13th August 2015

Expert Advice: 7 Key Factors Considered by the GX Product Realisation Team

By Gary Ross, GX Group.

GX want to make their clients’ conceptual ideas a physical, commercial reality. We cover a range of sectors, from automotive to healthcare, but the underpinning and fundamental considerations of what goes into a product’s design remain the same.

If you approach GX, we will partner you at every step of the way in realising your design and its inherent potential.

Developing a design or concept can seem daunting, but a Product Realisation Team like the one we have at GX will help you deal with everything involved with this process.

Seven key factors to consider are:

1.         The Business Case

In the majority of cases, GX are asked to work up a design for a commercial product or application. It therefore helps if we have fully considered what you are looking to achieve with your concept, both in terms of its function and its commerciality before we advance the project to the next stage.

We may also want to think beyond the product or design itself; are there disposable complementary accessories that could be designed to enhance the product. These accessories could also provide an additional revenue stream for your company after you have sold the initial unit. A good example of this would be printer cartridges or, to use a life sciences example, disposable needles for nerve monitors.

Margins are also important, and GX will advise you on this. We want to make sure that you will have enough of a buffer in terms of cost and materials to cover all eventualities.

2.         The Brief

The clearer the idea you have of how you expect the realised design to look and function, the easier it will be for a product designer to create it and for a manufacturer to produce it. GX can refine your ideas in this way so they can be taken forward.

A good product designer will be able to advise you or critique your concept against all the considerations listed in this article, but we will think seriously about the actual specifications of the product. These include who will be using the product, in what type of environment the product will be used, its intended size and weight, and how long the product is intended to last.

If you work in a tightly regulated sector like healthcare, GX will ensure that regulations and standards will be taken into account, and identify the likely costs of seeking regulatory approval.

We will also work closely with the necessary IP agents to ensure your concept has not already been realised by someone else and whether your concept can be protected as intellectual property.

3.         The Competition

Will your design be in competition with an existing product, or will it displace an existing solution that meets the need that your design is intended to fulfil. Your design or concept may be a revolutionary solution to a need that is met in a traditional way, for example, the electric toothbrush supplanting the traditional toothbrush. It could be a variation of an existing theme, for example, larger mobile phones that have enlarged screens for internet viewing.

While it can be difficult to come up with a concept that is completely sui generis, you should be wary of designs or concepts that are simply iterations of an existing product. Such concepts are difficult to protect from an intellectual property perspective, may actually intrude on someone else’s intellectual property and may not be commercially viable.

GX, however, can help you overcome these issues by suggesting different, novel approaches to your concept or your business need, which can sidestep these problems from the very start of the development process.

4.         Volumes

The quantities you expect your realised design to be physically manufactured in will have a vital bearing on both the design itself and the final manufacturing cost. GX will work on your brief to make it viable in terms of both of costs and any resulting logistics.

A product that is intended to be designed in high volumes will ultimately have a lower manufacturing cost as you will be buying materials, parts and assembly in bulk. The product will also need to be designed in particular way to ensure that parts and assembly can be done in a cost-effective and timely manner if you are planning to sell your product in high volumes.

Intended lower volumes for a product is not necessarily a problem nor should it be a reason to stop working on the design, but it will mean higher costs throughout and that should be reflected in your business plan and eventual intended sales price for the product. A good example of this would be MRI Scanners, which are manufactured in low numbers, perform a vital function but are sold at an accordingly high cost to cover low volume manufacturing.

5.         Country of Origin

With mass manufacturing, it makes business sense to have your product manufactured in regions where the overheads are significantly lower (such as Asia) but you may feel it necessary for a product’s identity or brand to be seen to be manufactured in a particular country of origin.

If you expect every single part of your final product’s manufacturing and assembly process to be undertaken solely here within the UK, expect comparatively high manufacturing costs that you will ultimately have to pass on to your customers.

However there is a hybrid solution where you can have parts or components manufactured in more cost effective regions, but have the final assembly and product quality checks undertaken here in the UK, at which point the product can be legally labelled as being manufactured in this country. This can actually add value to the brand, as the Chinese market is keener to buy products being manufactured in the UK rather than in China (to take just one example).

6.         What approvals are needed?

Your product is going to perform a function, and will be sold within a particular business sector and a particular or several geographical regions that have their own regulative framework. You must therefore ensure that your product is fit for purpose and meets all the legal specifications of all the countries in which you intend your product to be used or sold into.

GX will help ensure that a client’s design and eventual product is fully compliant with relevant regulations.

7.         The product’s intended lifespan

A product can be designed to last decades or seconds; it all depends on the function that it is intended to fulfil. Knowing this can help the product designer tailor costs, and the design itself accordingly, to make it the most cost-effective and appropriate design made with the right materials. This will ensure that your design lasts as long as it is intended to, whether that is measured in time or usage, and GX will offer guidance as to what this should be based on your initial objectives.

To discuss any concept that you wish to see realised, please contact Gary Ross.