From sketch to product
Product development is the route from an idea to something you can sell in quantity: design, engineering, prototype, sample, tooling, production, packaging and delivery. Each step usually involves a different supplier, and most delays happen in the handovers between them.
We take on the handovers. You deal with one team, and we deal with the makers.
Design and prototype
We draw the product, model it in CAD, and build a prototype in our workshop. You hold it, test it and change it. We repeat until you are happy. Only then do we consider tooling, which is the expensive step and should come last.
Finding and managing factories
We select suppliers by what they are good at, not who answered first. We brief them with proper drawings and a specification, agree the price and the schedule in writing, and visit or inspect when it matters. If something goes wrong, we are the ones on the phone to the factory.
Quality and sign-off
A sample is made first, and you approve it. The production run is then inspected against that sample, with a written report. Anything that differs is corrected before it ships. The product that arrives is the product you signed off.
Schedule and delivery
One schedule runs across every maker, with dates and owners. We tell you early when something is at risk and what we are doing about it. At the end, we arrange packing, freight and delivery to wherever you need it.
Writing the product brief
A useful brief says what the product must do, who will use it, where, and what it must never do. Add the target quantity, the sales channel and the date you need it by. A drawing or a rough model helps, but a clear description is enough to start.
Include any standards the product must meet, such as safety, electrical or materials rules for the markets you plan to sell in. We help identify what applies and what testing is needed, and we agree who arranges it.
Be clear about what can move. Quantity, finish, material and date usually trade against each other, and knowing which matters most lets us make good choices quickly.
Prototypes and testing
The first prototype answers the biggest question: does the idea work in the hand? We often make it in our own workshop from board, timber, resin or printed parts, so changes are quick.
Later prototypes get closer to the real thing in materials, finish and weight. We test them for strength, fit, wear and the ways a customer might misuse them, and record what changed after each round.
Photographs and short films of each stage let your own team and investors see progress without visiting. When you are happy, the final pre-production sample is signed off and kept as the reference for production.
Moving into production
Before a factory is committed, we prepare the drawings, material specification, finish standard and packaging, so each supplier quotes the same thing. We compare quotes on more than price, looking at tolerances, lead time, quality systems and communication.
Tooling is planned and its ownership agreed in advance. We attend or oversee the first samples from tooling, check them against the approved reference and list corrections.
Before shipment, a sample from the run is inspected against the agreed standard, and we advise on packing and freight. You receive the records, drawings and files at the end, so the product is never held hostage by one supplier.
Protecting your idea
Before sharing drawings with suppliers we put the right agreements in place. Confidentiality terms are agreed first, and the proposal sets out who owns the designs, files and tooling.
We keep a clear record of each version of the design, so you can show what was developed and when. Files are stored carefully and shared only with the people who need them.
Where an idea may be protected by a registered right, we suggest you take independent advice early, and we provide the drawings and records your adviser needs.
What we manage
Questions
Do we need a finished design to start?
No. We can begin from a sketch or a description.
Do you manufacture yourselves?
We make prototypes and small runs in our workshop. Larger runs are made by factories we select and manage.
Who owns the tooling and designs?
You do. The terms are set out in the proposal before work starts.
Can you work with factories we already use?
Yes.
What does it cost?
We quote stage by stage so you know what each step costs before you commit to the next.
Can you help if we only have an idea?
Yes. We can start by clarifying the idea, drawing it, and building a first model so you can judge it before spending on anything larger.
Do you test the product?
We test prototypes in our workshop for fit, strength and use. Formal certification testing is arranged with approved test houses and agreed in the proposal.