3D Scantech: Beginners’ Guide 2022- Product development & 3D Scanning in manufacturing

A product begins with an idea or concept, and it goes through the whole product development process before it’s finally available in the market.

Manufacturers are striving to effectively manage the development of products to accelerate time-to-market, reduce costs and stand out among their competitors.

This post will mainly discuss what product development is, its main stages, trending, and challenges, and how to incorporate 3D laser scanning into product development.

What is product development?

Product development incorporates the entire journey of a product from concept to market release. In business and engineering, it also refers to the renewal of an existing product.

The main stages of product development include:

● Identifying the needs of the market
● Analysis of the opportunity
● Idea generation
● Validation of ideas
● Developing mock-ups
● Prototyping
● Product releasing & continuous iteration

Major stages of product development

Identifying the needs of the market

The journey begins with identifying a problem worth solving in the market. Conversations with customers, market surveys, and expert insights can help companies to get informed about their needs.

Analysis of the opportunity

Not all problems are worthy of being solved. The key factors to be analyzed are how much the problems affect the performance of products, how much trouble they cause in real-life uses, and what benefits they can bring if manufacturers come up with a new product-based solution.

Idea generation

Idea generation is the process by that designers come up with new solutions to solve existing problems. New ideas are based on designers’ understanding of future trends, inspirations, and market insights.

Validation of ideas

During this period, designers present their ideas in sketches or CAD models. The viability of the proposed solution should be tested before spending time prototyping and designing. The test aims to determine whether the ideas are worth further exploring.

Developing mock-ups

After discussions and verification, the ideas are presented in mock-ups to show more visual details. Mock-up refers to a realistic presentation of a product, which can be a scale or full-size physical model but without functionality.

Prototyping

Prototyping allows users to test the look, function, and durability before manufacturing. It enables designers, engineers, or manufacturers to make necessary changes before developing it further. It is a crucial way to ensure that the product works as intended.

Product releasing & continuous iteration

After verifying the products, the product is ready for release. Based on the feedback of users and x, the product is subject to ongoing iterations to keep pace with the ever-changing market. The whole process continues until the end of the lifecycle of the product.

Challenges of product development in manufacturing

The production environment is very demanding because it requires a mixture of overlapping activities, constrained costs, compressed time to market, improved quality, and increased flexibility to be effective.

3D scanning in the product development

Innovative optical 3D scanners fall into three main categories, tracked 3D scanners, structured-light 3D scanners, and handheld scanners. The 3D scanner is a device used to capture real-world objects for remodeling, analyzing, and inspection in the digital world. It does not require physical contact and offers good portability.

It can be incorporated into steps of the product development process to verify prototypes, record iterations, conduct first article inspection, and more. Thanks to their portability and fast measurement rates, they can help to accelerate these workflows to accelerate time-to-market.

It stands out when compared with traditional measuring methods as the latter comes with conveniences.

It is troublesome and time-consuming to measure with calipers or measuring tapes. Coordinating metrology equipment comes with inconveniences in terms of programming and operating times.

Benefits of 3D scanning

Sub-millimeter accuracy

Most portable 3D scanners come with accuracy within 0.01 mm to 0.1 mm. 3D scanners from Scantech are engineered with sophisticated algorithms to capture 3D data with high accuracy up to 0.02 mm. It is ideal to ensure that engineers can obtain precise measurement results.

High portability for on-site measurement

With portable and high-resolution 3D scanners, you can conduct precise measurements anywhere you like without being affected by environmental conditions. They do not require dedicated labs with controlled humidity or temperature and can be used right on the shop floor.

100% Non-destructive

Handheld 3D scanners and non-contact 3d measurements are operated by projecting laser beams onto the surface of parts. A professional 3D scanner can generate point clouds without contacting or altering the objects.

Designers, engineers, and manufacturers can measure parts without damaging them. Consequently, no potential harm will be done to the measuring objects.

Scantech has extensive experience in product development for industries ranging from automotive, rail transport, heavy industry, and mold to medical.

With extensive experience in automotive, rail, shipbuilding, heavy industry, mold development, and medical product development, Scantech can help you develop your next project in terms of 3D reverse engineering, etc.

With our handheld 3D scanners, you can scan a variety of finishes and materials in complex environments. Embrace high-tech 3D scanning to facilitate workflows.