Product development is an iterative process, often involving many cycles of design, prototyping, testing, and validation before the product is ready for production. Pipeline’s approach to this process is as follows:

1. Initial consultation with customer; define scope of project and assess fit with Pipeline’s capabilities
2. Develop proposal and review together with customer
3. Following customer approval, begin design activities (Pipeline generally holds design reviews weekly with customers to ensure they are updated with project status and have ample opportunities to provide feedback as the product is designed)
4. R&D (often involving crude mockups and prototypes to evaluate high level ideas and filter what works from what doesn’t)
5. As the design matures, prototypes of increasing fidelity & detail are created and tested
6. Once the design has matured and been successfully validated with prototyping, manufacturing documentation is created; this documentation is generally in the form of 2D drawings that include details not present in 3D CAD models such as critical tolerances, material callouts, surface finishes, colors, etc
7. Manufacturing first articles
8. Assembly & troubleshooting of first articles; revisions to manufacturing processes & tooling as/if needed
9. Production manufacturing

The time required to complete product development projects depends largely on the complexity of the product being designed. A simple product may only take a few months while a complex product may take a year or more of development. Associated costs are similar, and even for a simple product, can start in the tens of thousands of dollars. Speaking of cost, there are two phases to be aware of when pursuing an NPD project: the first is the development phase, and the second is the manufacturing phase. These are generally handled by two separate entities (a design/engineering company, and a contract manufacturer) who work closely together. The manufacturing phase is often the more expensive of the two due to the costly tooling that is often needed for making the product, especially for a high volume product.

There are a few manufacturing processes commonly employed for making parts: CNC machining, plastic injection molding, sheetmetal fabrication, thermoforming, & increasingly, 3D printing (also referred to as “additive manufacturing”). Each of these processes requires intimate understanding on the part of the design engineer so the geometry of the parts can be engineered & optimized for its intended manufacturing process. Pipeline engineers are well versed in all common manufacturing processes and thus able to design for whatever process is best suited to the particular part/product.