that create manufacturing problems
Manufacturing problems that are discovered at tooling cost ten times more to correct than manufacturing problems discovered during engineering.
Wall thickness that causes sink marks in injection molding
A wall thickness that looks correct in CAD produces sink marks on the visible surface when the part is molded. This is a design issue, not a manufacturing issue. DFM review during engineering catches it. Discovering it after the mold is cut costs a tool modification and six weeks.
Tolerances that are achievable in prototyping but not in production
CNC-machined prototypes can hold tolerances that injection-molded production parts cannot. A design validated on CNC prototypes with production-unfeasible tolerances will fail in first-article inspection and require a design revision before production can proceed.
Material selected for performance without considering supply chain availability
A material that produces the required mechanical properties but is available from only one supplier in one country is a supply chain risk embedded in the design. Material selection must consider availability, cost stability, and supplier alternatives alongside performance requirements.
from concept to production-ready.
Each phase has a defined output and a gate review before the next phase begins. No phase is skipped to save time.
Industrial Design
Form development, aesthetic direction, ergonomics, and brand identity integration. Industrial design produces the concept that mechanical engineering makes manufacturable. The two phases run in sequence — not simultaneously — to prevent aesthetic decisions from creating engineering constraints that cannot be resolved.
Mechanical Engineering
Structural design, tolerance specification, material selection, and CAD modeling. The mechanical engineering phase produces the production-ready CAD files that go to the factory. Every design decision is made with the manufacturing process in mind.
Design for Manufacturability Review
A structured assessment of the mechanical design against the constraints of the intended manufacturing process. Wall thickness, draft angles, material flow, assembly sequence, and tolerance stack-up reviewed by engineers with manufacturing experience in the relevant process. Corrections made at this stage, not after tooling.
Engineering Documentation
Bill of materials, engineering drawings with tolerance specifications, material call-outs, and surface finish requirements. The documentation package is the quality reference against which the factory produces and the inspector measures. Incomplete documentation is the cause of most first-article failures.
No phase begins before the previous one is complete.
Phase gates prevent downstream cost from being caused by upstream assumptions that were never validated.
Concept Validation
Brief reviewed. Concept sketches or reference products assessed for technical feasibility. Key design constraints identified: target cost, manufacturing process, material requirements, and regulatory obligations. Feasibility confirmed before industrial design investment begins.
Industrial Design & ME Iteration
Industrial design and mechanical engineering developed in sequence with defined iteration cycles. Design is reviewed against DFM criteria at each iteration milestone — not at the end. Materials specified with availability and cost data confirmed.
DFM Review & Documentation
Formal DFM review completed before CAD is released to the factory. All identified issues resolved or accepted with documented rationale. Engineering documentation package completed and reviewed against the factory's production requirements before tooling is approved.
that survives first-article inspection.
Every deliverable is reviewed against the manufacturing process requirements before it leaves the engineering phase.
Concept development, aesthetic direction, and ergonomic documentation.
Final CAD files in SolidWoks and STEP format, validated for the target manufacturing process.
Documented DFM findings with resolutions applied before tooling approval.
Tolerance-specified drawings for all manufactured components.
Complete BOM with material specifications, quantities, and supplier notes.
Product designs developed through ONE APOLLO feed directly into CNBSolutions manufacturing for clients who require both.
Product Development includes additional services that compound on this one.
Design it to be built,
not just to be visualized
We work through referrals. If you have been referred, send us a message and we will review your current design stage and tell you where the manufacturability risks are.