DESIGN PHASES
 
 
 
Phase 1: Conceptual Solutions
 
 
Product Definition and Planning:
We will create a detailed description of the product.  It will include all of the key characteristics of the product.  A trade study will be conducted to determine the importance of the key characteristics.  A product development plan will be created to guide us through the conceptual phases of development.
Specification Definition:
This specification is to identify the customers, their requirements, and to generate the engineering specifications.
Concept Exploration:
Hand sketches of five possible mechanical concepts for evaluation.  These concepts will be judged on ease of use, manufacturability, and aesthetic quality.  At the end of this phase a single concept or multiple concepts will either be approved for continuing development or a decision will be made to continue further concept exploration.
 
Phase 2: Design Exploration
This phase will serve as an overall goal synopsis to allow refinement of these following points from a conceptual design (Phase1) to a sophisticated engineered product (Phase 5).  Our main goal is to explore a range of logical design solutions that assess the “CONCEPTUAL SOLUTION” goals as well as with the following design points.
SolidMasters additional goal in this phase is to generate the basis for development of the visual and family line identity for the client with the most innovative engineering and best aesthetic design.
 
ENGINEERING – MECHANICAL
Inexpensive tooling and part design.
Choose most inexpensive combination of production processes.
Minimize assembly time and additional parts.
 
STYLING
Our goal will be to complete a design that has “High Perceived Quality” look in terms of detailing and image.  An award winning design!
In a meeting at SolidMasters, we will present sketches, and preliminary 3Dsolidmodel CAD layouts highlighting this exploration.  Our goal for the meeting is to choose the best combination of ideas to integrate into a refined concept in Phase III
 
Phase 3: Design Refinement
 
 
Where Phase II was a broad focus, encompassing the full range of potential ideas, Phase III narrows its focus to only the ideas selected at the end of Phase II.  Our goal is to condense the best ideas into one concept.  Our first step is to refine loosely defined Phase II detailing into photo realistic renderings.  We will simultaneously begin full size design layouts using our CAD systems to resolve basic part inter fit problems, assembly, and manufacturing questions.
We will meet at SolidMasters or the client’s office to review the design direction before beginning the next phase of work.
 
Phase 4: Final CAD Models and Engineering Drawings
 
 
SolidMasters will produce a complete package of drawings used to construct the working prototypes.  In addition, this documentation will serve as a reference for SolidMasters sin the actual design-engineering phase.
We will meet with the potential manufacturers to gain the best possible tool and part cost before the client makes a major budgetary commitment for engineering.  Additionally, this will ensure our aesthetic design meets stringent quality control requirements.
SolidMasters will meet with you to discuss potential refinements for the next phase of work.
The approved designs from Phase 3 will be taken from preliminary engineering drawings to a full size, three-dimensional mock-up.  Any other refinements discussed in the previous meeting will also be incorporated in the aesthetic specification drawings.  This economical 3-D translation of our drawings will serve several purposes.
It will validate human factor and human interface studies.
Provide a basis for generating engineering documentation.
Permit finalization of color scheme, logo placement, and other aesthetic details.
 
It can be shown to associates and perspective buyers.
In a meeting at SolidMasters, we will review the design for implementation in the next phase of work.
  
Phase 5: Prototype Construction
 
In this phase, we will finalize the engineering design.  We will work closely with our manufacturing vendors to create a working model for both mechanical and esthetic testing.  Additionally, the drawings, which will be generated on 3D CAD, can be later updated and modified for the final production drawings to give to intended vendors.  Our package of engineering drawings will include full assembly view documents generated from the actual part drawings.  In this way, we will be able to test true inter part fit and detect any possible dimensional mistakes, which will save additional time in the prototyping process.  The mechanical design will reflect a high precision of inter part fit as well as simplicity of assembly.  These considerations, properly applied, will result in an increased profit margin per product, reduced tooling costs, reduced part costs, inventory control. Reduced assembly costs.
 
PROCEDURES
In this phase, a full working prototype will be constructed from actual production material corresponding to the production process most preferred.
 
TESTING AND EVALUATION
The primary reason for prototyping is to test and evaluate the engineering design before investing in expensive tooling.
RESULT
A final fully functioning prototype and test evaluation report will be delivered for review and evaluation.
 
Phase 6: Manufacturing for Alpha Build (if required)

In this phase SolidMasters will assemble a range of prototypes that can be used for additional testing and marketing purposes.  SolidMasters has the capability to create very realistic prototypes that simulate actual production products.  Typically, this is a very important phase of work due to the need of multiple products at this stage of development.  The scheduling can be extremely fast paced which is typically less than four weeks.
 
Phase 7: Final Production Part Drawings
The final engineering phase is perhaps the most important step in the evolution of a product.  We will first meet with the client at the end of our test / evaluation of the prototype design.  On the basis of changes or refinements required, we will begin our final production drawings.
Though the drawings, which led to the prototype, have been as accurate as possible, a number of design developments and refinements are likely to result from this analysis.  These changes must be recorded in our engineering documentation before final production commences.
The continuing maintenance of our documentation will facility production by clarifying the drawings, identifying errors, and ensuring better inter part fit.  In addition, these drawings will reflect production consultation with the intended vendor.
Provided in this phase is a complete package of documentation generated on CAD denoting all tolerances, inter part fit, production requirements and engineering specifications.
 
Phase 8: Production Manufacturing and Engineering Management
 
 
SolidMasters has experience with many vendors.  We will choose the better of two or three and obtain competitive bids to further reduce tooling and part costs.  SolidMasters will deliver a full report on tooling, fabrication methodology and assembly procedures.
The final production engineering will consist of a complete and tested documentation package of drawings that can be used to manufacture and assemble the engineered product.  In addition, the process of our engineering includes not only quality testing but also “cost engineering” for the lowest product cost and the most durable design.
In this phase SolidMasters will manage the tooling on a weekly basis giving client status updates on completion.  In addition, SolidMasters will review first article and make modifications to our engineering drawings before final production will commence.