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Outsourcing: Reducing the Risks in Difficult Times

With the Design Council’s latest findings that 54% of businesses are looking to design to ride out the recession, the importance and value of design is clear. But when projects come up that demand a broader skill set than you can access inhouse and budgets are tight, is outsourcing the solution? Or do the risks outweigh the ultimate gains?

Over the last 35 years, IDC has worked with clients when markets have been both buoyant and struggling. With experience on his side, managing director, Stephen Knowles, firmly believes that outsourcing can work for everyone as a stop-gap or project-by-project resource during difficult times. “The trick is understanding the risks involved with outsourcing, and putting in place several easy measures to ensure a swift route to success,” says Stephen.

IDC project’s director Brian Gough identifies trusting people offsite as one of the biggest fears faced by prospective outsourcers, “Getting a product just right goes a long way to boosting your sales, so entrusting part or all of its development to a new team can be a leap of faith.”

Continue reading 10 January 2009

IDC Showcases Designs Set to Advance Medical Industry (MEDTEC)

One such award-winning product design is a revolutionary new type of insulin pen. Commissioned by Wockhardt for the Indian market, IDC’s design promises to help transform diabetes care.

With virtually all elements of the conventional insulin pens patented, IDC’s in house team of designers and engineers devised an exceptionally improved alternative design. The result was a disposable and reusable pen that is significantly affordable, highly functional and easy to use for Indian consumers. The product’s innovative design also caught the eye of the judges at this year’s iDEA, who awarded IDC best ‘Product Design Innovation’ and ‘Design Collaboration’. The product has also been widely praised by the medical industry.

Continue reading 2 December 2008

20% Off with Instant Online Viper SLA Quotation Service

The Viper SLA quotation service, devised by Industrial Design Consultancy Ltd. (IDC), provides users with an immediate costing for a near-perfect rapid prototype, taking away the time-consuming task of sourcing a quote. For the month of November only, IDC is offering users a fantastic 20% discount.

Where traditionally companies have had to send CAD files to a prototyping specialist and wait for a manual response, users can now log on to IDC Models Instant SLA Quote, fill in the product’s dimensions and their own email address, and within seconds a formal quote will appear in their inbox.

Managing director, Stephen Knowles, explained, “This will provide people with an instant competitive quote for a very high accuracy prototype, without any obligation. As soon as they hit ‘submit’, the quote is issued. The whole process takes a matter of minutes. Once given the go ahead, we can get working on it straightaway, cutting down on turnaround time too. This service combined with the SLA means that potentially we could produce a prototype within a day.”

As one of just a handful of UK companies to own a Viper SLA machine, users can access SLA (stereolithography) prototyping, sometimes known as 3D printing. CAD files can be converted into high quality, solid plastic parts in a matter of hours.

The Viper SLA system also allows companies to choose between standard resolution mode for the best balance of build speed and part resolution, and high resolution mode for ultra-detailed small parts and features. The resin used is also higher quality than most, creating extremely durable parts that can form the basis for a wide range of solid imaging applications, including casting and moulding.

17 October 2008

IDC Scoops iDEA Innovation Awards

Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC), based in Datchet, had cause for celebration this week after scooping several much sought-after design innovation awards. Judges chose IDC over other major players in the iDEA (Innovation & Design Excellence Awards) for ‘Product Design Innovation’ and ‘Design Collaboration’, as well as awarding highly commended in the ‘Best Design Consultancy’ category.

IDC’s managing director, Stephen Knowles, was delighted with the news, “These awards recognise some of the ground breaking products that IDC has designed over the year and the work that has gone in to make the ideas become a reality.”

Continue reading 30 September 2008

IDC Designed Shower Head Makes Little Splash for Big Savings

Working for Challis Water Controls, Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC) has been involved in a ground-breaking project to develop a new shower head which saves precious water resources and heating costs. The new Challis shower head is so effective that it can save up to 30% of hot water while still providing the same flow strength of a full flowing conventional shower head.

Continue reading 2 September 2008

Mobility Solutions for Robot Inspection Arm

Award winning product designer, Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC) has achieved a new level of machine mobility and casing design; bringing multi-axis manoeuvrability to a robot CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine). This latest industrial project required the development of mobility casing solutions for the Metris Robot CMM Arm (RCA); an innovative new measurement system designed for 3D laser scanning inspections on the production line.

Continue reading 25 June 2008

IDC Develops Eco-friendly Inflatable Solar Panel

As a leading sustainable product designer, Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC) is delighted to announce its latest product development; an inflatable solar collector called SolarStore. The SolarStore harnesses the sun’s natural energy to warm domestic water and can heat up to three full tanks of water per day at temperatures close to 80°C.

Continue reading 10 April 2008

IDC Designs Personal ECG Heart Monitor

The development of medical products is usually characterised by long lead times and a significant amount of testing and compliance with medical regulations. However, there is an increasing overlap between medical devices and consumer products which means that medical manufacturers have to develop and launch products at the speed of a consumer market. In this case study, Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC) reveals how they developed a medical heart monitor for consumers – the project was highly successful and completed in only six months.

Continue reading 20 March 2008

IDC Launches LCA Calculator

With increasing concerns over waste and the need for ‘greener’ products, a new free online service will help manufacturers take the first steps towards greener designs by assessing their product’s carbon output in minutes, without spending a penny.

Called the LCA Calculator, the service will provide a complete life cycle assessment (sometimes described as life cycle analysis) of any given product. The questions are comprehensive, addressing issues such as the types and amounts of materials used in production, where the product is manufactured, how the materials are processed, the amount of energy it consumes in use, where and how it is transported, the impact during disposal, landfill or other, and whether it is recycled.

Continue reading 20 February 2008

IDC Develops Dosing Cart for Hazardous Liquids

World leader in liquid additive technologies, ColorMatrix, has just launched a full dosing management system for liquids with properties that make handling difficult. These include liquids that are corrosive or toxic and those which are unpleasant to handle such as strong pigments and additives. The Metrix™ system provides a mobile cart solution, which may be used for dosing applications in the food, chemical, pharmaceutical and plastics industries.

Continue reading 18 February 2008

 

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