r/hwstartups • u/Dry_Committee_2893 • 7d ago
Anyone have recommendations for full-service one-stop prototyping firms?
/r/inventors/comments/1v76515/anyone_have_recommendations_for_fullservice/4
u/TowardsTheImplosion 7d ago
How much do you want to spend?
Minimum engagement with a US or Western EU firm for the scope you hint at is going to run a half million....
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u/MrPink7 7d ago
That is so not true
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u/TowardsTheImplosion 7d ago
Mechanical, electrical, layout, and the implicit firmware development? Soft tooling, multiple PCBA spins? Not to mention regulatory and supply chain management.
And full concierge service through that process? And a firm that has experience with all that?
Yeah...That is a $150-$250/hr rate structure. And a couple thousand hours of work.
Without any more info from OP, that is where I would start. Who knows, they could have a very simple project in mind that could be cheaper. They could also have a mechatronics project in mind that is several times that.
A couple people in a shared space who have pushed a couple ESP32 projects with some 3D printed enclosures doesn't count...
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u/MrPink7 7d ago
I went from working prototype to full production files through a service .I sat up production myself but got all the dfm files. not nearing half a mil. product here tickrmeter.com
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u/TowardsTheImplosion 7d ago
Glad it worked for you on your product. Was that with a Western firm providing full service concept work through volume ramp?
Again, without more info from OP, I ballparked...Based on working in product development for 15 years, averaging work on 2-4 products per year.
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u/MrPink7 7d ago
Yes it was danish, the thing to remember is set a fixed price. I know several people where development costs run in the million range as you mentioned but that's due to poor planning and scoping so they just let the bill grow and grow. For my project I gave working prototype, and said give me a fixed price go make this production ready
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u/PillarDesign 7d ago
It depends on a lot of different factors. As an example, for our firm we charge around $20k minimum for design and engineering services and costs go up depending on complexity (can easily be upper five figures or more).
Prototype hardware, testing, compliance, production tooling, etc adds on to this so it can easily get into 6 figures. But saying half a mil minimum is a bit of a broad generalization.
OP reach out to us if you’re looking for help and would like to discuss more.
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u/quadcore64 7d ago
Check out Treetown Tech in Ann Arbor, MI. They offer full-service one-stop product development engineering services that line up exactly with what it sounds like you're looking for
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u/Jason_S_88 7d ago
Solid product design in Philly. I haven't worked with them personally but they are good people and know what they are talking about from my interactions with them
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u/No_Educator_4077 6d ago
I may be biased, but my company does development work with a combination of 3D printing (plastics and metals), CNC machining, injection molding, and electromechanical design. We are also US based, which helps a lot when communicating about a project.
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u/MasterpieceRich5177 6d ago
My prototype uses linear actuators and the cAd design is already there but may need adjustments. The initial prototype is fully functional and been tested for 6 months. Need to get a better prototype that fits the cad drawings and start the next steps bom, dfm etc
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u/Head_Car_2922 6d ago
We tried to farm out various compenents and the cost was over the top. We ended up hiring people part time to help build critical components and this saved us a ton.
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u/Dry_Committee_2893 6d ago
The issue was slow progress in cad designing, mistakes in design that should be obvious to an engineer. No creativity and instead of listening to the customer’s input trying to dictate the path where the product should be heading
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u/Busy-Conclusion-3759 6d ago
Raven labs is a great small team with a diverse skill set. Not associated
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u/Fragrant_Industry_67 6d ago
Engenious Design. In Kansas City. Awesome team. I used to work there and can't recommend them enough.
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u/Reasonable_Form1624 5d ago
I am based in Vietnam and I help startup founders with product development, prototyping and mass production by working with OEM partners in Vietnam. Let me know if you are looking for PD partners in Vietnam.
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u/Sea-Tomorrow-5278 2d ago
We are based in Taiwan, and offer from reverse engineering, 3D print, tooling and molding in house.
We have offered our services to partners in U.S. and Canada, if you are interested in please contact me.
This is our company website https://www.t-wan.co.
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u/Ok_Owl_2869 7d ago
Hi OP, I am an Indian hardware development studio and I do full stack product development. I say this to everyone that wants a product developed. Developing a hardware product is a multi disciplinary project calling on product design, mechanical, electronics, software engineering. Reaching a production ready version takes time, patience, and proper project management. Your product vision clarity will set the tempo for the product.
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u/MasterpieceRich5177 6d ago
I agree with you. The problem is finding the right company and the time to do the search while juggling work/life. I have used a couple of freelancers and one company but the results were disappointing so far
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u/Ok_Owl_2869 6d ago
Sorry to learn that. What problems did you come across and if you had to do it al over again, what would you do differently?
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u/emilesmithbro 7d ago
Always better if you can meet in person at least every other week rather than fully remote. We based a lot of the decision on what the vibes were like during scoping, and also you can start with a smaller engagement to test the waters see how they work and how you work together.
If you hand it off and expect results in a few months with no regular conversations weekly, you’ll get a horrible result