Responsive Design to Secure Market Leadership

A market leader in scientific instrumentation wanted to improve the flexibility and performance of its existing range in order to boost sales. With a concept for a new feature in mind, the company chose Reliance as its outsourced design partner to help implement its product strategy. The brief was to develop a design against a requirement specification, and to provide prototypes in time for the scheduled launch.

To clarify the requirement for the new feature, several iterations of design concept proposal were developed by Reliance’s design team. This allowed each of the company’s key departments – Technical, Product & Account Management, Commercial – to refine their individual interpretation of what the new feature needed to do and how it had to work as part of the current product range.

Flexibility in design culture and methods at Reliance ensured that the concept was developed in a manner to suit the company and adhered to its formal approvals process. Regular dialogue between Reliance’s Design Engineer and Commercial Manager with the company’s External Co-development Manager ensured that the design phase progressed swiftly and efficiently.

Reliance’s Design Engineer continued to provide a single point of contact throughout the programme and undertook the project management of the prototyping stage, bringing together a complete assembly, comprising in-house and third-party manufactured components, including both metal and specialist engineered plastic materials.

The company took delivery of a complete, working, tested assembly and was able to prove that the new feature was suitable for retrofitting into its installed base of products. No further design iteration was necessary; the design complied with the essential tolerances, spatial envelope and interfaces. As a result Reliance received an order to take the new design into full production. At the launch, feedback on the product enhancement from the company’s Sales Team was extremely positive and there are now plans to introduce it as part of the core functionality for future product lines.