This is the second in a series about selecting product design and engineering services.
It’s about time
Whether to use in-house resources or to out-source is a question a lot of companies wrestle with. Time is often wasted trying to figure out something when the skills and knowledge needed are already mastered by a consultant.
Time to market is often crucial. How often is time not a concern? If time is in short supply, then it is often attractive to tap into a fully functional design team and hit the ground running to get to market as fast as possible.
It’s about focus
A salaried engineer in a manufacturing company usually spends 20% of their time on product design and 80% of their time on logistics, in meetings, and project management. While engineers keep learning throughout their career, it is important to ask if the project can afford the time it takes for on-the-job learning and related costly mistakes.
Product design consultants spends 80% of their time designing products and 20% on all other tasks. Because of this difference, the product design skills of a consultant become highly tuned, fast, and accurate. More brains-on-task is another benefit of a product design firm. Hiring a team of product design consultants means they will collaborate on the challenging aspects of a project and will often come up with very elegant solutions that an individual may not. Years of experience count!
In the next blog post in this series, we will share attributes to consider in your future product design partner.
Do you have questions about using external product design services? Contact us online, by phone (612-384-0122), or via e-mail (info@pongratzengineering.com) and we will answer your questions.