Blog-Off II Entry: 6 Steps to Manufacture Your Invention

We are almost there!  Now that we have learned about Concept, Development and Design, I am going to go into the Production and Manufacturing stages of your product.  Manufacturing is defined as the application of tools and a processing medium that will transform raw materials into finished goods for sale. These steps will vary depending on the type of product you have.  Here we’ll focus on the spatula, as all types of processes could be applicable depending on whether your final material selection is metal or plastic, a decision made in the design stage that will dictate selection of a manufacturing process.  For the sake of this blog let’s assume production of 100,000 annually, utilizing plastic injection molding (insert molding Figure 1.) to manufacture our 2-piece spatula.  The spatula will have to withstand high temperatures, thus the material selected from the design stage must be heat resistant up to about 500° Farenheit.

First we will go into tooling, then sample production and lastly full production. I am going to outline the steps for several different types of processes, but keep in mind that you might be producing different quantities then I have specified, and may employ different processes.

 

1.    Pre Production

a.    Materials – All raw materials must be tested for quality requirement and should meet your design, as inadequate materials will result in faulty goods.

b.   Test Mold – Prototype, single cavity molds are traditionally made on a CNC machine from aluminum.  However, new rapid tooling technologies such as DMLS can significantly reduce soft tooling lead times, and even be used to create production grade tools.  Depending on the geometries of your products, this technology also offers the potential to incorporate conformal cooling/tempering channels into your tool.  These channels can increase overall efficiency and enhance the quality of your parts.

2.    Sample Product

a.    Consumer Safety Testing – Use an independent lab to do some testing in order to ensure the product is safe for customers, i.e. safe for food contact.

b.   Final Test Market – Utilize your sample product for market testing in regards to feel, function and esthetics.

c.    Final Design Changes – After you have finished your testing you will have to make all necessary changes to your design to produce this product efficiently and cost effectively.

3.    Manufacturing

a.    Production Tool – Multi-cavity tools allow you to produce several parts at one time. Work closely with a mold engineer so that your cavities and tools are balanced for production.  Don’t forget about the conformal cooling application for your tools!  This can vastly reduce production costs that aid in presenting a good price point to your consumers.

b.   Insert molding – Since the spatula will have a handle you will need to produce 2 molds (one for the handle, one for the head) and insert the handle into your head of your spatula to make the product whole.

4.    Quality Control

a.    Product – There may be instances where your product will come off from being injection molded with some flash, you will have to remove the flash before packaging. Set up quality standards for all potential defects. Make sure those standards are maintained and audited though out the manufacturing, finishing and packaging process.

5.    Finishing

a.    Embossing – This would have to be done while designing your mold and would be embossed during the manufacturing process.

b.   Screen Printing – There are several types of screen printing methods available and you can decide whether to do this in house or send your product in bulk to a screen printer who can print your logo onto the product.

c.    Label – A label can be printed and applied to your product with any information you please.

6.    Packaging

a.    Poly Bag – A lot of manufacturers are going to “green” poly bags which are available with recyclable content.

b.   Box – These boxes will have to be specialized to your product and traditionally die-cut and printed for esthetics.

c.    Bulk – You may just want to have these products sent as bulk with no packaging that the retailer then can either hang on a shelf of put in bins for purchasing.

Manage this process successfully, and you will ultimately have an end product is safe and consumers will enjoy.  However, just because you are manufacturing your product does not mean it will just sell and make millions!  It is imperative that you advertise and actively promote your product to your target markets, which will be the final stage in your New Product Development.

Tim Ruffner
Email: Timr@GPIprototype.com
Click On Any Of The Following Links To Follow Tim/GPI

Comments

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[Kelly Ann]

Hi Tim,

Clearly you put some time into this post! I love the graphics. It makes the whole process so much easier to understand. When I'm cooking, I will never look at my spatula the same way again!

Job well done.

Kelly Ann

[Joy Webber]

Tim
What a very simple and easy to follow process. From concept to finished goods it's enlightening to follow the steps you describe. Well done. All best. Joy

[Craig Hutchings]

Tim

Once again great job.....Great detail...Easy to follow! Keep it up!

Hutch