How do companies utilize industrial design services for developing products? Every product you encounter or have interacted with results from the product design process. After long hours of careful planning, sketching, 3D modeling, and rendering, a new product is finally created. Products reach store shelves after numerous tests and prototypes. Developing a product is called the industrial product design process, sometimes called industrial design or ID. Industrial product design refers to the professional practice that involves the designing and conceptualizing of products.
These products are manufactured using different mass-production techniques. The industrial product design process includes inputs from various domains like ergonomics, research methods, advanced CAD, studio skills, materials and manufacturing methods, social sciences, and design management. Industrial design is fundamental to creating and developing new innovative materials and products with improved properties and more efficient purposes and uses. This post examines how companies use industrial design services for product development and CAD design.
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Industrial design defined
Industrial design is the discipline dealing with product development and creation that starts with conceptualizing an idea, followed by manufacturing and mass production. Industrial design is a subject that involves multiple disciplines and encompasses several areas, including design engineering services, product design, structural design, vehicles, components, prototype simulation, and others. The key objective of the industrial design process is to determine an opportunity in the market or product development, innovation, and improvement.
It also aims to define the challenge, develop a suitable solution through its creation, and validate the solution before large-scale mass production. The industrial design process is constantly evolving as the world also evolves. For example, eco-design is the newest way to understand design that harmonizes the specific needs of the industry and environment more innovatively. Identifying the most suitable solution for the industry needs calls for a process of several phases referred to as the design process.
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The industrial design process
Product design begins with product concept design companies, an idea or innovation. The most complex and exciting part is bringing a new product concept or idea to life. During the process of new product development, you need to consider different factors, which include materials, budget, machinery, user needs, current market trends, feasibility, reception, ergonomics, project deadlines, resistance to the passage of time, and functionality, to mention a few. All of these elements are structured in the series of steps discussed below:
1. Identification and ideation
Defining the problem that must be solved is the first step of the industrial design process. You can get inspiration from almost anywhere. For instance, maybe you have uncovered a specific issue in your everyday life. Maybe you have overheard a person talking about a particular problem they have encountered. Or perhaps you have a fresh approach to an existing product.
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After you have identified the problem that you want to address or deal with, there are several key questions that you need to ask yourself. The following questions will impact the rest of the steps of your industrial design process:
- Is your product unique – are existing products in the market similar to yours?
- What types of consumer trends will impact the sale of your products?
- Who is your specific target market for your product?
- Will you have a legacy, multi-use, or single-use product?
Your answers to the questions above can help you shape and form your idea to proceed to the second step of the industrial design process.
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2. Initial design process
Now that you already have a particular solution in mind, you can now move on to your initial design process. It can be something as simple as the rough drawings in your sketchbook to hiring a schematic design expert for more detailed and complex digital schematics of the product you wish to produce on a mass scale. For this second phase, you need to consider the following factors:
- Take inspiration from your imagination, and don’t allow your idea to be suppressed within the confines and limits of reality.
- Put yourself in your end user’s shoes and develop designs according to their needs.
- Develop a comprehensive design brief to illustrate the opportunity your potential product offers.
- Come up with product specifications, which should at least include its functionality, size, and scale.
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3. Refining and testing
In the refining and testing stage, your idea will finally take its actual shape. With the help of industrial design experts, your thoughts will be introduced to the digital world. Creating high-quality 3D models before you proceed to the manufacturing stage is essential. The following are just some of the benefits you experience when you hire the services of industrial design experts:
- Design the product with a focus on cost and manufacturability to guarantee that your product will stay profitable during production.
- Get full 3D CAD designs to give your product an overall feel before production.
- Enjoy virtual test construction and fitting to guarantee your product will work as envisioned.
4. Turning intangible into tangible
Now is the time to fully realize the effectiveness of your product when it comes to addressing the issue at hand. It will leave the design stage and be introduced to the physical world. With the aid of a rapid prototyping company the 3D designs you signed off on will be used to create working physical prototypes that are used as the basis for more cost-effective manufacturing. With the ability to hold a tangible version of your product in your hand, you can test, optimize, and tweak the designs to make them more appealing to your target market.
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The role of industrial design services for product development and CAD design
Industrial design services develop aspects of products that form emotional connections among users. These industrial design professionals will integrate different aspects of function, form, and fit and optimize them to create the best user experience possible. Industrial design services also create aesthetically appealing designs that can endure the test of time and confirm that the product will be ergonomically suitable for the user, which includes how they will functionally interface, live, and relate with the product.
How successful industrial designers are will often determine the product’s overall success in the market. Companies that only pay attention to industrial design after the engineering life cycle or completely cut it out of the process will often find it challenging to succeed in the competitive consumer-driven markets. Industrial design services face numerous challenges, just like how manufacturers also deal with faster development cycles and more competition than ever before.
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Consumers are becoming more discerning as international competition grows fiercer by the day. Product engineering professionals and design teams are also becoming more spread across geographies, and the engineering and design process elements are usually outsourced. Globalization allows industrial design services to consider demographics and human factors during the design stage. As industrial designers cater to an international audience, various beliefs, preferences, cultures, infrastructures, and expectations must be considered. Industrial designers experience pressure from almost all angles.
Industrial design services must operate within a fragmented development environment while ensuring faster product development without compromising materials and style. The way products are packaged can even affect sales. The role of industrial design services in product development is to establish the product’s design language, corporate identity, and branding. These are critical process elements since they glimpse consumer preferences and market trends.
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Although most people often understand their preferences, an industrial design service can bring together a creative design element with a deeper understanding of trends and markets. Industrial design services must work with the needs of different stakeholders throughout the product lifecycle to produce manufacturable, affordable, and functional innovative designs. The product lifecycle includes marketing, design for manufacturability services, engineering, and executive management.
Industrial design services must also provide lots of flexibility and option, working with product design engineers to identify how to manage costs using different materials, functions, and manufacturing techniques. Be sure to integrate industrial into your product development lifecycle by enlisting the help of experts!
How Cad Crowd can help
TAt Cad Crowd, we have a roster of qualified and talented industrial designers at your disposal. We have done the vetting for you. We know how important it is for you to hire candidates that can do your job effectively, so you aren’t wasting your money and don’t need to pay someone to clean up their mistakes.
Whether you’re a large firm or an independent entrepreneur or inventor and need assistance, we can help you with every step of the design process. Our industrial design services are impeccable—you won’t find more qualified designers anywhere else. Contact us today for a quote!
