So You Built Your First Prototype - Now What?

At Ashbrook, we talk to tons of inventors who have ideas for products or early stage prototypes, but are unsure where to go next in their product development journey.

Are you building a single product for yourself, or are you trying to build a business around your product idea? If you’re looking to build a scalable product, this guide is for you.

Scroll to the bottom of this blog for a quick visual TL;DR.

In this article we’ll cover…

1.)   Building Your First Prototype

2.)   CAD + Second Iteration Prototyping

3.)   Finalize Your Design

4.)   Plan for Production

5.)   Launch

Step 1: Building Your First Prototype

Your first prototype allows you to get your product vision out of your brain, and into your hands. This allows you to see, touch, and feel your product for the first time. This is the clay model, the popsicle sticks and glue, etc. This gets you in the game, and helps you get a feel for whether or not there’s any hope for your new product. Most inventors can get themselves here with no issue.

You’ve got a prototype – Now what?

Step 2: CAD + Second Iteration Prototyping

At this point, your product and business goals should be clear. Do you want to make one product for yourself? Do you want to make 1,000,000 products for people across the country? Somewhere in between?

The most important aspect of progressing past the first prototype stage is to begin designing with computer aided design (CAD) software as soon as possible. By designing in CAD, you can easily modify, change, and prototype your product. For free/ low-cost CAD resources for product designers and entrepreneurs, look into the Solidworks for startups program: https://www.solidworks.com/solution/solidworks-for-startups-program

If you want to produce a product at scale, we at Ashbrook recommend taking a design for manufacturing (DFM) based approach to the prototype process. A DFM focused approach means that even as a prototype, you’re building your product in a way that it will be easily manufacturable at a large scale.

For early stage prototypes, we always recommend 3D printing as a quick, low cost method of getting parts off the computer and in your hand. Try and use a wide range of materials to feel different textures and hardnesses.

If your product needs to be metal, reach out to a local machine shop with your CAD model, or consider metal 3D printing.

Need help converting your prototype into a ready-to-use CAD file? Ashbrook can help you produce a DFM focused model.

Step 3: Finalize your Design

Once you’ve got your second prototype modeled in CAD, and you’ve worked through a few simple prototype iterations, it’s time to finalize your design. Before moving forwards, consider these key questions.

-          What is my products final manufacturing method going to be?

-          What material do I want my product to be made out of?

Before going to production, you want your prototype to be as close to your finished product as possible. If your product is going to be plastic, now is the time to speak with a plastics expert. The best way to make plastic parts is not always obvious.

If your product is metal, talk to machine shops, sheet metal manufacturers, or welding shops to figure out the most efficient way to produce your product. You may be surprised by the feedback you get from different manufacturers.

Do not move on from this step until your prototype is exactly what you want it to be. It should look, feel, and function exactly as you envision.

Bonus Tip: The earlier you can think about the costs associated with packaging your product and shipping it to your customers, the earlier you can account for that cost in your manufacturing budget.

Step 4: Plan for Production

At this point, it’s time to send the final draft of your products CAD file(s) off to your chosen manufacturer and have them issue quotes for manufacturing at scale. If you have strong demand for your product and know you can sell a lot of units at launch, you’ll be able to save money per unit you buy from your manufacturer. As with most things, you’ll pay less per product if you buy larger quantities.

Make sure when getting these final details put together that you get specific quotes + lead times for building the custom machinery needed to make your product (injection molds, machine fixtures, etc.), and a lead time for getting your first parts once your tooling is complete.

Typically, after your first production parts are complete, they will be sent to you and your team for review before going to full scale manufacturing.

This is your last chance to make “simple” modifications to your part. If something is off, now is the time to discuss it with your manufacturing team – This could be your last chance to avoid a $10,000 mistake!

Once you’ve got your first production parts in your hand, it’s time to generate and finalize “critical to quality” (CTQ) specifications for your product – These specifications will outline critical dimensions, alignments, and packaging requirements for your product.

Not sure what questions to ask manufacturers? We can help walk you through your quoting process.

Step 5: Launch

Congratulations! You’ve officially got your product ready for launch. Once you’ve agreed on a mutual product quality specification with your manufacturer, know how much each unit will cost, and know how long it’s going to take to get your first shipment of products, it’s time to prepare for launch.

You can start by letting your future customers and personal network know that your product is launching. Try preparing consistent and engaging social media posts in the weeks leading up to your product launch. Make sure you’ve made it convenient for your customers to purchase your product once it launches – You want to convert as many leads to sales as you can.

It’s a good idea to put your own eyes on your first production order to make sure it meets your agreed upon specifications. This is your last chance to make sure your manufacturer did their job during the manufacturing process, and your customers are going to receive a product that truly represents your vision.

Hopefully this is helpful to anyone who is developing a new product, regardless of their stage in the journey. If Ashbrook Engineering can be of any assistance during your product design phase, please let us know. Helping others bring their product vision to life is what keeps us going every day.

Happy designing,

 Dalton