From an idea or engineering problem to a working, manufacturable solution
Our product design and development services help businesses, entrepreneurs and product developers turn ideas, requirements and engineering problems into practical, manufacturable products.
We can support a complete development programme or provide additional engineering resource at a particular stage — from initial concept development and mechanical design through analysis, prototyping, testing and production.
Our approach comes from decades of engineering experience across motorsport, automotive and demanding industrial applications, where successful development depends on finding the right engineering solution, not simply producing a CAD model.
More Than CAD Design
Good product development starts before anything is drawn.
A customer may arrive with a detailed specification, an early idea, an existing product that needs improving, or simply a problem that needs solving.
Our role is to understand what the product actually needs to achieve and develop the most appropriate route to achieving it.
That can involve investigating different mechanisms, materials and manufacturing processes; evaluating competing concepts; analysing performance; producing prototypes; testing; and iterating the design before committing to production.
The objective is not simply to make something that works.
It is to develop something that works well, reliably and economically — and can actually be manufactured.
Our Product Development Process
Idea
We establish the opportunity, problem or requirement and understand what success needs to look like.
Solutioneering
We explore different engineering principles, technologies and potential routes rather than jumping immediately to the first apparent solution.
Concept Selection
Potential solutions are evaluated against agreed criteria such as performance, cost, weight, reliability, complexity, manufacturability and risk.
CAD & Engineering
The selected concept is developed into a properly engineered design, including detailed 3D CAD, mechanisms, interfaces, materials, tolerances and manufacturing considerations.
Analysis
Where appropriate, engineering analysis including FEA, CFD, calculations and simulation is used to understand behaviour before committing to physical parts.
Prototype
Our in-house additive manufacturing capabilities allow us to move quickly from digital design to physical components for evaluation.
Testing
Prototypes can be tested against the original requirements, identifying weaknesses, opportunities and areas requiring further development.
Design Optimisation
The design is refined using the information gathered through analysis and physical testing.
Design for Manufacture
We develop the product for its intended manufacturing process, considering materials, tolerances, assembly, production volumes and cost.
Production
Where required, Plan D can support supplier selection, manufacturing introduction and ongoing production.
Engineering Problems Don’t Always Have Obvious Solutions
Some projects begin with a product idea.
Others begin with:
“We need this to do something that we don’t currently know how to achieve.”
Those are often the projects where Plan D can add the greatest value.
Rather than immediately committing to a particular mechanism or technology, we can investigate multiple approaches and systematically evaluate them against the real requirements.
We call this Solutioneering.
It combines creative engineering with structured decision-making, helping eliminate unsuitable concepts early and concentrating development effort on the solutions with the greatest potential.
This is particularly valuable when developing new products, solving unusual mechanical problems or tackling applications where conventional approaches have already been tried.
From Concept to Prototype — Quickly
One of the advantages of combining design, analysis, scanning and additive manufacturing within the same engineering business is the ability to iterate rapidly.
A concept can move from CAD to a physical prototype without the traditional delay and expense associated with tooling.
That prototype can then be assessed, tested and modified before another iteration is produced.
For suitable projects this creates a development loop of:
Design → Analyse → Prototype → Test → Learn → Improve
Rather than treating prototyping as the end of the design process, we use it as an engineering development tool.
Engineering for Manufacture
A successful prototype isn’t necessarily a successful product.
Production introduces another set of requirements: repeatability, tolerances, materials, assembly time, tooling, supplier capability, production volume and cost.
Plan D can develop designs with their eventual manufacturing process in mind, including:
- CNC machining
- Injection moulding
- Fabrication
- Composite manufacture
- Additive manufacturing
- Casting
- Specialist manufacturing processes
Where we don’t manufacture a process ourselves, we can work with appropriate specialist suppliers.
The aim is to make the transition from prototype to production part of the engineering process rather than an afterthought.
Flexible Ways to Develop Your Product
Not every promising product arrives with a fully funded development programme.
For that reason, Plan D can consider different commercial arrangements depending upon the project.
Engineering Consultancy
The conventional approach.
Plan D provides engineering and product-development services against an agreed scope, hourly rate or project cost.
This gives the customer complete flexibility and is appropriate for most commercial development projects.
Development + Manufacturing Partnership
For suitable products with an identifiable production requirement, we may be able to reduce some of the initial development cost in return for an agreed manufacturing or supply arrangement.
This can reduce the amount of capital required to move from concept towards production while aligning our interests with the commercial success of the product.
Investment / Equity
For exceptional opportunities, we may consider contributing engineering and development resource as part of an investment arrangement.
This is highly selective and depends upon the product, intellectual property, market opportunity, development requirement and commercial proposition.
Why Plan D?
Engineering developed in demanding environments
Our engineering experience includes Formula One, motorsport, automotive, aerospace, defence and challenging industrial applications.
Those environments encourage a particular approach to engineering: understand the requirement, question assumptions, explore alternatives, use data wherever possible, prototype quickly and continually improve the solution.
We apply the same principles to product development.
Have a Product Idea or Engineering Problem?
You don’t need a finished specification or CAD model before talking to us.
You might have a sketch, an existing prototype, a product that isn’t working as intended or simply an engineering problem that needs solving.
We can help establish the next sensible step.