5-step guide to choosing the right material for your product
When you’re working on a product design project and have defined its concept, you will find yourself thinking about the material you will use to build it. To do this, you need to analyze the possibilities that materials can bring to your product.
The design and engineering part of your product development process will focus on your product’s appearance and functionality. Ideally, both stages -design and engineering- will intertwine as you find the right material for your product.
In this article, we will show you how to choose the most suitable materials for your product in 5 steps.
01. Start with a Bill of Materials (BOM)
A Bill of Materials is a list of components, parts, and assemblies you need to build your product. Even if you don’t have a definitive list, you can get an overview of how many materials you will use.
The BOM will help you see if all of those components, parts and assemblies are necessary or if you can simplify your design. It will also identify assemblies that combine materials that are not compatible. You should not include fragile materials in a product’s module that will suffer continuous impacts when used.
Depending on your project’s complexity, this list can be simple or very detailed. Although it may feel time-consuming to do, it will help you better understand what your product needs for successful assembly and use. And the materials will be an important part of this list and success chance.
Start simple and then add more details as more things become clearer to you and your team.
02. Identify the material requirements.
When you finally know which materials you can possibly use, it’s time to define the design requirements that will condition which materials can truly be part of your product and which may compromise its quality and performance.
You can consider different aspects when looking for the best material, but there are three aspects you should always consider: performance, aesthetics, and cost.
Performance requirements
Mechanical and chemical properties are the first thing you must consider. They determine the product’s functionality and lifetime. You need to understand the product’s use and find suitable materials.
You can ask your supplier to discuss this with them, considering that materials perform differently under certain conditions, and they will have better knowledge about this.
For example, if you are designing an enclosure for an outdoor device, you need to consider the temperature and UV resistance of the polymer used.
Appearance conditions
The product’s materials and shape can define a product’s personality. Choose from the list of materials that meet the performance requirements and are aesthetically pleasing for you. If you have conducted testing sessions with your potential users, this input can be highly relevant here.
Consider that most materials can be post-processed and have a different surface finish. For example, there are multiple finishes for metal CNC parts, including Bead Blasting, Powder Coating, or Anodised.
Choosing a material only for its appearance is not recommended, although it could work for products that have low-performance requirements.
Material and manufacturing costs
The material cost can be an important factor in leveraging which material you choose. When you reach this point, you should have a list of materials that meet the performance and aesthetics requirements.
Pick those materials that meet the criteria at the best cost, then consider how much the manufacturing cost of the component will be. Focus on the cost of the material and manufacturing as a whole.
Other aspects you may need to consider when choosing materials include: manufacturing requirements, environmental impact, ISO certification, or legal regulations.
03. Prototype and test
Testing the materials in different environments, including production and real-life use, is essential to have definitive results on your product’s performance.
We recommend making prototypes using different manufacturing techniques and materials to find those which best adapt to the product’s requirements. 3D printing is affordable, and there are many materials you can test.
For example, wood-composite materials can be used on 3D printers, giving results similar to some types of wood. You can prototype a wooden product with this material to see how it feels. If convinced, you can make a prototype CNC machining wood.
Don’t jump to the final material without testing it in real-life scenarios. Use the prototypes until they break to make sure they’re resistant enough. A product made with the wrong material will likely fail.
04. Evaluate the results
Measuring the test results is as important as the testing itself. Evaluate the prototypes and tests based on the material requirements: performance, aesthetics, and costs.
For example, when Microsoft designed the Surface Pro, they chose a magnesium body instead of the classic aluminum body present on the Apple MacBook family. Even though it’s a more expensive material, it’s easier to manufacture, 30% lighter, and less thermally conductive. Ultimately, they chose it because it would allow them to create a better product even though the price would increase.
05. Select and source the best materials.
After testing multiple materials in different scenarios, it’s time to select the ones you will use to make the product. Add them to the BOM and find the best suppliers.
If your product is complex and has many components, having more than one supplier for critical parts is recommended. This way, if there were any issues with a batch, you wouldn’t need to stop production for weeks.
Follow this process to find the most suitable material for your product.
Choosing the best materials for your product can take time and effort. By following this standard process early in product development, your product will work and look as you imagined.
Remember to follow these five steps to choose the best materials:
- Start with a Bill of Materials (BOM) to know how many materials your product will use
- Identify the material requirements, including performance, aesthetics, and cost
- Prototype and test using different materials and manufacturing techniques
- Evaluate the results and find the materials that satisfy the product’s needs
- Select and source the best materials and update the information on the BOM
We hope this article provides a helpful guide for you to start testing your hardware product. Please let us know your previous experiences sourcing the right materials in the comment thread below. And if you found this article helpful, help others by liking and sharing it.
Learn more about Wikifactory by checking out our website and exploring our end-to-end product development platform.
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Originally posted in wikifactory.com
Read more articles related to the product development process, from ideation to manufacturing, on Wikifactory’s blog. Find helpful content from useful design guides for manufacturing, manufacturing processes, and much more!
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Original text by: Agustín “Flowalistik” Arroyo
Edited by: Jorge Ahumada
