Indiegogo / / Fathom’s 6-Step Guide
Fathom recently created a six step guide for young companies looking to move from the prototyping phase to scaled production. With years of experience in product development and injection molding, Fathom Innovation Program Manager Phil Stob outlined the process of bringing a concept to life. Read the full post on the Indiegogo blog—the six steps are summarized below.
1. Project Roadmap
Describe the problem you’re looking to solve. What other solutions currently exists? How do people solve this problem today? What profit margins would be necessary to make your solution viable?
2. Explore Design Possibilities
Identify the key features of your product. Make sure you know the difference between nice-to-have and need-to-have. Avoid feature creep at all costs.
3. Decide On The Design
Distill your potential solutions and ideas into a single product. Start prototyping. Use 3D printing (wink wink) to get a sense of your products physicality. Iterate fast. Start talking to backers.
4. Build Systems For Your Supplies
Find suppliers for all your key components and begin to solidify your Cost Of Goods Sold (COGS).
5. Refine Your Design For Production
Test more working prototypes and build a fully functioning prototype. Update your Bill Of Materials (BOM). Consult experts to optimize your design for manufacturability.
6. Sync All Of Your Business Tools
Finalize your supply chain, align your BOM with your pricing projections and create sample products. Now go get funding and move into the marketplace!
To learn more about ways companies are using 3D printing and other technologies to bring concepts to life, check out some of our work with Infinite Uptime, Anvil Studios, Recoup Fitness, and TerraBaby. Want to see more of what Fathom is working on day-to-day?
