage due to orientation.

We can see benefits of using different analysis procedures that correctly understand the power of the different simulation tools. During the product design, many these methods affect the cost and quality of the product, thereby ensuring the optimum productivity as aimed by the manufacturer.

 

The design model is a depiction of a part design. However, the design model can never be an accurate representation of the product itself. Due to shortcomings in manufacturing and inspection processes, physical parts never match the design model exactly. An essential aspect of a design is to specify the lengths the part features may deviate from their theoretically accurate geometry. It is vital that the design intent and functionality of the part be communicated between the design engineers and the manufacturing unit. It is where the approach of GD&T comes into play.

Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing or GD&T is a language of symbols and standards used on engineering drawings and models to determine the allowable deviation of feature geometry. 

GD&T consists of dimensions, tolerances, definitions, symbols, and rules that enable the design engineers to convey the design models appropriately. The manufacturing unit uses the language to understand the design intent.

To master GD&T, one needs to understand the crucial concepts, which includes:

• Machining tolerances: Tolerances mean the allowable amount of deviation from the proposed drawing. Machined parts look flat and straight through the naked eye, but if viewed with calipers, one can find imperfections all over. These imperfections or variations are allowed within the tolerance constraints placed on the parts. Tolerances should be kept as large while preserving the functions of the part.

• The Datum Reference Frame: DRF is the most important aspect of GD&T. It is a three-dimensional cartesian coordinate system. It’s a skeletal reference to which all referenced geometric specifications are related.

• GD&T Symbols: It is essential to be familiar with numerous symbols and types of applied tolerance in GD&T. The language of symbols makes it easier to interpret designs and improve communications from the designer to the shop. By using GD&T standard, the design intent is fully understood by suppliers all over the world.

• Feature Control Frame: The feature control frame describes the requirements or instructions for the feature to which it is attached. A feature control frame contains only one message. If a feature needs two messages, the feature would need the corresponding amount of feature control frames for every message required.

• Basic Dimensions: Basic dimensions are exact numerical values in theory, which defines the size, orientation, form, or location of a part or feature. 

• Material Condition Modifiers: It is often necessary to state that a tolerance applies to a feature at a particular feature size. The Maximum Material Condition (MMC) allows an engineer to communicate that intent.

GD&T is an efficient way to describe the dimensions and tolerances compared to traditional approximation tolerancing. The engineer might design a part with perfect geometry in CAD, but the produced part, more often than not, turns out to be not accurate. Proper use of GD&T improves quality and reduce time and cost of delivery by providing a common language for expressing design intent.

 

Over the first fiscal quarter of 2018, Apple accelerated investments in research and development operations spending more than $3.4 billion on new hires and initiatives which will keep the company competitive in a fast-paced tech market.

Product development is like the gasoline that keeps the wheels rolling. But what drives companies to spend valuable resources such as time, money, human capital, etc. on new product development? And why is it so important?

 Here are five reasons:

• Value for customers

The primary reason for any new product development is to provide value to its customers. The increasing demands of customers for innovation & new technology calls for the need to develop new or existing products. Otherwise, there is no reason to pour in huge amounts of money in the first place.

• Keeping up with the competition

Staying ahead of the competition should always be the primary goal for any business. And increased competition is one of the major reasons leading to go for new products development. New products give us a competitive advantage over our rivals. Every firm struggles to fulfill and retain consumers by offering exceptional products. To offer more competitive advantage over the other and to satisfy consumer needs more effectively and efficiently, the product innovation seems to be needed.

• Changing markets

Today’s market is more dynamic as compared to the past; it keeps on changing due to the wide variety of customer needs, all thanks to increased literacy rate, globalized market, heavy competition, and availability of a number of substitute. Consumers are constantly evolving which means their tastes and preferences change with them. It is the changing consumer behavior that drives the innovation and development of products. Plus, it also counters seasonal fluctuations.

• Explore technology

Just as consumer trends drive new products, advances in technology drives companies to invest in new products. If your company has not upgraded its technology arsenal for ten years, count yourself to be at the last one in the queue within a few years.

• Reputation and goodwill

Building image and reputation as a dynamic innovation and creative firm boosts a company’s legacy. The new product development is approached. Company desires to convince the market that it works hard to meet customer’s expectations. In fact, company developing new products frequently has more reputation and can easily attract customers.

Industrial design is a very crucial part of the entire new product development process. We are aware of the fact that industrial design develops aspects of a product that create emotional connections with the user. It integrates all aspects of form, fit, and function, hence optimizing them to create the best possible user experience. Industrial design’s role in product development process is to establish the design language of a product, as well as the corporate branding and identity.

How successfully a company is able to carry out development or modification, incorporating the ergonomics aspect, can often determine the success of a product in the market. Firms that leave industrial design to the end of the engineering lifecycle, or out completely will struggle to find success in consumer-driven markets.

Good cell quality of meshes translate into accurate results within optimum time after computation. But more often than not, we get a mesh output, which is far from accuracy. There are number of factors affecting a mesh, that might compromise with the final result. This chapter focuses on the various shortcomings of a mesh and their repair algorithms.

Mesh Decimation/Simplification

Mesh decimation/simplification is the method of reducing the number of elements used in a mesh while maintaining the overall shape, volume and boundaries preserved as much as possible. It is a type of algorithm that aims to transform a given mesh into another with fewer elements (faces, edges and vertices). The decimation process usually involves a set of user-defined quality criteria, that maintains specific properties of the original mesh as much as possible. This process reduces the complexity of a mesh.

 

 

Mesh Hole-Filling

To analyze a mesh model, it must be complete. Often, some mesh models carry holes in them, which must be filled. The unseen areas of the model appear as holes, which are aesthetically unsatisfying and can be a hindrance to algorithms that expect a continuos mesh. The Fill Hole command fills the holes and gaps in the mesh.

Note – The Fill Hole command only works on triangulated mesh and not tetrahedral mesh

 

 

Mesh Refinement

Certain situations arise which makes us concerned about the accuracy a model in certain areas. Such scenarios prompt us to have fine mesh in those areas to ensure accurate results. However, creating a surface mesh of the entire model with a fine mesh size may ask for unnecessary hours to analyze the fine mesh in those regions where the results are not as important to you. The answer to this issue is the usage of refinement points.

A refinement point identifies a region or volume of space in which a finer mesh has to be generated. Mesh refinement can be defined by identifying an absolute size for the local mesh. Mesh refinement ends up in creating more number of elements in the specified region of the model.

 

 

Mesh Smoothing

Mesh smoothing is also known as mesh relaxation. Sometimes it is necessary to modify that mesh after a mesh generation. It is achieved either by changing the positions of the nodes or by removing the mesh altogether. Mesh smoothing results in the modification of mesh point positions, while the topology remains as it is.

 

In the previous session, we have learned what Mesh is and the various aspects upon which a mesh can be classified. Mesh generation requires expertise in the areas of meshing algorithms, geometric design, computational geometry, computational physics, numerical analysis, scientific visualization and software engineering to create a mesh tool.

Over the years, mesh generation technology has evolved shoulder to shoulder with increasing hardware capability. Even with the fully automatic mesh generators there are many cases where the solution time is less than the meshing time. Meshing can be used for wide array of applications, however the principal application of interest is the finite element method. Surface domains are divided into triangular or quadrilateral elements, while volume domain is divided mainly into tetrahedral or hexahedral elements. A meshing algorithm can ideally define the shape and distribution of the elements.

A key step of the finite element method for numerical computation is mesh generation algorithms. A given domain is to be partitioned it into simpler ‘elements’. There should be few elements, but some portions of the domain may need small elements so that the computation is more accurate there. All elements should be ‘well shaped’. Let us take a walkthrough of different meshing algorithms based of two common domains, namely quadrilateral/hexahedral mesh and triangle/tetrahedral mesh.

Algorithm methods for Quadrilateral or Hexahedral Mesh

Grid-Based Method

The grid based method involves the following steps:

• A user defined grid is fitted on 2D & 3D object. It generates quad/ hex elements on the interior of the object.
• Some patterns are defined for boundary elements followed by forming a boundary element by applying boundary intersection grid.
• This results in the generation of quadrilateral mesh model.

 

Medial Axis Method

Medial axis method involves an initial decomposition of the volumes. The method involves few steps as given below:

• Consider a 2D object with hole.
• A maximal circle is rolled through the model and the centre of circle traces the medial object.
• Medial object is used as a tool for automatically decomposing the model in to simple meshable region.
• Series of templates for the region are formed by the medial axis method to fill the area with quad element.

 

Plastering method

Plastering is the process in which elements are placed starting with the boundaries and advancing towards the centre of the volume. The steps of this method are as follows:

• A 3D object is taken.
• One hexahedral element is placed at boundary.
• Individual hexahedral elements are projected towards the interior of the volume to form hexahedral meshing, row by row and element by element.
• The process is repeated until mesh generation is completed.

 

Whisker Weaving Method

Whisker weaving is based on the concept of the spatial twist continuum (STC). The STC is the dual of the hexahedral mesh, represented by an arrangement of intersecting surfaces, which bisect hexahedral elements in each direction. The whisker weaving algorithm can be explained as in the following steps:

• The first step is to construct the STC or dual of the hex mesh.
• With a complete STC, the hex elements can then be fitted into the volume using the STC as a guide. The loops can be easily determined from an initial quad mesh of the surface.
• Hexes are then formed inside the volume, once a valid topological representation of the twist planes is achieved. One hex is formed wherever three twist planes converge.

 

Paving Method

The paving method has the following steps to generate a quadrilateral mesh:

• Initially a 2D object is taken.
• A node is inserted in the boundary and the boundary node is considered as loop.
• A quadrilateral element is inserted and a row of elements is formed.
• The row of element is placed around the boundary nodes.
• Again this same procedure adopt for next rows.
• Finally quad mesh model is formed.

 

Mapping Mesh Method

The Mapped method for quad mesh generation involves the following steps:

• A 2D object is taken.
• The 2D object is split into two parts.
• Each part is either a simple 2D rectangular or a square object.
• The simple shape object is unit meshed.
• The unit meshed simple shape object is mapped in its original form and then joined back to form actual object.

 

Algorithm methods for Triangular and Tetrahedral Mesh

Quadtree Mesh Method

With the quadtree mesh method, square containing the geometric model are recursively subdivided until the desired resolution is reached. The steps for two dimensional quadtree decomposition of a model are as follows:

• A 2D object is taken.
• The 2D object is divided into rectangular parts.
• A Detail tree of divided object is provided.
• The object is eventually converted into triangle mesh.

 

 

Delaunay Triangulation Method

A Delaunay triangulation for a set P of discrete points in the plane is a triangulation DT such that no points in P are inside the circum-circle of any triangles in DT. The steps of construction Delaunay triangulation are as follows:

• The first step is to consider some coordinate points or nodes in space.
• The condition of valid or invalid triangle is tested in every three points which finds some valid triangle to make a triangular element.
• Finally a triangular mesh model is obtained.

Delaunay Triangulation maximizes the minimum angle of all the angle of triangle and it tends to avoid skinny triangles.

 

Advancing Front Method

Another very popular family of triangular and tetrahedral mesh generation algorithms is the advancing front method, or moving front method. The mesh generation process is explained as following steps:

• A 2D object with a hole is taken.
• An inner and outer boundary node is inserted. The node spacing is determined by the user.
• An edge is inserted to connect the nodes.
• To start the meshing process, an edge AB is selected and a perpendicular is drawn from the midpoint of AB to point C (where C is node spacing determined by the user) in order to make a triangular element.
• After one element is generated, another edge is selected as AB and a point C is made, but if in case any other node lets point D within the defined radius, then ABC element is cancelled and instead, an element ABD is formed.
• This process is repeated until mesh is generated.

 

Spatial Decomposition Method

The steps for spatial decomposition method are as follows:

• Initially a 2D object is taken.
• The 2D object is divided into minute parts till we get the refined triangular mesh.

 

Sphere Packing Method

The sphere packing method follows the given steps:

• Before constructing a mesh, the domain is filled with circles.
• The circles are packed closely together, so that the gaps between them are surrounded by three or four tangent circles.
• These circles are then used as a framework to construct the mesh, by placing mesh vertices at circle centers, points of tangency, and within each gap while using generated points. Eventually, the triangular mesh is generated.

 

 

 

 Source

Singh, Dr. Lokesh, (2015). A Review on Mesh Generation Algorithms. Retrieved from http://www.ijrame.com

The quality of a mesh plays a significant role in the accuracy and stability of the numerical computation. Regardless of the type of mesh used in your domain, checking the quality of your mesh is a must. The ‘good meshes’ are the ones that produce results with fairly acceptable level of accuracy, considering that all other inputs to the model are accurate. While evaluating whether the quality of the mesh is sufficient for the problem under modeling, it is important to consider attributes such as mesh element distribution, cell shape, smoothness, and flow-field dependency.

Element Distribution

It is known that meshes are made of elements (vertices, edges and faces). The extent, to which the noticeable features such as shear layers, separated regions, shock waves, boundary layers, and mixing zones are resolved, relies on the density and distribution of mesh elements. In certain cases, critical regions with poor resolution can dramatically affect results. For example, the prediction of separation due to an adverse pressure gradient depends heavily on the resolution of the boundary layer upstream of the point of separation.

Cell Quality

The quality of a cell has a crucial impact on the accuracy of the entire mesh. The quality of cell is analyzed by the virtue of three aspects: Orthogonal quality, Aspect ratio and Skewness.

Orthogonal Quality: An important indicator of mesh quality is an entity referred to as the orthogonal quality. The worst cells will have an orthogonal quality close to 0 and the best cells will have an orthogonal quality closer to 1.

Aspect Ratio: Aspect ratio is an important indicator of mesh quality. It is a measure of stretching of the cell. It is computed as the ratio of the maximum value to the minimum value of any of the following distances: the normal distances between the cell centroid and face centroids and the distances between the cell centroid and nodes.

Skewness: Skewness can be defined as the difference between the shape of the cell and the shape of an equilateral cell of equivalent volume. Highly skewed cells can decrease accuracy and destabilize the solution.

Smoothness

Smoothness redirects to truncation error which is the difference between the partial derivatives in the equations and their discrete approximations. Rapid changes in cell volume between adjacent cells results in larger truncation errors. Smoothness can be improved by refining the mesh based on the change in cell volume or the gradient of cell volume.

Flow-Field Dependency

The entire effects of resolution, smoothness, and cell shape on the accuracy and stability of the solution process is dependent upon the flow field being simulated. For example, skewed cells can be acceptable in benign flow regions, but they can be very damaging in regions with strong flow gradients.

Correct Mesh Size

Mesh size stands out as one of the most common problems to an equation. The bigger elements yield bad results. On the other hand, smaller elements make computing so long that it takes a long amount of time to get any result. One might never really know where exactly is the mesh size is on the scale.

It is important to consider chosen analysis for different mesh sizes. As smaller mesh means a significant amount of computing time, it is important to strike a balance between computing time and accuracy. Too coarse mesh leads to erroneous results. In places where big deformations/stresses/instabilities take place, reducing element sizes allow for greatly increased accuracy without great expense in computing time.

Bill of materials (BOM): A table containing a list of the components and the quantity of each required to produce an assembly.

Brief: Instructions and requests provided to design team prior to the commencement of a project. 

Business analysis: The practice of identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems.

Commercialization: The process of introducing a new product or production method into the market.

Concept design: An early phase of design process, where the broad outlines of function and form are articulated.

Ergonomics: Application of principles that consider the effective, safe and comfortable use of design by humans.

Ideation: Idea generation or brainstorming.

Industrial design: The process of designing products used by millions of consumers around the world.

Market research: An organized effort to gather information about target markets or consumers.

New product development (NPD): The complete process which involves transformation of a market opportunity or product idea into a product available for sale.

New Product Introduction (NPI): New product introduction is the complete process of bringing a new product to market.

Patent: An exclusive right granted to an inventor by a sovereign authority, for a specified time period.

Pilot Run: An initial small production run produced as a check, prior to commencing full-scale production. 

Prototyping: An early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process or built to act as a commodity to be replicated or learned from.

Sketch: An image that is quick to generate and does not contain complete detail.

S.W.O.T: Analysis framework for a company relative to its competitors, market, and industry: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats.

Test marketing: An experiment conducted by companies to check the viability in the target market before full scale manufacture.

Outsourcing development activities has become an essential component of any successful business strategy these days. As the global competitive market is gradually changing, product based companies are going against established norms following the trend of outsourcing activities. This article discusses about the logic behind outsourcing product development, elaborates on its benefits and discusses the other aspects to be considered when outsourcing product development.

What is Outsourced Product Development?

The outsourcing of specific activities or all activities related to the development and maintenance of a product is known as Outsourced Product Development.

Outsourcing enables product companies to get access into an untapped product-building expertise and global talent pools available with service providers. This helps in exchange of technology and varied work-process.

Why Outsource Product Development?

Every decision making panel of an organization stumbles upon a vital question—whether to develop a product in-house or outsource the same to a third-party expertise.

The product development market is becoming more competitive and mature. As the competition intensifies, product companies are under immense pressure to periodically release new versions in the market. Being an intensive activity, product development requires a lot of attention. The top management can’t afford to put all the emphasis on one activity, while overlooking the other phases of product development. It will end up affecting the profitability of the company.

When to outsource product development?

A typical product lifecycle involves the following activities: product development, product reengineering and migration, product maintenance, product implementation, and product testing. A product based company can choose to outsource one or more of these activities or it can outsource the entire string related to a particular product to a service providing firm.

The question, however remains as to when outsource an activity. There are several factors to be taken into account before outsourcing product development. It varies with company to company. Sometimes it is even seasonal and based on current marketing trends. Some factor can be summarised like this:

1. One needs to understand the purpose of a product before outsourcing and weigh the importance of such product in the market. The biggest thing is, if you have an area of expertise where you really are the best in the world and if it’s the key to your business; that is something that needs to be kept inside. Surely, the success of a product doesn’t depend on R&D alone, as without marketing, sales, distribution, the success won’t move an inch. So the decision making panel need to sort out the area of expertise that the product company lacks.

2. There are several products which are solely made by the parent company. But they might need enhancements to act as a catalyst to make it more user-friendly or well operable. This happens more often in software industry. You might have a software product of your own, or you might own a mechanical product but you need specific software designed to assist it in its operation. That is when you should consider outsourcing your product development activity. There are various companies out there that might specialise in this area and that might turn out to be your destination.

3. One of the most, or maybe the most important factor in case of outsourcing product development is— availability of expertise. Sometimes this weighs in far more than other factors. There are some areas which needs specific expertise. Most firms are not entirely self-sufficient hence they have to look out for someone who can get the job done. For example, developing complex CAD roofing software would need people with CAD and mathematical software development expertise. With the advent of new generation automobiles, vehicle manufacturers outsource voice recognition feature to the OPD (Outsourced Product Development) partner who is an expert in such technology.

4. Generally, some established companies have enough capabilities to run the entire product development lifecycle themselves. However, even these same organizations opt for outsourcing one or two activities to outside vendors. On the contrary, start-ups usually outsource a big chunk of their product development activity. This might be due to inadequate manpower, expertise, capital to afford means and various other reasons.

5. Pertaining to the last point, besides lack of expertise, inadequate manpower also plays a role in outsourcing of product development. A company would rather outsource PD, to make up for manpower, rather than headhunting themselves. Time consumption, employment policy are few factors responsible for such decisions.

6. Geography is another point to consider, if there are ongoing discussions about OPD. Last decade has seen big label organizations outsourcing various activities, including R&D, outsourcing their activities to locations like China, India and Eastern Europe. This has a lot to do with the low cost attached to it. Such nations provide manpower and particular expertise in affordable costs, thereby saving the organizations a huge expenditure. The low-cost geography has actually changed the dynamics of product development in such way, that big names have opened up their own R&D centres, sales and distribution office, factories etc in such locations due to lower cost factors.

Benefits of outsourcing product development

OPD has many benefits. A product owner need not worry about the outcome or excess expenditure if the activity is in right hands. Correct and well planned outsourcing saves a product company time, expenditure on systems and manpower, legal hassles. The best part is exchange of domain knowledge between the product company and the OPD, something that ensures better output in the future.

If you are an engineering professional, most likely you are aware of how a physical product comes to life. From the early days of sketching and blueprints, manufacturing of a commodity has come a long way. The modern methodology of creating a product has not only changed drastically, but it has become way more efficient and precise in its approach. Today’s engineer lives and thrives in the world of 3-dimensional models. Whatever masterpiece a designer has in his mind, he has the tools and system to give it life. And it is not just limited to inception of a new idea being turned to a product; it has made the art of reverse engineering being implemented more than ever.

So what are the factors that have revolutionized this craft?

It is the safe to say that with the invention of new tools, techniques and computer, the road to new product development has become more smooth, accurate and flexible. Although a professional can get deep into the subject matter, this article gives a brief overview of the product development from technical perspective.

The footsteps to a new product can be summarized in the following sequence.

 

To put it in words, here is how the entire sequence goes:

• Scanning: Whether you have an entirely new idea on your mind, or you want to base your idea on an already existing product; you need a reference. Your reference can be either technical manuals from the manufacturer or the physical product itself. The first step is to scan the product using 3D scanners. 3D scanning technology comes in many shapes and forms. Scanners capture and store the 3D information of the product. The scanned information gets stored in the form of closely spaced data points known as Point Cloud.

• Point Cloud: A point cloud is a collection of data points defined by a given coordinates system. In a 3D coordinates system, for example, a point cloud may define the shape of some real or created physical system.

• Mesh: Point clouds are used to create 3D meshes. A mesh is a network that constitutes of cells and points. Mesh generation involves point clouds to be connected to each other by the virtue of vertices, edges and faces that meet at shared edges. There are specific softwares for carrying of meshing function.

• 3D Model: Once the meshed part is generated, it goes through required software applications to be transferred to Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools to get transformed into a proper 3D CAD model. 3D model is the stage where whole sorts of applications such as sewing, stitching, etc, are implemented to create a prototype.

• Testing: A prototype goes through numerous tests in this phase, to check for limitations and possible calibrations if necessary. This is done to determine the optimum stage where the prototype can be turned to a product.

• Product: This is where the entire process comes to an end. Once a prototype is evaluated and finalized, it is sent for production in order to introduce it to the market.

 This introductory part gives you a summary of product development and the related technical terms. In the next chapters, we will dive deep and go through all the mentioned stages, one by one.