The Product Development Process
Offering Innovation, Improved Processes & Enhanced Productivity
The outer ring of our Product Development Process illustration describes the linear efforts that can go into a complete product lifecycle. While true innovation is a constantly renewing process, no matter where an organization is currently, Alignex can help with the next step in the process.
The inner ring of the Product Development Process illustration describes the underlying systems that make up the foundation of a highly efficient Product Development Process. Improving these structural elements can help many areas of an organization that can go well beyond the engineering and manufacturing departments.
Product Planning – Innovation can start with a new idea, or re-formulating an old one. Determining what isn’t working or what needs the market has can be a nebulous and never-ending activity. Alignex has product offerings like Goldfire from Invention Machine that automates everyday innovation tasks to drive sustainable innovation. Our Solutions Services group also has the knowledge and experience to help consult with leadership teams to develop Product Planning efforts within an engineering organization.
Concept Engineering – Determining how a product is going to be developed is nearly as important as the engineering and manufacturing efforts. How a new project is managed from small Workgroups, Distributed Design Teams to Outsourced Organizations can affect everything from timetables to tackling the hurdles that come up in the process. Collaboration Tools and Integrated Systems can get everyone on the same page and reduce costly miscommunications. Implementing a Product Configuration Engine at this stage to reduce repetitive or tedious tasks can be a huge timesaver and allow for more innovation in your design teams. Sometimes, the look or feel of a product can take priority over the function of the design. Surfacing Design Software allows the user to design freeform and then bring the finished 3D shape into CAD for further product development.
Product Engineering – Every organization has different needs and goals when it comes to the actual design and development of the products they hope to produce and market. Alignex has represented a number of Computer Aided Design tools in our history and has always sought to offer and support the tools that best balance capability, power and ease of use for our partners. Since 1997, the 3D CAD tool that has consistently led the way in improving the process, quality, productivity and profit for our customers has been, and continues to be, SolidWorks 3D Mechanical Design Software. Alignex has helped over 700 companies make the transition to SolidWorks from a wide variety of 2D and 3D CAD formats.
Design Analysis – Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Virtual Design Validation or CAD Simulation, no matter what term is used, Design Analysis prior to prototyping will save money and produce Return on Investment every time it is utilized. Reduce Material Costs by testing for safety with less material or alternate materials. Reduce Physical Prototyping Costs by proving and improving your design before it is produced. Lower Recalls and Warranty Costs by finding design flaws before they go into production. Be first to market with a safer, better, proven design ahead of your competition. Develop more environmentally responsible products whether for socially conscious or fiscal reasons.
SolidWorks Simulation Software is a complete suite of FEA offerings that are fully integrated into the SolidWorks CAD window. Test your parts and/or assemblies in any way they can wear or break in the real world. Test multiple design alternatives to determine the best option. Also, predict the environmental impact of a design throughout its entire lifecycle and find better options for materials or manufacturing locations with SolidWorks Sustainability.
Manufacturing – The greatest designs are not worth anything unless they can be manufactured properly. Whether your parts need to be Machine-Tooled, Die-Cut, Stamped, Molded or Cast, Alignex has cultivated a bevy of manufacturing management products to fit your needs. Many of these are Certified Gold Partner Products for SolidWorks and all are designed to use the 3D CAD data you are already generating to efficiently develop the process of making the design come to life. No matter how a part is manufactured, the need for quality inspection reports for first-article and in-process inspections is needed and Alignex has solutions to fit those needs as well.
Products that use electronic components to make them work have their own Wire Modeling, Routing and Mechatronic Manufacturing needs that Alignex or our partners can help with.
Product Communication – Developing Product Designs need to be communicated properly at several key junctions of the Product Development Process. Most presume Product Communication relates to documentation required for user manuals, marketing materials and service documentation created at the end of the manufacturing process, before a product goes to market. 3DVIA Composer from SolidWorks helps develop these traditional materials directly from 3D CAD data and so much more. Not only can these deliverables be developed earlier in the Development Process, but the output generated can be far more dynamic, colorful, and even animated. Once those timing barriers are broken, the ability to pre-sell a concept design through 3D Visualization or helping your customers better understand your design ideas in a 3D virtual environment can further set your designs apart and bring them to life faster.
Product Data Management – Alignex has been offering PDM Solutions almost from the very beginning of our established history. It’s in our DNA to help our partners better manage their data and process in order to be stronger, more efficient organizations. Whether it is a matter of Vaulting your data for security or small workgroup needs, or developing scalable, replicated and secure storage solutions for enterprise distributed design teams, Alignex has the solutions offerings and expertise to help any organization.
Workflow – Bottlenecks can happen in even the most efficient organizational process. Whether it is via tools built into our PDM Solutions offerings or bringing in our expert Workflow Consultants to take a top-down view of your organization and make recommendations for change, Alignex is here to help.
Product Lifecycle Management – Despite some marketing efforts in the industry, there is no magic bullet solution for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) currently available. The Alignex philosophy is to develop a strong Engineering PDM system and then integrate that system into your core Back Office, Accounting or ERP infrastructure. Providing seamless integration between mission critical systems is something that Alignex has a great deal of knowledge and experience in.
BOM Management – Various Bill or Materials are generated for every product to communicate engineering needs to other departments in a manufacturing organization. Alignex Services provide help to consolidate, unify and simplify the generated BOMs and drive efficiency to reduce the engineering overhead line item on the BOM itself.
