Workshop - Manufacturing and Prototyping for Hardware Businesses
Prototyping and producing prototypes can be costly and time-consuming, however it can prove invaluable to make use of prototypes during the stages of product development to ensure taking the best possible product to market. Also, at some point, all successful hardware startups will face the challenge of manufacturing their products at scale.
Manufacturing involves a bit of a different mindset than prototyping - it can be a hard and expensive transition for a young company with limited funds. Approaching manufacturing, it is important to change your design to accommodate the necessities of mass production.
Many hardware startups are part of Women of Wearables community and over the years we repeatedly got asked to run an educational event or workshop that would enable our members to get more knowledge and insight into what it takes to successfully launch or pivot hardware products.
With all this in mind, we brought together three experts from TTP to share their expertise accumulated over the years of work with some of the most innovative companies in the tech space. TTP is an independent technology company from Cambridge where scientists and engineers collaborate to invent, design and develop new products and technologies. Working across a wide spectrum of industries including health, telecoms, industrials and consumer, TTP creates breakthrough solutions that bring strong commercial value to clients and the benefits of technology to all.
Topics we covered during this workshop included:
Hardware design
Hardware assembly
Finances
Suppliers – how to find them, how to work with them
In-house vs. outsourcing – which is best (for the example cases) and why
Prototyping – what, how, when, why
De-risking early
This workshop consisted of three group sessions:
1) Group session on user requirements – how to define what your product will be and how to test it as you go along.
2) Group session on prototyping – why multiple prototypes can be useful and what to use them for.
3) Group session on manufacturing – how to take a hardware idea to market.
Our facilitators were:
Hannah Hare is a product development physicist who specialises in creating new products and technologies for healthcare applications. She develops new ideas from initial technical feasibility through to product integration, balancing the complexities of technology development with the realities of healthcare businesses. Hannah is leading TTP’s work in Women’s Health and has recently worked on improving the success rates of IVF, designing a new insulin pump for diabetics, and better blood pressure monitoring for mothers in the delivery room. Check out our recent interview with Hannah on our WoW women blog!
Duncan Young is a User-Centred Product Designer and Industrial Designer with 10 years of experience at Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Synthes Joint Reconstruction franchise, a role which involved extensive contextual user research and concept testing with HCPs. He is an inventor on 29 utility patents and 7 design patents. Previously, he worked for 12 years consulting on products ranging from structural packaging through telecoms to medical pumps. In a variety of market segments – B2B and consumer - Duncan has used his skills to develop novel mechanisms and user interfaces from initial ideation to volume manufacture. At TTP, Duncan is focused on integrating a user-centred approach into medical device development resulting in products that are not only safe and effective but usable and desirable.
Peter Crossley is an engineer with 20-something years’ experience across aerospace, consumer products, medical devices and life science. He likes working in the bit between initial idea and routine production. He has designed bits of jet engines, led R&D teams in creating new technologies for consumer products and created production lines for medical and diagnostic devices. At TTP he leads projects in our Life Sciences group, both for our clients and in turning TTP’s own inventions into new businesses.
Check out some interesting case studies from TTP’s exciting portfolio:
What is a good innovation strategy in surgery… and is it robotics?
Beyond intravenous delivery: choosing better administration routes for oncologic drugs
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This blog was written by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship and diversity. Visit marijabutkovic.co.uk or follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic @Women_Wearables.