The process of bringing your new product to market can take a frustratingly long time.
Many revisions or iterations of the design may be needed before your product can be considered viable. These iterations can also become very expensive if new physical prototypes must be produced each time. And what if your timeframes are dictated by unmovable circumstances – how can you hit your deadline?
Intelligent design can make it easier to develop and manufacture products – reducing the number of process steps and components, and enabling the use of less expensive materials. Reduce overall costs and an increase in profit will naturally follow. A design strategy that makes best use of appropriate supporting technology can make this a reality.
Award winning company Tom Dixon has always embraced the latest design and manufacturing technologies for its furniture and lighting products. The Link Easy chair, one of the centrepieces of its latest range, took full advantage of innovative welding techniques perfected by a specialist manufacturing partner in India. Link Easy features an intricate geometric pattern that also makes up the chair’s structure. The distinctive shape would not have been possible without both the welding expertise and the computer-aided design (CAD) technology used by Tom Dixon’s design team. This successful marriage of high technology and outsourced expertise enabled a tight deadline to be met.
'We needed to be ready to launch at a key furniture fair in Milan so we had just three months to finalise designs and get the necessary drawings to our manufacturing partner,' explains Tom Dixon designer Alice Walker. 'Our SolidWorks CAD system enables us to generate flat sheet drawings directly from the 3D design we are working on at the touch of a button. If you make any changes, it automatically updates the drawing, so you’re always working with the most up-to-date version. Compared to our previous workflow, this has cut our computing time by half.'
The CAD-based workflow also meant late design changes could easily be incorporated. Feedback from the Milan fair indicated some changes that needed to be made in time for a second event in London. 'Previously this would have taken at least a week of design time,' adds Walker. 'But we just updated the angles on a couple of sections and the software did the rest.'
If you’re looking to invest in CAD technology, take time to consult other CAD users, and to research and compare the options. Speak to a range of vendors and see if you can test their software by creating a model of one of your existing products – a good way to see if it’s suitable for your business’s needs. For a quicker route to CAD benefits, work with a design agency that has the latest tools and the expertise to use them on your behalf.