Milestones and Decision Points

Basic R&D

The initial milestone is Basic Research and Development (R&D). Here technologies are identified and brought together into a working prototype. Off-the-shelf components are often used to skip time-intensive CAD, Mechanical and Electronic Engineering work while allowing you to demonstrate the basic principles of the idea.

Design and Engineering

The next milestone is Design and Engineering. Once the essential components are identified, an overall product approach is created. Custom components are identified with an eye on how they will ultimately be manufactured. The overall assembly is defined as a 3D master model in CAD, and then individual components are defined within the master model. This allows quick modifications to the overall assembly while individual components update automatically. This is often called "top-down" design and leads to an efficient and effective development platform. If included, electronic hardware and software are developed and tested while their physical requirements are claimed in the CAD model.

Prototyping

Once a CAD file and electronics are defined, a prototype closely representing a manufactured product can be made. 3D printing, CNC machining, sewing, casting, sheet metal and custom circuit boards all come together as anticipated by the 3D CAD model. These prototypes can be left in the raw state, or can be highly polished for a show-quality prototype.

Intellectual Property (Patent) protection 

Patent protection is best filed once a prototype is nearing completion. Basic patentability research can be conducted beforehand to help narrow down and refine the patent claims. At this stage, a provisional patent allows "Patent Pending" protection for up to one year from filing. This allows about six to eight months of market validation to ensure the product is viable. Ideally, non-provisional patent protection is done around the 8-month mark after provisional patent filing to allow time before the one-year deadline.

Manufacturing preparation 

Once the prototype proves that the product has a market – either through surveys, focus groups or gut instinct, manufacturing preparation can begin. (If you are an inventor, you may want to skip this step. You have the option of coming back to it if needed or desired. It can help with licensing the idea.) Here, quantity ranges are estimated and individual parts and overall assemblies can be defined with geometric tolerances surface finish, color and material specifications.

 Sales

Sales are generally done before manufacturing. You want to sell it before you make it. Pre-orders are common and lead times of 120 or more days can be negotiated.

Manufacturing 

Once a good pre-order book is filled, manufacturing can begin. Tooling is commissioned and first articles are measured and tested against manufacturing control drawings. All parts are assembled into a manufacturing prototype, which can again be used for marketing and sales purposes.

This approach requires sizable investments in administration, tooling and inventory that can lead to strong sales revenue growth and continued income for the life of the product.

Licensing

If you are an inventor, licensing is the quickest, least-costly route to making money on your idea; but it does not always work. Increasingly, larger corporations are buying companies that have a unique product. A good brand also helps. But if you have a really good idea, and a company that recognizes it, you can negotiate between 2 and 15% royalties on top line sales. This pushes the manufacturing investment onto the manufacturer, while the inventor makes a fair amount of money on the idea alone.

Licensing is always an option, even if you are the one manufacturing the product. You can always sell a license to a competitor and make additional revenue on the idea, or you can limit licensing to markets that you do not serve. This allows for an added revenue stream without a lot of effort.

No matter what the idea is, all successful innovations follow these basic milestones.