Ideation
Silicon Engines is often contacted by customers with a promising design concept to fit their target marketplace. The details aren’t yet worked out… there is a clear market opportunity, but the exact combination of product features, electronic technology, user interface, packaging, and price point still needs to be developed.
We welcome the opportunity to start working with clients at the product concept phase. Unlike some of our competitors, we do not necessarily require that the customer provide us with every detail before we start. Silicon Engines has been complimented by customers on our ability to collaborate on innovative products without requiring detailed specifications in advance.
Concept Phase
When we’re engaged in the early stages of product development, we:
- Meet with the customer to discuss the product concept
- Analyze competitive products
- Discuss available electronic technologies
- Prioritize product requirements
- Assess technical risks and limitations
- Evaluate cost savings and tradeoffs
- Estimate impact of features on production costs
Industrial Design
Often it’s helpful in the early stages of a project to involve an industrial designer, to work on:
- Product features from the end-user point of view
- Product styling and appearance
- Ergonomics—optimum placement of controls and displays to optimize user-friendliness
By engaging with an industrial design firm early in the project, we can help optimize the marketability of the product.
For links to industrial design firms that we have worked with, click here.
Mechanical Engineering
Many projects have a mechanical engineering component. Silicon Engines has often partnered with mechanical engineers to handle these project tasks:
- Custom enclosures to package the electronic modules that Silicon Engines is developing
- Complex mechanisms to move, handle, or act on the physical environment
For links to mechanical engineering firms that we have worked with, click here.
Intellectual Property
Protecting the IP for a new product can be vital to the health of the enterprise. Silicon Engines has substantial experience in assisting our customers to secure patent protection for their products. Our engineers are listed as inventors on dozens of issued patents assigned to clients. We assist by:
- Generating innovative design concepts in the first place, optimizing the chances for intellectual property protection
- Recognizing product features that may be patentable
- Working with patent attorneys to gain patent protection on customer products
For a link to a patent law firm that we have worked with and can recommend, click here.
Project Kick-Off
At the start of a design engineering project, we:
- Help assemble the team of resources needed to develop the product, including Silicon Engines engineers and customer resources
- Bring in industrial designers, mechanical engineers, and patent attorneys as required to make up the needed project team
- Set up milestones for the project
- Assign a Silicon Engines Project Manager, who will work with a designated counterpart at the customer to manage the project