Prototyping and Small

Series ManufacturingDina Neishtadt

Who am I?

● Product Manager & Software Engineer

● Industrial Designer

● Tinkerer and Maker

Checkout my website: www.dinkaworks.com

You are welcome to contact me at: dina@dinkaworks.com

Why do we prototype?

● Explorative idea generation

● User testing

● Communication

● Try to execute your plans for reall

● A picture is worth a thousand words, but a prototype is by far more

valuable when it comes to physical products

The iterative aspect of prototyping is Key!

3D Computer Modeling instead of

Prototyping

● A 3D model is not a replacement for a physical prototype

● In a 3D model you don’t have a sense of size (nothing to reference)

● You can’t sense the temperature of the product when one will touch it

● You can’t try it on or try using it in context

● It doesn’t smell

● IT OFTEN TAKES MUCH MORE TIME TO 3D MODEL than to physically

prototype

So how do I start?

Use objects in your surrounding area!

Use paper, cardboard, foam core (also referred as foam board), wire, play

dough or anything else you can find. These are going to be the fastest way for

one to demonstrate an idea and the most cost effective ones (see 3)

Checkout the Look-Alikes series for inspiration about what you can do with day

to day objects!

Next stage

At a later stage, once you have completed a number of iterations of very low

quality prototypes (to test the size, proportion etc) you can move to Looks-Like

prototypes:

● Foam - Polyurethane foam (compleat sculpture nyc), leftovers of

polystyrene packaging for a cheaper alternative

● Polymeric clay

● Wood

● 3D Printing

● Laser cutting

● Plexiglass\acetate\whatever you can find in an art supplies store

Materials

● In prototypes, materials of mass production are typically substituted by for

simple and easier to work with materials and processes.

● Avoid materials requiring tooling

● Try using materials that most accessible to you, always think about the

time it will take you to get a certain material and how difficult it is for YOU

to work with it (geography changes availability of materials and tools0

The Spiky Ball Example

“I want a spiky ball made out of this pleasant to touch material”

Spiky Ball?

● All of these are Spiky balls

● What if you would bring a prototype that is made out of:

o $1 stores ball of the right size - ball size reference

o Spike made out of play dough or made out of paper rolled into cones -

spike shape and size reference

o A piece of your favorite rubber - material reference

o A paper weight - weight reference

o Usage example

Tools

1. Good hand tools are essential

2. Use maker spaces, hacker spaces and studio places you can rent by the

hour. For example:

a. TechShop - not available in NYC :((((

b. Hack Manhattan & NYC resistor have some tools at their disposal

c. Makeville - you can rent a woodworking shop by the hour

Rapid Prototyping

● Usually people mean 3D Printers, Laser Cutters and CNC machines when

they say that.

● These tools are awesome!

● Consider additive manufacturing vs subtractive manufacturing

How to create a plastic prototype?

● Machinable plastic board

● Casting - allows you to create flexible rubber\silicone or plastic products

I highly recommend the 2-day mold making workshops by Smooth-On and

Polytek

So… how do I create a mold to cast

into…?

● 3D printing is an option, although the cheap ones are going to leave very

rough surface

● CNC is great, but you need to have one available and your CAD skills will

require some polishing

● Laser cutter is wonderful, but thats 2D...

What are my other options?

Machining

Everything that falls under “chip-forming”, any cutting techniques that produce

“chips” of materials as a result of the cut.

Turning, boring, drilling, routing etc…

If you are working with hard type foam, you

can manually cut it out, file it and seal it for

casting.

Modeling clay

● Polymer that can be reused

● Every single car in the world is first made out of modeling clay

See 4

Wood working

● You can carve and shape wood to produce perfect masters for your molds!

● Woodworking is still quite accessible and efficient ways to product

prototypes

Metal Spinning and Stamping

Metal Spinning

For forming round shapes out of metal sheet

Watch

Metal Stamping

For forming rectangular shapes out of metal sheet

Finishing for your models

Bondo

It smells, but can give your really smooth finishes for your models, once you file

it and sand it. The are various types of adhesives and Fillers (see 2)

Spray paint

Its a great and cheap alternative to expensive coatings. Probably you don’t

have a spray booth, so make sure you are doing it outside on the parking lot or

something, with no kids breathing that thing in around.

Production of small series

Use local professionals

These are great! They will give you advice and guide you through your planning

and feasibility processes

Small scale - below 10,000 units

Almost never its going to be worth it going to China

Refer to The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson, for some more

information on the subject

A useful resource - http://makersrow.com/

Designing for Manufacturing

● A good industrial designer, will be able to consider manufacturing best

practices when creating a CAD model for you.

● Creating a 3D drawing is not enough!

● You need to make sure that the plastic snaps you are creating can be

indeed manufactured!

● Physical prototypes are very important

Packaging and graphics

This is the face of your product!!!

Steve Jobs

● Everything written about product development and design in Steve Jobs,

Book by Walter Isaacson is true!

● This is how things work for great products!

● Read the book...

How to manufacture?

● Project management best practices

● Buffers, both time and $

● Risk analysis - what will happen if we overrun the budget?

● Locally vs. China

● Iterative processes!!!

This is a nice summary

http://www.marthastewart.com/264329/how-to-get-your-product-made-finding-

and

Professional Product Design

● Create physical prototypes for you

● Create CAD for you

● Advice regarding the usability, ergonomics and manufacturability of the

product

● In case of a technological product - work closely with a mechanical

engineer\electrical\electronics engineer

● Will know what manufacturing methods could be potentially more

expensive than others

● Will offer alternatives in case that manufacturing is too expensice

● Consider sustainability of material used

● Advise on materials

Working with a product designer

● Your verbal descriptions are not worth much

● Provide physical prototypes

o Looks like

o Works like

o Supply a material reference, describe what is it good for (if not

perfect):

I want my product to be warm to the touch, like wood

I want it to smell fresh, like Nickel

I want it to be nice to touch, like an eraser

● The more physical samples you provide, the more there is chance that the

product designer will understand you

Reading Material

● Folding Techniques for Designers - Paul Jackson

● Prototyping and Low-Volume Production (The Manufacturing Guides) -

Thompson, Rob

● Making It - Manufacturing Techniques for Product Design - Chris Lefteri

● Prototyping and Model Making for Product Design - Bjarki Hallgrimsson

● Look a likes - Joan Steiner

Any Questions?

Thank you!