Skipping the feasibility study is a common mistake
We get it. Everybody (potential investors, customers, labs…) tells you the next step is to get a nice prototype done. You may also need it for demos on a trade show, or for a Kickstarter campaign.
So, you get an industrial designer involved (which is good) but you don’t get experienced product developers, purchasers, and manufacturing people involved.
You don’t take the time to plan ahead, identify pitfalls, compare several approaches in order to pick the best one and draw up the high-level architecture of the product design. You go straight into prototyping, which forces engineers to make hard choices that may be very hard to reverse later, without actually questioning those choices.
What may happen?
The product may be developed in a way that makes it impossible to manufacture. Or, if you do go into manufacturing, you may suffer much higher-than-anticipated costs, and/or severe quality/reliability issues. Fixing issues at that stage, if that’s even possible, is often hundreds of times more expensive (in money and time) than at the early design stage. That’s why a feasibility study to avoid these risks is so crucial, and our engineers will help perform yours.
What happens during the feasibility study we do for you
- Industrial design, exploration of different concepts, fine-tuning of the user interface, etc
- Pre-launch in order to get early feedback from target users and validate the idea
- Evaluate & compare several approaches, work on the high-level architecture
- Identify sources for the key components, get feedback from specialized suppliers
- Think of all the risks and prioritize what assumptions are to be validated in priority
- Review what regulatory requirements will apply (in each country of sale) and how to meet them
Who needs to do a feasibility study? 
Almost every business developing and manufacturing a new product should do a feasibility study early on in their new product development process as it provides so much assurance that various aspects of the project are possible and low-risk.
Overall, we recommend this to anyone as an exercise to reduce risks from an early stage and have a successful launch in the market.
Answers to questions and tips from us during your feasibility study
- How will the product be used? What performance will be expected? What will be seen as a failing product? Start to document responses to these questions.
- How does the product work? Try to draft a first version of the user manual.
- Work with an industrial designer first (except if your product idea is really simple... think "a square box"). At least for the outside appearance -- no need to work on the 3D drawings in fine detail yet. Our in-house design team can assist you with industrial design.
- Are there key components or materials that you already have in mind? Let us know.
- Do you intend to create a product that is eco-friendly? We're skilled in selecting materials & production processes that are kinder to the environment and safer for people.
- Do not request impossible prototyping deadlines, such as 'getting to a final prototype next month' for a complex product. Other manufacturers will take your money and then let you discover that they are getting very late. We will say no upfront when a project's not feasible.
- Trust our project manager when she says certain steps should not be skipped. From experience, we know what is likely to cause issues in production (and impact you with longer delays etc.) and we have to prevent them.
When does the feasibility study take place?
As you can see in the new product introduction process we follow below, the feasibility study takes place right at the beginning.
Talk To Us About Your Project & Get A Quotation For Your Feasibility Study
