AboutMaurice Duteau Expertise As a contract manufacturer, product designer, mechanical engineer, small business owner I know what it takes to get ideas from the drawing board and into production.
Experience My business is located in Shanghai China where I've been doing contract manufacturing for the past 10 years. My experience on the ground in China has given me a good understanding of how things get done over here.
Expert: Maurice Duteau Date: 6/30/2008 Subject: What to do after prototype
Question Hello. I am a novice inventor who has just completed the prototype version of
my product. I know some of the steps that need to be done to bring my
product to market, but I don't know when to do what.
What should I do now that I have completed my prototype?
Answer Depends a lot on the product, but generally the idea is you should get some feedback from field trials before you comit to doing the tooling. Electronics are easy to ramp up slowly without big setup fees. Metal parts can be machined, plastic parts can be done in proto quantities fairly cheaply. Once you have the comments and feedback from your samples you work with a mold maker to get full scale production under way.
If the product is just a modification of an existing product or you know your design is solid you go direct into making molds. Send more info and I can make more detailed suggestions.
