4D Products: Product Development Specialists

Do you want to develop a new product?

4D Products can help. We are an innovative Product Development Consultancy. We work with our clients to bring successful new products to market fast, realising new commercial opportunities and capturing valuable intellectual property along the way.

Visit 'Our Skills' for a summary of our services

Our team have taken many successful products to market and can support the whole development process from idea right through to manufactured product. We also offer a project costing service which may be undertaken to help with financial feasibility and funding applications.

Consumer insight, creative problem solving, and a passion for good aesthetics and ergonomics combined with sound engineering means we produce first class design solutions that people want to use.

Get in touch today to find out how your business can benefit from working with 4D Products. Simply complete the online contact form.

Design Consultancy

As a product design consultancy we offer you a great solution to your product development needs, and you can be assured that every project is tailored to your exact requirements and delivered by highly skilled, creative professionals.

In today's competitive environment successful businesses invest in their own future by producing a stream of innovative new products. Your competitors are thinking about how they can increase sales and market share with new and improved products. Are you doing the same?

A lot of the people we work with have an existing product range. There is always scope for innovation and uncovering opportunities for new or improved devices that open up new revenue streams. The real value is in the 'big idea', the realisation that something could be done better, more economically, easier, or completely differently. This is where 4D Products can really add value to your business.

We constantly challenge ourselves and each other to innovate and improve on the current method of doing things. Do you have an idea at the back of your mind but have never got around to making it a reality? How would you feel if one of your competitors beat you to it?

Get in touch today to realise the potential within your business.

Low Volume Product Designers

Many clients wish to produce low volume, high value products to sell into high tech industries. 4D Products have created product designs where only a handful of products are produced each year. This is usually because the device has a high value and is sold into a specialist sector such as medical, laboratory or high-tech manufacturing. There are several options available if you require a low volume alternative to injection moulding but still want the curvy appeal of a beautifully designed product.

Vacuum casting utilises a PU resin drawn into a silicon mould under vacuum to create functional parts that can be used as prototypes or low volume production of 30 parts per tool. Our preferred supplier can deliver fantastic parts to a high gloss finish suitable for high value products you can supply to your clients with confidence. Part size can vary from something smaller than your finger nail, to an interior trim panel for the automotive industry.

If you require a few hundred parts for the full production run, we can design for the rim cast process. Similar in nature to vacuum casting but using a foam mould with a metallised internal surface. Parts are injected by hand using a two part resin which cures to form a tough component suitable for painting. Complex geometries created by our creative industrial designers can be produced to very tight tolerances in sizes suitable for desk top laboratory equipment and robotic systems. Sheet metal, structural steel, and precision machined components lend themselves to all production quantities as there is often no requirement to produce tooling.

As with most things the more you need, the cheaper each part will be. 4D Products have designed many such components for prototypes and low volume industrial machinery. We can also offer solutions based on propriety machine building systems. Various aluminium extrusion systems lend themselves to low volume machines and have a large selection of profiles, accessories, and fixings available off the shelf. Well designed enclosures can also be sourced as standard parts and modified to suit your requirements. Custom designed fascias, graphics and finishing elements can still give this particular solution a branded and designed feel to look unique, appealing, and fit in with your corporate identity. Additive manufacturing techniques initially developed to prototype are increasingly used as a low volume 'rapid manufacture' solution.

Manufacturers such as Bentley can design and produce nylon enclosures for use on production vehicles in the harsh environment under the bonnet without the cost of injection moulding tooling. This makes perfect sense if you only making 50 products a year and the part is never seen by the user. Laser sintering and melting can be used to produce functional parts with complex geometry in nylon, glass and carbon filled nylon, stainless steel, titanium, aluminium, and cobalt chrome.

Get in touch today to realise the potential within your business.

CAD Design Specialists

If you require assistance with 3D CAD then 4D Products are well placed to offer you a cost effective and professional solution. All our product designers are fully CAD literate. Usually that means SolidWorks as we have found this to be great software for product design and development. We have several seats which are supplied and supported by NT CADCAM who keep us up to date on new releases and training. We use high end mobile workstations so we can work on your site as part of the team if necessary.

With an accurate model of the component or assembly you wish to create, an amazing amount of things can be achieved before you ever commit to production. Prototypes with high levels of accuracy can be produced in an additive process such as SLS and SLA, or a subtractive process such as CNC machining. This can be driven straight from the 3D file without the need for engineering drawings.

If your component is functional you may need to know how strong it is and how it will react to forces and stresses when in use. A CAD model can be subjected to FEA (finite element analysis) where powerful software can analyse and optimise the design, whilst testing different materials and part geometry.

Photo realistic rendered images can also be created from the 3D data. SolidWorks users have access to PhotoWorks and Render view 360. Two fully integrated modules that allow you to create fantastic quality images from native SolidWorks files for use in promotional material. This is often more cost effective and versatile than professional photography and can be produced long before the 'real' product is delivered. 4D Products can supply you with stunning rendered views.

Animations are becoming more popular on websites as broadband speeds increase. This is a great way to promote and demonstrate your product to potential customers without the need for a salespersons visit. 4D Products can supply you with fantastic visually engaging animations.

Get in touch today to find out how 4D Products can help your business grow.

Prototype Design and Development

We can prototype virtually any component to look and function like the real thing. 4D Products source prototypes of many different types from a network of tried and tested high quality suppliers in the UK. Usually driven by our own 3D CAD data, we will offer a strategy to best suit your requirements and budget. Are your prototypes to test fit and function? Are they to present at a trade show or to management? Will they help you secure funding from investors? Do you fancy your chances on Dragons Den?

Processes we have used to create prototypes include steriolithography, selective laser sintering, selective laser melting, vacuum casting, rim casting, rapid casting, CNC machining, fabrication, and wire erosion. Another way to get feedback and opinion on the products you are developing is to create photo realistic visuals and animations. Usually a lower cost option, this may be worth considering before you commit to physical prototypes and is something 4D can deliver with fantastic quality.

We would always recommend the use of physical prototypes at key parts of the development process as there is no substitute to seeing, touching, using, and interacting with your design. A product designer can also gain valuable insight by observing how a potential user interacts with a 'real' product, leading to a better solution at the final design. Pleaseget in touch to discuss your prototype requirements and how we can help you achieve the best results.

Funding opportunities

As product development specialists we know all the funding streams available to our clients.

Get in touch to discuss the options availble to you.

Employment opportunities

It's tough for new designers to get their first break. If you have a portfolio of great work and a covering letter without any spelling mistakes, we would be happy to receive PDFs of 2MB or less via email to info@4dproducts.co.uk It will be looked at and placed on file for future reference.

We do not deal with employment agencies. We do not offer placements to undergraduates.