How Consumer Products Companies are Reshaping their Design Processes-and Their Business-with 3D Design

Sophisticated shoppers are equipped with an increasing awareness of aesthetics, an abundance of product choices, and advanced research capabilities thanks to the internet.

Product purchases that were once based on impulse or price, are now the result of committed comparison shopping by consumers searching for the newest, the best, the lightest, and the most durable. As a result, design decisions are increasingly making the critical difference between a product’s success or failure.

Industrial designers and mechanical engineers alike are called upon to meet a broad range of imperatives—some of which are potentially contradictory:

• Continual improvement to product features and functionality
• Shorter timeframes between conceptualization and completion
• Faster turnaround between product iterations
• Integration of new, high-performance materials such as specialized plastics and alloys
• The need to incorporate advanced technologies
• Requirements to reduce weight and/or materials usage
• The need to bring products to market quickly
• Alignment with marketing, logistics, and packaging requirements