For many small companies and startups, as well as OEMs moving into a new line of products, doing everything in-house is simply not time or cost effective. In these situations, it is much easier and a better business decision to outsource specific elements of the projects.
When it comes to industrial product design, prototyping and production, outsourcing to the specialized company completing the final production of parts and components makes good business sense. There are several reasons why this is true, and comparing the in-house capacities of the business with the possibilities with outsourcing is a great place to start.
Experience with Similar Projects
The specialists in industrial product design working with production companies have expertise and experience in working in specific industries. For example, a company manufacturing custom plastic parts and components may have experience in working with companies in the medical device and equipment industry, in the clean room molding processes and in other related areas.
Fresh Eyes on the Project
In-house teams of engineers and designers can often become tunnel focused on the project and miss ways to streamline or improve on the design. Having someone with expertise and experience can increase the options and possibilities of the design.
Cost Effective Production Methods
When the industrial product design team also works with the manufacturing processes, they can often see areas in the design that are ineffective, create greater challenges or increase the cost of the production of the part. By working at the design stage to minimize these issues, overall production costs will be kept low while quality control can be easily maintained.
Speeding Up Concept to Market Timelines
In any industry and with any OEM, time spent in development and design is necessary but also costly to the company. By outsourcing the design, the OEM can budget for both the cost and the time involved in the process, then move quickly into prototyping and full-scale production without putting additional pressure on internal resources and capacity.
