Product Development: The NEW HOBBY!
ThinkSolveDo
training to design a product and bring it to market. People would dream
about being able to bring an invention to life and the riches it would
bestow onto them.
Well, people still dream about it but you no longer need the boatloads
of money or the years of practical training. You simply need some
money, the idea, persistence and a thick skin. And if you can't do
much of the work you can hire experts to work with you!
CAD is an amazing product that lets you bring your idea to life and
play with it without more than a simply decent computer and software.
You don't need to cut metal or inject plastic for this, you simply
design a virtual version of your invention and go. CAD programs and the
hardware to run it costs between $0 and upwards of $250,000. If you are
a student you can get a great package for 10 cents on the dollar or
less. I use and enjoy Rhino CAD and SolidWorks buy you can start with a
free program like CADVANCE (http://www.cadvance.com/65form.htm) or
search the web for "FREE 3d CAD Software" to select from many
different (some good and some bad) programs to choose from. If you are
serious about design pay for a program like Rhino, Wildfire or
SolidWorks. They cost between $1,000 to $5,000 but once you learn it
you will save 10's of thousands of dollars prototyping.
Next use a Rapid Prototyping company to bring you CAD file to life. You
can do this by saving your Virtual Prototype to an standard file like
an IGES or STL and sending it to a company like www.QuickParts.com or
www.RedEyeRPM.com/. These companies will take your file and send you
parts made out of materials you select. In between 3 days to 2 weeks
you will get the parts you've designed.
>From these parts you can make short run Silicon Molds and cast plastic
parts. Now you can shoot your photos and make your TV Ads, Magazine Ads
or Investor presentations. Product Development is no longer left to the
Multi-national corporations will big R&D firms and money to burn.
So pick up that new hobby and change the world, revolutionize a few
industries or product categories or bring your small business back to
life. The time to innovate is NOW. Have a blast... change the world!