Overview
This highly interactive seminar offers a unique in-depth study focusing on the seamless transition from industrial design to production-level plastic part design. The course will include an introduction to industrial design and its influence on product design. Topics including human factors, aesthetics, marketing, the end user, product concept development and ID history will be discussed. Case study examples will also be presented to demonstrate the practical application of these considerations in actual product design projects. An examination of the interdependence of industrial design and plastic part design will also be discussed, demonstrating how these disciplines can revolutionize product designs based on an understanding of both.
The program will also include specific design guidelines for a selected group of major plastics manufacturing processes. Design guidelines will be discussed based on similarities and differences specific to each process. Unlike conventional seminars that focus on design rules, this program has been carefully prepared to provide a keen understanding of various plastics processes and their effect on part design. Case studies will be cited to optimally demonstrate critical points of interest.
Audience
This seminar is ideally suited for engineers and industrial designers interested in plastic product design. Participants will be provided with an overview of plastic product design from initial product specifications to final production considerations. Content is typically modified during the seminar based on the interests and professional backgrounds of participants. Topics include industrial design, prototyping methods and engineering development based on actual case studies. Emphasis is placed on plastic product design, material, and process selection as well as industrial design requirements.
Content
Factors to be covered in this program include:
- Research and product specifications
- Concept development, industrial design
- Concept refinement, industrial design
- Engineering and CAD design
- Prototyping
- Production documentation
- Production release and follow-up
The seminar will also cover such topics as product architecture, cost trade-offs, tooling amortization, assembly labor, serviceability considerations, and material and process selection. General design considerations and guidelines will be discussed for the following plastic processes:
- Injection molding
- Rotational molding
- Gas-assist injection molding
- Structural foam molding
- Pressure forming
- Vacuum forming
- Polyurethane casting
- RIM
- Blow molding
The curriculum will be structured to communicate this information in the following formats:
- PowerPoint® lecture
- Case studies and examples
- Review of CAD files of actual products
- Review of physical parts
- Discussion of actual products
- Interactive workshop applying principles