Looking for sound advice on for a new idea? Look no further than White Horse CAD!

Happy Friday to you all.

This week is a mixed bag of working with clients at different stages of the design process. We love the variation this brings.

Detailed Engineering Drawing

So, for our established clients, we are working on a series of technical drawings for products in the energy sector and concept designs for medical devices. They already have the data files and we are optimising our primary design tool, Solidworks to create new solutions for them. All in all, we like to think these are straightforward pieces of work with clear guidelines.

However, this isn’t always the case. With over thirty years of hands-on manufacturing and design experience, we come across all kinds of design briefs. From the meticulous and time-critical projects to those seemingly plucked from mid-air!

Either way, we appreciate every idea has to start somewhere and we can help to take them forward. Sometimes a rough sketch, model, or chat is the starting point for a new idea. Whichever form it takes, a conversation about what the client wants to achieve is critical.

Let’s Talk About Ideas

From this we can manage expectations through the design journey, especially if they are new to design.

Here’s an insight from a call earlier this week; a potential client called us about their new idea. They have no design background and came to us for expert advice and we’re confident that’s what we gave. Some of the things we discussed include:

Purpose
How will the product be used?
What does the client want to achieve from it?
How does it compare to rival products or is a completely new concept?

Form
The client was keen to have a 3D print of the model. This can be a great option for prototypes and models to explain ideas. However, drawing on the vast experience we could also advise on alternatives such as injection moulding which is more appropriate for this design brief.

Materials
We have working knowledge of materials and manufacturing processes. We could talk through the options and give assurance about what would be the best option for the product.

Costs
We have our own 3D and 2d printers in-house, so we’re well placed to give accurate costings. It’s mainly the time taken for the prints that influence the costs. Giving the client some ballpark figures for alternatives was also of help.

This potential client was happy to receive our thoughts on their brief. It’s given them more to think about but that’s all part of the design process. They’re coming to see us at our Heywood House office so we’re looking forward to seeing how we can help to progress this idea.

So if this all sounds familiar to you, please get in touch and make us your first port of call for any fledging ideas. We all have to start somewhere! Please head to our testimonials page if you’d like to hear from others about our expertise.