PRODUCT DESIGN

Product Design, Inc. has been designing profitable products for established companies from our suburban Chicago, Illinois location since 1994. We concentrate our product development services on the design of products based on injection molded plastic parts. Molded plastic part:  retainer clipOur core activities of Plastic Part Design, FEA Stress Analysis, Pro/Engineer Surface Modeling, and Low Cost Injection Mold Design and Procurement all combine to help us design plastic based products that look good, are structurally sound, and can be produced profitably.

PLASTIC PRODUCT DESIGN

Our concentration on the mechanical engineering phase of product development means we are most suited to work on consumer products and industrial products in which good looks alone are not enough; they also need to function well in the hands of the customer and must be capable of being produced economically. As a result of this mechanical engineering experience we are able to turn a vague definition of a consumer desire into the hard engineering numbers that we use to set the measurable goals for a successful product development effort.Plastic part design image

This discipline is applied to our core Plastic Part Design activity. We use an approach in which plastic parts are not independent items, but are designed in the context of the final assembly that the customer will interact with. This customer assembly is created in the context of an overall product concept that ties customers desires with production possibilities and distribution channel realities to create a profitable product. This product concept is created in the context of the customer. Frequently the hardest part of any product development effort is determining who the customer really is and how he will use the product. As a result, a key element of our product development approach is to combine your knowledge of your industry and your customers with our plastic product design skills to create a profitable product.cosmos fea analysis image

FEA STRESS ANALYSIS

Product Design can accelerate the completion of your product development effort with our in house stress analysis capabilities. We use the expanded capabilities of the Cosmos/M family of FEA software to be able to move beyond basic linear static analysis of parts only and into non linear analysis of plastic part assemblies. Most of our FEA work is directed towards in house client product development projects, however if you have a basic stress analysis problem that you need to investigate quickly and at reasonable cost please check out our Basic FEA Service. The image at right shows the results of an FEA investigation into the effect of added ribs on a plastic part.

PRO/ENGINEER SURFACE MODELING

We develop all of our work as 3D solid models in Pro/ENGINEER. These solid models provide us with a gateway to the vast array of time compression technologies now available, including the numerous rapid prototyping and CNC machining shops that are in close proximity to our suburban Chicago, Illinois location. After prototyping, the geometry from the solid models is transferred to moldmakers to enable exact duplication of the design in plastic injection molds without the chance of the mistakes in interpretation that occur when using 2D drawings.

There are plenty of "low cost" solid modeling CAD systems available today. However, the best looking plastic products on the market today are designed in industrial strength CAD systems with advanced surface modeling capabilities. Our experience using the surface modeling capabilities of Pro/ENGINEER allows us to develop free flowing designs that catch buyers attention and stand out from the competition. See our Pro/ENGINEER Surface Modeling page to see how artistic intention is transformed into physical reality with the help of Pro/ENGINEER..

LOW COST INJECTION MOLDS

To get our designs into production at a lower up front investment we can procure low cost P20 Steel molds from Taiwan for our clients. Unlike most low cost Asian injection molds, our molds are designed with enhanced cooling to insure that you get a fast running mold that will minimize part cost. We do this by first designing the mold with the aid of thermal FEA software and then insuring that the mold is built to our specifications. For parts that fall into specific production volume ranges these are the right molds for the job.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PRODUCT DESIGN

See our ads in the 2002 Thomas Register, in Design Perspectives Magazine, and in "PD3" the newsletter of the Product Design and Development Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers.

To see more about how we can make an impact on your plastic product development efforts browse to the other pages in this site. We think you'll like what you see.

 

Product Design, Inc.
5133 Washington St., Suite 9
Downers Grove, Illinois 60515

Phone: 630.663.1642
Fax: 630.663.4552
Toll Free: 888.609.6199

info@pro-des.com

 

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