The purpose of this demo is to provide a quick guide how IMAY SOLUTIONS do the product development from Concept through to Mass Production. It is not intended as acomprehensive list for all products, but it outlines some of the critical areas for attention and potential pitfalls.
At IMAY Solutions we work "from Concept to Mass Production"module on many varied projects, which can range from simple project like "Webcam" to large project like "The World's Most Advanced Strength Fitness Training Equipment". We work with numerous customers with different design practices. As every client has different requirements, each project varies in many ways. The project length is also different depending on the specific needs and deadlines.
In this DEMO we will demonstrate you one of interest project we worked from Concept to Mass Production for one of our American Customer.
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
- Viability Study
- Project Proposal
- Detail Analysis
- Concept development
- Prototype Sample and ID Verification
- Structural & Mechanical Design
- Prototyping, Design Verification and Testing
- Packing Design
- Product User Manual Design
SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION PROCESS
- Supplier Development and Costed BOM
- Open Tooling
- Pilot Run
- Mass Production
- Quality Control
- Logistics
THE DESIGN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Viability Study
It begins with viability study: Is the product technically viable including manufacture? Are the technical boundaries clearly defined in order to prevent false assumptions further along the product development cycle? Simulations of performance are only accurate if the inputs and assumptions are correct. Building and testing prototypes can reveal hidden variables that would not otherwise be apparent.
Project Proposal
The project proposal must encapsulate the intended purpose of the product for both the user and manufacturer including technical and revenue limitations. It should be constantly updated as new information that may affect he products success in learnt.
Detail Analysis
Before concept development we do the following analysis, which help us to capture all of the intended uses and requirements of the product.
* Market analysis * User research
* Competitive product review * Product styling-form and appearance development
* Brainstorming sessions * 3D visualization
* Concept visualization * Human factors & ergonomics
* Product configuration studies
Industrial Design Concept development
We normally begin with concept drawings for a given project. This is typically hand drawn sketches which explore many possible solutions. The type of detailing is vary from project to project, depending on Product market County, target cost, application, end user, required standard and other customer requirements. At this stage, the exploration of ideas is quite free; we wish to push the boundaries and at all times produce good and interesting solutions.
However, these are driven by the clients’ original wishes and requirements. Once we have developed basic concept, we then focus on some typical details for each area. We prepare a number of permutations firstly as profiles, and three dimensional views.
Once customer approved the basic concept we do the detailed design. At this stage we concern about the most structural arrangement as well. This is necessary to ensure that what is being designed is realistic, looks right and manufacturability.
Image1: Final Design of "The World's Most Advanced Strength Fitness Training Equipment"
Prototype Sample and ID Verification
Product prototyping is absolutely essential at Industrial Design stage. It provides users an initial idea of the product appearance, actual dimension, and ergonomics as well as allowing clients to evaluate the application.However ID verification prototype depends on customer requirements and the product size. If product is small we make prototype 1:1 ratio, otherwise the ratio is decided based on the customer requirements.
Based on the customer feedback and engineering validation results, we do the required modification and finalize the design.
Structural & Mechanical Design
Once the design concept is approved by all parties, we precede the product Structural & Mechanical design. It includes:
* Structural analysis and design
* Mechanism design
* Materials and process selection
* Detailed part design
At this stage we use PROE software which shows the three-dimensional aspects of the design, and ACAD software which generate two-dimensional drawing of design. At the mechanical design that is necessary to ensure what is being designed is realistic and fit right. Also experienced designers who work closely with suppliers and end users will produce far more cost effect products. Involving the supplier early in the development cycle is extremely valuable. Once the type of detailing has been decided, we proceed to make specific tolerance drawings for each part. Meanwhile we generate the Bill of Materials (BOM).
Prototyping, Design Verification and Testing
Once the design is approved by all parties, we build functional prototype compliance to the specification for design verification and testing.
Image2: Prototyping
At the functional prototype stage we evaluate the product assembly, product final appearance, function, its application, design validation and testing。
Test development
All parameters affecting safety, function, reliability and efficacy must be verified through testing. Test method development and validate can take longer than initially thought. There may be some parameters that cannot be bench tested and must be validated through accelerated use or thru third party. All this is determined based on customer requirements.
Image3: Product Life Cycling Test
Next we do the necessary improvement based on the validation results. Iterative design and test loops earlyin the development cycle can avoid great cost further on.
Packing Design
Once the design is completed we precede the packing design. After packing design is done we do the drop test and the transportation test for validating the packing safety and quality.
Product User Manual Design
This is also a most important part of the design. The purpose of a User Manual is to allow end-users to install, use and troubleshoot the product, including caution and warning. Meanwhile the manual needs to be simple. Conventions in the manual lead to patterns that the users can grasp. We assist and consult customer to build the product user manual by providing formatting, Images and illustrations etc. At this stage the design development process is basically completed.
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THE SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION PROCESS
Supplier Development and Costed BOM
During the product development, our sourcing division searches for suitable supplier who can supply the parts of the product based on engineering requirements. Our policy is to choose the right one by developing minimum two qualified suppliers for each part to compare the quotation, quality and production capability. A reliable supplier may appear expensive on the surface but could prevent huge costs incurred due to quality issues.
Once the design is finalize, drawings are released, our sourcing staffs send each drawing to qualified vendor for quotation. Then we prepare the costed BOM and review the total cost. After approve by the manager costed BOM is sent to customer for final approval.
Open Tooling
Before the pilot run, we open necessary tooling for production, such as Plastic Mold, Stamp Tooling, PCB etc.
Pilot Run
Once customer approved the costed BOM, we do the preparation for the pilot run to validate the product process yield, failure and other problems.
Preparation for pilot run;
• Parts and product inspection criteria
• Assembly, sub assembly, packing working instruction for each station
• Parts inspection, production required jigs and fixtures
• Critical check point check list, etc
• Process design and assembly line preparation
Then we order the parts and do the pilot run. Once the pilot run has been done, we get the feedback from production, QC, and our engineers. Based on the results, we do the modification to improve the product process yield, quality and reliability, etc.
The improvement could be the following areas;
• Modify the product
• Modify the production process
• Tight or relax relative parts tolerance or the specification
• Study and improve other areas to be improve
To validate the improvement we do the pilot run again or make sample based on the conditions.
Mass Production
Once the following activities are done we start the production
• All improvement is done by us
• Ready assembly lines and quality check points
• Production & quality documents are ready
• Trained relative staff and workers
• All income parts are ready and passed IQC
Image4: Mass Production
Quality Control
The IMAY SOLUTIONS quality control routine is developed to monitor the progress of each mass production run by means of a series process checks as well as assessing the quality of the final product with relative standard or the requirement and particle size distribution. All of these activities play a significant high quality product outcome.
Once the mass production started, we assign trained Quality Engineer to do the different test for controlling the critical points of the production process, and keep all records.
Please see following test for example.
Image5: Crimped Cable Strength Test
After the production, our trained person or customer assigned person or third party do the final inspection based on customer required sampling standard and specification.
Logistics
Once the lot is passed the inspection, we arrange the shipment including:
Shipping document preparation
Customer/Shipping agent Communication
Shipment Verification
Shipment Tracking & Tracing
Image 6: Shipment
IMAY SOLUTIONS has successfully utilized many products “from Concept to Mass Production” for many years. This expertise gives us the ability to quickly and accurately lunch your product from Concept to Mass Production quickly and get your ROI (Return of Investment) faster.
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All images shown on this DEMO is a property of our Customer, Advanced Fitness Technology Inc., USA.All copyrights reserved.
For further information or clarification of the information contained in this document please contact us by email info@imaysolutions.com or for a full list of services offered by IMAY SOLUTIONS please visit http://imaysolutions.com