Industrial Design
The centre promotes the outreach of industrial design to firms and the technological and methodological improvement of their product design and development activities.
- Systematisation of the industrial design process | Rapid prototyping | Reverse engineering |
- Product development projects | CAD, CAE and PLM training centre | CAD/CAE/PLM application showcase |
- Concurrent engineering | Optical solutions for industry | Pre-series manufacturing
Systematisation of the industrial design process
Design is a concept that may be approached and studied from a variety of viewpoints. The term has several meanings. The activities at PRODINTEC focus mainly on industrial design, as we are convinced that the appropriate introduction of this tool in firms results in a substantial improvement in competitiveness.
The industrial design process passes through many phases, ranging from the first conceptual sketches to the manufacturing of the product, even including its obsolescence, extinction and recycling, and entails many different know-how's, technologies and specialities. Concept, form, aesthetics, material, safety, manufacturability, cost, mechanical strength, durability. are all aspects to bear in mind depending on the particularities of the product (market, sector, business.).
PRODINTEC possesses the know-how and methods to analyse a product from all these perspectives, as well as the capacity to analyse the integration of industrial design in the organisational charts of firms and advise on appropriate actions for improving such integration. Another role that the centre has been fulfilling is that of an intermediary between the firm and industrial designers, providing suppliers for the services demanded by the firm and managing and supervising the execution of a specific project in industrial design.
Rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping techniques by means of high speed machining or LMT (Layer Manufacturing Techniques) allow real physical models to be obtained from virtual models at a relatively low price without the need to manufacture moulds.
This substantially accelerates the process of product development, as many more design-trial-correction cycles may be carried out, while at the same time reducing development errors. There is no substitute for the physical testing of a part or mechanism, especially when the people involved have no technical training or they find it difficult to translate the image on the screen into a physical reality, even though the image may be rendered in 3 dimensions.
PRODINTEC possesses these technologies and also advises firms as to the most suitable technique in each particular case, either providing them with the prototype directly or through third parties who have the optimum technology for each case.
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Reverse engineering
The different processes of digitalisation allow a physical product to be converted into its virtual model, represented by means of a point cloud or triangle file (STL format). Employing these models, a prototype may be manufactured in a more or less direct way.
However, if what is needed is a CAD model, whether parametric or not, that may be modified in order to reflect design changes, corrections, etc., a reverse engineering process needs to be applied. By means of this process, a 3D CAD model is obtained that is perfectly editable in any tool and which may be incorporated into other sets of parts, mechanisms, etc.
Typical cases of the use of these techniques are the testing of moulds or dies, the recovery of information on parts manufactured some time ago and for which no documents are available, etc.
PRODINTEC has a team of experts in this area, as well as several tools for both digitalising and constructing the CAD model from the point cloud obtained in this way.
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Product development projects
As a pilot experience, when a firm wishes to design/develop a new product, PRODINTEC can place its technology, systems and know-how at its disposal and will collaborate with the firm's in-house design team and other professionals who may be involved in the project (designers, engineering companies, etc.).
These kinds of projects may not be carried out recurrently by the same firm if suppliers exist in the market who may resolve the proposed problem.
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CAD, CAE and PLM training centre
Once a firm has decided to implant a tool, continuous training is fundamental both in the handling of all the tool's functions as well as in order to keep up to date with respect to the new features of subsequent versions placed on the market.
Such training is expensive, as it normally involves bringing specialists from outside of the region, with the subsequent travelling and living expenses.
Moreover, firms in this situation may encounter problems regarding facilities, as they may lack classrooms, licenses or sufficient equipment.
All these problems are resolved by PRODINTEC, at highly reduced costs as a result of the possibility of sharing the total costs of the training programme, including the aforementioned expenses, with other firms. Fully made-to-measure courses are also available
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CAD/CAE/PLM application showcase
Computer applications exist for assisting product design, development, engineering and document management.
These applications offer an increasingly more user-friendly and efficient solution to product design/development. However, getting to know and use these types of tools is complex for firms that have little experience in this field. What's more, they require mastery of the appropriate hardware for each application, training of staff in their use, the solution of installation/implantation problems, as well as the costs of acquiring licences.
PRODINTEC's specialists advise firms on the suitability of implanting such tools, either via pilot experiences or the carrying out of a ROI analysis, or even by designing the implantation project or the functional requirements to be presented to the supplier.
This means that risk is reduced in decision taking, as are costs, and the success of the investment is guaranteed.
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Concurrent engineering
Another way of reducing the time to market and the risk of failure of a product on the market is to make the entire value chain participate in its development. The component supplier can contribute information that enables the cost of their components and hence the market price (or margins) to be reduced.
Likewise, customers can adjust the offer to their requirements, avoiding surpluses that do not add value but do increase cost, or they may indicate those functions that are lacking and which they would be willing to recognise as making the product different.
PRODINTEC carries out demonstrations of this methodology and has at its disposal communication and infrastructure technologies allowing us to offer these types of practices in a fully operational manner.
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Optical solutions for industry
3D Scanning using structured white light and photogrammetry: enables complex surfaces to be digitalised (obtaining point clouds and triangle meshes) to thus obtain parametric designs, surfaces, etc. by means of reverse engineeringWidely used as a design assistant when reproducing “hand-made” models, but also in advanced quality control, restitution of unique parts that have broken down or which require rectifying… Copies may be generated at different scales, in various materials, etc. by machining or prototyping.
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Pre-series manufacturing
Silicon moulds: Small series of products may be rapidly and economically produced (without generating extremely expensive injection moulds) in materials whose appearance is indistinguishable from that of thermoplastics, or in low melting point metals, for presentations at fairs, consumer panels, etc. This shortens design and redesigning cycles from several months to a few weeks and the costs of modifying the moulds associated with redesigning processes.
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