Product development is basically what metal manufacturing is all about. So read on to
learn the procedure of product development.
What is product development?
Product development is technically the procedure of making an order. For
example, let’s say a customer comes up to you and says he wants a clothes
rack. The first thing you should do is design the product. Years ago, you would
hand-sketch the design, but now we have top of the range 3D software for it. There are
many useful 3D designing software, but you need to know how to use them.
We at Aston Precision have been using 3D designing software Solidworks Premium for quite a while now, so you can trust us to give you the best version of your order.
When you design, you have to make sure that there are no possible errors in
the draft. Keep working on it, and when you believe it’s ready (or when it’s
due), present it to the customer and see if they’re happy with it. If they are,
you can move on to the next step. If they aren’t, you’ll have to redesign the
project according to their feedback. But we’ll say that the customer was happy
so that we can go to the next step.
Step 2 would be to make a prototype. A prototype is when you make the
product, but only one of it, to check for errors. If you believe there is an error,
you should tinker with the product, and when it’s all done, you will show the
customer. If they are happy with it, they will place a production order, for maybe
100, 1000 qty, something like that. If they aren’t satisfied, they’ll ask for it to be
done again, or they’ll go to a different company. So, you’ve got to get this
right.
Bonus information: If the customer goes to a different company, you will still
get some profit since you charge more for one product than you would charge
for 100! Why, you ask? Well, here’s the deal. Imagine putting the part through
2 machines to get the product. Employees operate those machines. You have
to pay each employee $100 for setting up the machine, for example. Then, let’s say the
material is 10 dollars. Adding that all up, your cost would be $210. So, you would
charge the customer accordingly to cover the cost at the minimum. Now let’s say he ordered 100 units. The parts have to go through the same to machines. But the employees
only have to set each machine up once. So, you would still only have to pay $200. but only $2 setup cost for each unit (200/100).
These total prices are called set-up costs.
The third and final step is making the actual order. The last two steps were
planning and seeing if the customer was happy. Now, you’re actually doing it.
The customer will tell you how many units they need, and then you have to
start planning. You need to think about the set-up price and the overall price;
then you would need to think about how you can optimize the production run efficiently to save some cost for the customer if at all possible. Then you need to think of how you will get it to them by the deadline, and this and that, and that, phew! It’s a lot. But then again, so are
most jobs.
Summary
Step 1. Design the Product
Step 2. Make a Prototype
Step 3. Start the order
I hope that you have learned something new about product development.
We at Aston precision have been helping clients from a wide variety of industries to develop and produce custom fabricated parts. we can turn your ideas in to reality, let it be a blue print a rough idea a hand sketch or your wild dreams we can always advise and work with you to achieve the final product. Talk to us today at 03 8595 6706 or email us at sales@astonprecision.com.
We are located at Hallam with our facilities at Hallam and Dandenong. We have been serving Melbourne and whole of Australia with friendliness and the right attitude. Talk to us today !