Mechanical product development: from idea to industrial manufacturing
Mechanical product development is the engineering process through which an idea, an existing component or a functional need is transformed into a fully defined, optimised and industrially manufacturable part or technical assembly. It covers everything from geometry and material selection to tolerances, joining processes and the productive viability of each element. It is, in essence, the bridge between concept and manufacturing reality.
At INFINITIA, the specialist mechanical development team works as an external technical partner throughout the entire component lifecycle: 3D design and CAD modelling, part optimisation and simplification, reverse engineering, 3D scanning and digitalisation, design for manufacturing and validation through rapid prototyping. Each project is approached with a multidisciplinary framework that integrates functional, aesthetic, cost and production process criteria from the very first phase of work.
In industrial environments where launch timelines are shrinking and error margins are narrowing, having an external industrial technical consultant with accumulated experience in sectors such as automotive, consumer goods, medical equipment or industrial machinery makes the difference between a product that reaches manufacturing without incidents and one that generates unforeseen costs in the final phases. The works carried out section of INFINITIA includes real projects in redesign, optimisation and mechanical development across different sectors and industries.
What is mechanical product development?
Mechanical product development is the mechanical engineering discipline that defines, details and optimises the geometry, materials, tolerances and manufacturing processes of parts and technical assemblies, with the aim of ensuring correct functionality, productive viability and economic efficiency. It is not limited to designing the shape: it integrates the selection of the manufacturing process (plastic injection, machining, stamping, casting, 3D printing) with the functional requirements and the constraints of the use environment. Rigorous mechanical development ensures that the final product is manufacturable, reliable and cost-effective.
In today’s industrial context, mechanical development relies on computer-aided design (CAD) tools and structured methodologies such as design for manufacturing and assembly (DFM/DFA), which analyse the constraints of each production process from the design phase to avoid costly modifications at later stages. Standards such as ISO 286 (tolerances and fits) or geometric product specifications (GPS) according to ISO 1101 provide the technical framework that ensures coherence between design and manufacturing. The systematic application of these methodologies reduces the gap between prototype and series part.
Mechanical development encompasses a broad set of technical capabilities: parametric 3D modelling, mechanism analysis, structural behaviour simulation using finite elements (FEM), tolerance and dimension chain management, selection of metallic and polymeric materials, and coordination with suppliers and manufacturers. Each of these disciplines contributes to ensuring that the final design not only meets performance requirements, but can be manufactured with the resources and processes available in the real supply chain. In more complex projects, reverse engineering for product development complements the original design by enabling the digitalisation, analysis and redesign of existing components without requiring original technical documentation.
The expert team at INFINITIA approaches mechanical development as an external technical partner with an integral industrial vision: not only designing the part, but always conceiving it in the context of its manufacturing process, its production cost and its fit within the final system or product. This combination of engineering rigour and industrialisation focus is the differential value that INFINITIA brings to every mechanical development project.
Problems addressed by mechanical development in industrial environments
Late component redesign is one of the main sources of cost overruns in industrial development. When a part is designed without considering the constraints of the selected manufacturing process, insufficient draft angles in injection moulding, geometries that cannot be machined with available tools, inadequate wall thicknesses for stamping, the manufacturing team faces the need to modify the design after time and budget have already been invested in detailed engineering. Design for manufacturing (DFM) applied from the earliest phases of mechanical development eliminates this source of risk before it materialises into real costs.
The absence of complete and up-to-date technical documentation for components generates recurring problems in the production chain: parts that do not fit within the required tolerances, incompatibilities between subassemblies designed at different times or by different teams, and difficulties managing supplier changes without affecting product quality. 3D scanning and part digitalisation allow the real geometry of existing components to be reconstructed with micrometric precision, generating reliable CAD models that serve as documentary reference for production, quality control and engineering modifications. Part optimisation and simplification complements this process by identifying complexity reduction opportunities that translate directly into lower manufacturing and assembly costs.
Unnecessary complexity in the design of parts and assemblies increases tooling costs, raises the number of machining operations, multiplies assembly steps and creates more potential failure points. A component with too many independent parts, complex joints or geometries that are difficult to reproduce consistently in series is a component that costs more to produce, more to assemble and more to maintain. Mechanical optimisation oriented towards reducing the number of parts, standardising elements and simplifying assemblies structurally reduces unit cost and improves product reliability in use.
Insufficient validation before manufacturing in final materials and processes is another common risk in mechanical development projects. Moving directly from the CAD design to production without a prototyping and functional verification phase exposes the project to design defects that are only detected (and corrected at high cost) once production has begun. Integrating rapid prototyping into the mechanical development process, using technologies such as high-resolution 3D printing, allows geometries, tolerances, mechanisms and appearance to be validated before committing investment to tooling or definitive moulds.
Mechanical development at INFINITIA: engineering oriented towards industrialisation
The technical value of mechanical product development at INFINITIA lies in the systematic integration of engineering, manufacturability and cost criteria from the start of each project. The specialist team does not work solely on the shape and function of the part, but always designs with production in mind: which process will manufacture the component, which supplier will produce it, which tolerances are stably achievable and what unit cost can be reached with the design decisions made. This engineering-oriented-to-industrialisation approach distinguishes INFINITIA’s work as an external technical partner from design that is disconnected from productive reality.
The tools and methodologies used cover the complete mechanical development cycle: 3D design and CAD modelling with state-of-the-art software for plastic parts, sheet metal, assemblies and complex industrial sets; 3D scanning with high-precision technology for the digitalisation of existing parts and the generation of reliable CAD models; plastic injection simulation to predict manufacturing defects; and structural analysis using FEM to verify mechanical behaviour under load before manufacturing the first prototype. The 3D design and CAD modelling section details the specific capabilities available in each area.
INFINITIA’s approach combines technical design rigour with industrial interpretation of results: it is not enough for a part to be well modelled; it must be manufacturable with available processes, fit into the client’s real supply chain and have a competitive production cost. This complementarity between design, analysis and industrial decision-making materialises in projects ranging from the redesign of existing components to reduce production and assembly costs to the complete development of new products from the conceptual phase. The support during the product manufacturing phase guarantees technical continuity between design and production.
The differential of INFINITIA as a specialised mechanical development company is its ability to answer the question that matters most to a technical or product manager: can this design be manufactured, at what cost and with what level of risk? The accumulated experience in projects across very different sectors, from consumer goods to industrial equipment and medical devices, allows problems to be anticipated that only appear when there is a complete view of the component lifecycle, from design to series production.
Applications of mechanical development to optimise components and reduce industrial costs
Mechanical product development finds application in any industrial process where it is necessary to design, redesign or optimise parts or technical assemblies with criteria of manufacturability, functional performance and economic efficiency. From developing a new component from scratch to digitalising and improving an existing part with no technical documentation, mechanical development covers a spectrum of situations that recurs across very different sectors but shares the same structural challenge: making the product better, cheaper to produce and more reliable in use.
The INFINITIA team approaches these applications with a cross-sectional framework that combines advanced CAD design tools, analysis and simulation techniques, and deep knowledge of industrial manufacturing processes. This combination enables technical responses to needs ranging from reducing the number of parts in an assembly to adapting an existing design to a new production process, including functional validation through prototyping before investing in definitive tooling.
3D design and CAD modelling for industrial component development
3D design and CAD modelling is the central tool of modern mechanical development. Using parametric modelling software, the specialist team generates the complete geometry of parts and assemblies (injection-moulded plastic parts, machined metal components, formed sheet metal, multi-element assemblies) with a level of detail that includes tolerances, surface finishes, assembly relationships and complete technical documentation for manufacturing. The 3D model is not merely a visual representation: it is the technical reference document that governs the entire production and subsequent validation process.
CAD modelling enables design decisions with a direct impact on product cost and quality. The ability to modify geometric parameters (wall thicknesses, radii, draft angles, rib positions) and immediately evaluate their effect on manufacturability and mechanical behaviour dramatically reduces the number of physical iterations needed before reaching a definitive design. At INFINITIA, CAD modelling is integrated with process simulations (injection, stamping, machining) to ensure that every design decision is consistent with the real capabilities of the selected manufacturing process.
Industrial 3D design oriented towards manufacturing is the starting point of any rigorous mechanical development. A well-built parametric model, with correctly defined design relationships, facilitates subsequent modifications, reduces interpretation errors between design and manufacturing, and provides the documentary basis needed for technical product management throughout its entire useful life.
Part optimisation and simplification to reduce manufacturing and assembly costs
Part optimisation and simplification is one of the highest economic-impact applications within mechanical development. It consists of the systematic analysis of the geometry, number of components and joining processes of a technical assembly, with the aim of identifying complexity reduction opportunities that translate into lower manufacturing costs, fewer assembly operations and greater product reliability in use. Simplification does not imply loss of functionality: it means achieving the same function with fewer resources.
This application enables decisions with a direct impact on product profitability: eliminating parts that can be integrated into a single multifunctional component, replacing complex joints with simpler and more reproducible solutions, redesigning geometries that generate production rejects or complicate quality control. INFINITIA approaches part optimisation as an external technical partner with a simultaneous view of functional performance and productive cost, ensuring that design improvements are industrially viable and do not introduce new manufacturing constraints.
Reducing the number of parts in an assembly and standardising elements are two of the most direct levers for improving the competitiveness of an industrial product. A mechanical development oriented towards simplification from the earliest design phases avoids the accumulation of complexity that, once consolidated in the production design, is very costly to correct.
Reverse engineering for product development and redesign without technical documentation
Reverse engineering for product development enables the reconstruction of the geometry and technical specifications of existing parts or assemblies when no original CAD documentation is available or when it is outdated relative to the actual manufactured part. The process combines measurement techniques (3D scanning, coordinate measurement, dimensional analysis) with parametric redesign of the obtained geometry, generating an updated and documented CAD model that can serve as a basis for improvements, adaptations or transfers to new manufacturing processes.
This application is particularly relevant in situations of supplier change, component obsolescence, replacement of discontinued parts or adaptation of existing designs to new materials or processes. The model obtained through reverse engineering is not a copy: it is a technical redesign that incorporates the necessary improvements to ensure the manufacturability and performance of the new component. At INFINITIA, reverse engineering is integrated with the complete mechanical development process, enabling a seamless transition from physical component to optimised design.
Reverse engineering applied to industrial development eliminates dependence on third-party technical documentation and gives the company full control over the geometry and specifications of its components, reducing vulnerability to supply chain changes and facilitating long-term technical product management.
3D scanning and part digitalisation for dimensional control and development
3D scanning and part digitalisation is a technology that transforms physical objects into high-precision digital models using optical or contact measurement systems. Industrial 3D scanners capture millions of points on a part’s surface in a very short time, generating a point cloud that is processed to obtain a mesh model or a parametric CAD solid. The precision obtained, in the order of tenths of a millimetre in standard industrial systems, enables both dimensional control of produced parts and the generation of CAD reference models for new component development.
In the context of mechanical development, 3D scanning provides differential value in situations where conventional measurement is insufficient or impractical: parts with organic or complex geometries, free-form surfaces, assembled sets where it is necessary to verify the geometric interaction between components, or prototypes where the real geometry obtained must be documented and compared with the original design. INFINITIA integrates 3D scanning into the mechanical development process as a verification tool, reference model generation and basis for reverse engineering.
Industrial part digitalisation through 3D scanning reduces technical documentation lead times, eliminates ambiguity in the specification of complex geometries and provides a reliable geometric database that improves the technical traceability of the product throughout its entire useful life.
Design for manufacturing (DFM): mechanical engineering methodology applied to industrial mechanical development
Design for manufacturing (DFM) is an engineering methodology that integrates the constraints and capabilities of production processes into the component design phase, with the aim of ensuring that the designed product can be manufactured stably, at the required quality and at the lowest possible cost. DFM is not a final design review: it is an approach that permeates the entire mechanical development process, from the selection of the manufacturing process to the definition of tolerances, finishes and assembly conditions.
The systematic application of DFM enables the identification and correction of problems in the design phase that, if not detected until production, would generate tooling modification costs, production rejects or partial redesigns. Insufficient draft angles in injection-moulded parts, geometries that cannot be machined with standard available tools, stress concentrations at critical points of metal stampings or variable wall thicknesses that generate sink marks in plastics are examples of design defects that DFM detects and corrects before they materialise into real costs. INFINITIA works directly with manufacturers and suppliers to validate that every design is 100% industrialisable under the client’s real production conditions.
Design for manufacturing applied to mechanical development is the technical guarantee that investment in detailed engineering is not wasted on last-minute modifications. A component designed with DFM from the outset reaches production faster, with fewer incidents and with a predictable unit cost.
Tooling design, product rendering and technical documentation for manufacturing
Tooling and auxiliary component design is the stage that connects product design with its actual production. Tooling (injection moulds, dies, assembly fixtures, dimensional control gauges, special machining tools) consists of complex technical elements whose design directly determines the quality, cost and production rate of the component. Poorly designed tooling generates recurring production problems that impact product quality and delivery timelines.
In parallel, the generation of photorealistic product renders and presentation technical documentation enables the mechanical design to be communicated precisely and visually to management teams, clients or suppliers, accelerating internal validation and decision-making processes. The render is not a decorative element: in the mechanical development process it is a visual verification tool that allows problems of shape, proportion, finish or aesthetic integration to be detected before manufacturing the first physical prototype. INFINITIA covers this capability within the mechanical development service, generating both the complete technical documentation for manufacturing and the presentation materials and infographics needed for project communication.
The complete industrial mechanical development cycle, from CAD modelling to tooling design and final technical documentation, ensures that the product reaches production with all the information needed for its manufacturing, control and technical management throughout its useful life.
Sectors where mechanical development enables product industrialisation with technical guarantees
Mechanical product development is a cross-sectional service applicable in any industry where it is necessary to transform a functional need into a manufacturable component, optimise existing parts to reduce their production cost, or ensure that a design can be manufactured with the available processes and suppliers. The sectoral diversity of mechanical development reflects the universality of its principles: design for manufacturing constraints, tolerance management and assembly optimisation are challenges that recur regardless of the productive sector.
INFINITIA has carried out mechanical development projects across very different industrial sectors, generating accumulated knowledge of the technical specificities of each field: the traceability requirements of the medical industry, the durability and lifecycle demands of automotive, the weight and tolerance constraints of aeronautics, or the extreme use conditions of industrial machinery. This sectoral knowledge enables the specialist team to adapt the mechanical development approach to the real conditions and requirements of each industry.
Mechanical development in automotive: components subject to fatigue, vibration and weight requirements
The automotive industry imposes some of the most demanding technical requirements on mechanical component development: variable fatigue loads, exposure to high-frequency vibration, weight reduction requirements linked to energy efficiency targets, and strict dimensional tolerances derived from in-line assembly processes. Interior components, closure systems, structural supports and transmission elements are examples of parts where mechanical design directly determines the safety, comfort and service life of the vehicle.
- Fatigue and vibration load management: The design of automotive components requires the application of FEM and fatigue analysis to verify component behaviour under the vehicle’s real load cycles, identifying stress concentrations and potential failure points before manufacturing the first prototype.
- Weight reduction while maintaining performance: Replacing metallic materials with technical plastics or composites, or applying topological optimisation to metal parts, reduces component weight without compromising rigidity or resistance, with a direct impact on vehicle consumption and emissions.
- Design for manufacturing in high-cadence processes: The plastic injection, metal stamping and die-casting processes used in automotive impose specific design constraints that must be integrated from the earliest phases of mechanical development to avoid costly tooling modifications once production has begun.
Mechanical development for automotive at INFINITIA integrates functional performance, manufacturability and cost management criteria from the start of each project. The accumulated experience in automotive component redesign projects (production cost reduction, adaptation to new processes, material substitution) enables the specialist team to anticipate the most common problems in this sector and propose technically proven solutions in real production environments.
Mechanical development in consumer goods: design, aesthetics and manufacturability in high-volume products
Consumer goods products combine technical manufacturability and cost requirements with aesthetic design demands that must be maintained within the productive margins of mass manufacturing processes. Mechanical development in this sector addresses the tension between the formal freedom of industrial design (curves, free-form surfaces, complex aesthetic details) and the constraints of plastic injection, thermoforming or in-line assembly processes that will produce the component in thousands or millions of units.
- Wall thickness and geometry control in plastic injection: Sink marks, weld lines, insufficient draft angles and warpage from uneven cooling are the most common defects in injection-moulded consumer parts. DFM-oriented mechanical development prevents these problems through the correct definition of wall thicknesses, ribs and injection points from the initial design.
- Integration of functionality and aesthetics: Integrating functional elements (assembly clips, guides, reinforcement ribs, insert housings) into the aesthetic geometry of the product requires a technical balance that is only achievable if mechanical design and industrial design work in coordination from the earliest phases of development.
- Cost optimisation in high-volume production: In mass consumer products, small reductions in unit manufacturing cost have a very significant aggregate impact. Assembly simplification, part count reduction and process standardisation are key levers that mechanical development can activate from the design phase.
Mechanical development of consumer products at INFINITIA combines experience in advanced CAD design, process simulation and knowledge of polymeric materials with a clear understanding of the economic impact of each design decision on series production cost.
Mechanical development for entrepreneurs and startups: from concept to manufacturable product with optimised resources
Entrepreneurs and product startups face mechanical development with a structural constraint not shared by established companies: they must transform an idea into a manufacturable, validated and competitive product with limited resources, tight timelines and no margin for costly mistakes. The challenge is not only technical (designing a part that works) but economic and strategic: making the right design decisions at each phase to avoid wasting investment on avoidable iterations, premature tooling or developments that do not survive first contact with manufacturing reality. In this context, having an external technical partner with industrial mechanical development experience from the earliest project phases makes the difference between a product that reaches the market and one that never gets beyond the prototype.
- Manufacturability-oriented design from the first concept: Startups cannot afford to redesign a component after having invested in tooling or moulds. Mechanical development applied from the conceptual phase ensures that every geometry, material and manufacturing process decision is consistent with target production costs and with suppliers accessible for low initial volumes.
- Rapid iteration through prototyping and technical validation: Integrating rapid prototyping (3D printing, single-unit machining) into the mechanical development process enables geometries, mechanisms and appearance to be validated in very short timelines before committing investment to definitive moulds or tooling, reducing the number of physical iterations needed to reach a mature design.
- Unit cost optimisation for launch volumes: The mechanical design of a product intended for short launch runs has different requirements from design for mass production. The manufacturing process selected, the number of parts in the assembly and the defined tolerances must be adjusted to the real projected volumes for the unit cost to be viable in the early commercialisation phases.
Mechanical development for startups and entrepreneurs at INFINITIA starts from a concrete reality: resources are limited and every design decision has a direct economic impact on the viability of the project. The specialist team acts as an external technical partner that accompanies the entrepreneur from the initial concept to the design ready for manufacturing, providing the industrial judgement needed to make the right decisions at the right time: which manufacturing process to choose, when to invest in definitive tooling, how to simplify the product without losing functionality and how to prepare the technical documentation needed to work with manufacturing suppliers professionally from the first order.
Mechanical development in industrial machinery: resistance, maintainability and tooling design
Industrial machinery and production equipment present mechanical development with specific challenges related to structural resistance under static and dynamic loads, durability in environments with aggressive agents (temperature, humidity, dust, lubricants ), accessibility for maintenance and the possibility of incorporating standard spare parts or low-cost components into the design. Manufacturing tooling, assembly fixtures, automated handling systems and structural frames are examples of elements where industrial mechanical development has a direct impact on the productivity and reliability of the installation.
- Structural design under static and dynamic loads: FEM analysis applied to the design of frames, supports and machinery structures enables verification of component behaviour under real service loads, identification of stress concentrations and geometry optimisation to balance strength and weight before manufacturing the first physical prototype.
- Tooling and clamping system design: Manufacturing tooling (machining fixtures, welding jigs, clamping systems for injection or stamping) requires specific mechanical development that considers process forces, positional repeatability requirements and ease of assembly and disassembly by the operator.
- Adapting designs to maintainability requirements: Accessibility to elements requiring periodic maintenance (bearings, seals, wear components, electrical connections) must be integrated into mechanical design from the earliest development phases, avoiding solutions that unnecessarily complicate preventive and corrective maintenance operations.
Mechanical development for industrial machinery at INFINITIA draws on accumulated experience in tooling design, structural component redesign and manufacturing system optimisation projects, offering technical solutions that improve productivity and reduce the operating and maintenance costs of installations.
Mechanical development in consumer and industrial electronics: integration, miniaturisation and connectivity
Consumer and industrial electronics products combine the complexity of integrating electronic, mechanical and connectivity components in increasingly reduced volumes with the need to ensure protection against external agents (dust, water, vibration, impacts) and efficient dissipation of heat generated by active components. Mechanical development in this sector addresses the definition of enclosures, PCB supports, closure systems, connectivity mechanisms and thermal management elements that allow all electronic functionality to be integrated into a manufacturable, reliable mechanical enclosure that meets the required IP protection and mechanical resistance requirements.
- Enclosure design with IP protection requirements: The levels of protection against dust and water defined by the IEC 60529 standard (IP) condition the design of seals, closure systems and enclosure materials. Mechanical development must integrate these requirements from the start of design to avoid solutions that compromise protection without requiring costly redesigns.
- Thermal management in mechanical design: Dissipating the heat generated by electronic components (processors, power drivers, power supplies) requires the design of specific mechanical elements: heat sinks, ventilation channels, thermal interfaces and contact surfaces that allow operating temperature to be managed within component limits.
- Miniaturisation and tolerances in compact assemblies: Reducing the volume of electronic products increases demands on manufacturing tolerances and assembly clearances, requiring detailed dimension chain analysis and mechanical design that guarantees correct assembly within the variation margins of the manufacturing process.
Mechanical development for electronics at INFINITIA integrates knowledge of enclosure manufacturing processes (plastic injection, machining, sheet metal forming) with analysis of the protection, thermal management and connectivity requirements specific to electronic products, providing design solutions that can be manufactured industrially with the client’s suppliers.
Mechanical development in defence: structural components subject to extreme resistance, weight and use condition requirements
The defence sector imposes some of the most demanding technical requirements on mechanical component development: structures subject to severe impact and vibration loads, systems with strict reliability requirements under extreme use conditions, and components that must maintain their functional performance across very wide thermal, humidity and pressure ranges. Structural elements of armoured vehicles, guidance system housings, actuation mechanisms and embedded equipment supports are examples of parts where mechanical design directly determines the operability and safety of the system. The selection of high-performance materials (ultra-high-strength steels, titanium alloys, series 7000 aluminium, CFRP laminates) and their correct integration into the mechanical design is one of the critical factors determining component performance in real service.
- Strength-to-weight optimisation with high-performance materials: Mechanical development in defence requires the application of topological optimisation techniques and FEM analysis to maximise structural resistance and fracture toughness while minimising mass, using materials such as ultra-high-strength steels, Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloys, series 7000 aluminium or CFRP laminates according to each application’s requirements.
- Design for extreme use conditions: Defence components operate in environments where temperature, humidity, dust, vibration and impacts combine simultaneously. Mechanical development must anticipate these conditions from the design phase, selecting geometries, materials and joining processes that guarantee the structural integrity and functionality of the component throughout its operational life.
- Tolerance management in precision mechanisms and assemblies: Defence systems frequently incorporate high-precision mechanisms (actuators, interface connectors, optical systems, firing mechanisms) that require exhaustive dimension chain and tolerance analysis to ensure component interchangeability, functional repeatability and correct assembly behaviour under operational use conditions.
Mechanical development for defence at INFINITIA focuses on resolving the design, material selection and manufacturability challenges that characterise this sector: components with an optimised strength-to-weight ratio, complex geometries adapted to precision manufacturing processes and designs that maintain their performance under demanding use conditions. The specialist team acts as an external technical partner for integrating companies and first and second-tier suppliers, providing design, structural analysis and validation capabilities aimed at ensuring that each component can be manufactured and function according to the programme’s technical requirements.
Mechanical development at INFINITIA: the company to guarantee the technical and economic viability of the industrial product
Mechanical product development approached with technical and industrial rigour is one of the highest-return investments in a product’s lifecycle. A well-designed component (manufacturable, optimised, documented and validated before production) reduces tooling costs, minimises line rejects, facilitates quality control and shortens time to market. Conversely, the costs of correcting design errors in the production phase are structurally higher than preventing them in the engineering phase: modifying an injection mould, redesigning a tool or replanning an assembly line once production has begun has an economic and timeline impact that can determine the viability of the project.
INFINITIA acts as an external technical partner in mechanical development projects where industrial companies need specialised engineering capacity without the limitations of an oversized internal team or the rigidity of structures that are poorly adaptable to project variability. The preventive, data-driven approach applied by the specialist team (manufacturability analysis, process simulation, prototyping validation before definitive tooling) reduces the technical risk of each project and gives product and manufacturing managers the certainty that design decisions are grounded in proven engineering criteria. The design and innovation section of INFINITIA complements mechanical development with conceptualisation and technical viability capabilities in the earliest project phases.
The economic optimisation that mechanical development provides is not limited to reducing the unit manufacturing cost. Assembly simplification reduces assembly cost and supplier management complexity. Component digitalisation through 3D scanning eliminates dependence on obsolete technical documentation and reduces risk in supplier changes. Correct tooling design minimises maintenance costs and changeover times in production. Each of these levers contributes to improving product profitability throughout its entire productive life. Integration with the prototyping service guarantees technical validation before committing investment to production.
In regulated sectors — medical, aeronautical, defence, food — rigorous and well-documented mechanical development is also a regulatory compliance requirement: certification bodies require technical evidence that the design has been developed using structured methodologies, that design decisions are documented and that the product has been verified against applicable requirements before commercialisation. INFINITIA offers companies in these sectors the combination of technical rigour, complete documentation and sectoral experience they need to approach their mechanical development processes with technical and regulatory guarantees. The question is not whether a company needs specialised mechanical development: the question is at which phase of the project it is most costly not to have had it.
Works done in Mechanical Development
Frequently asked questions about mechanical product development
What is mechanical product development and how does it differ from industrial design?
Mechanical product development is the engineering discipline that defines, details and optimises the geometry, materials, tolerances and manufacturing processes of parts and technical assemblies with the aim of ensuring correct functionality, productive viability and economic efficiency. Industrial design, on the other hand, focuses on the form, user experience and aesthetics of the product. Both disciplines are complementary, but mechanical development is what guarantees that what has been designed can be manufactured, functions under real use conditions and has a viable production cost.
The practical difference manifests in the type of decisions each discipline addresses: industrial design defines how the product should look and feel; mechanical development defines how it should be built, with which materials, with which manufacturing process and with which tolerances. At INFINITIA, both perspectives are integrated from the earliest project phases to ensure that the final result is technically sound and industrially manufacturable.
At what point in product development should a mechanical development team be involved?
The optimal moment to involve a specialist mechanical development team is the conceptual phase, when design decisions still have a low modification cost and a high impact on the final result. Integrating manufacturability criteria, material selection and process constraints from the outset avoids having to redesign components once the project is advanced, which is when changes are most costly in time and resources.
In practice, however, it is common for INFINITIA to join projects at more advanced stages: when an existing design does not pass functional validation, when a component generates recurring production problems, or when a company needs to adapt a design to a new manufacturing process or supplier. In any of these scenarios, the incorporation of an external technical partner specialised in mechanical development adds value from the first day of work.
What happens if a product is designed without considering the manufacturing process from the outset?
Designing a product without integrating manufacturability criteria from the earliest phases generates one of the most costly problems in industrial development: late redesign. When a part reaches the manufacturing phase with insufficient draft angles, inadequate wall thicknesses for the selected process or geometries that cannot be reproduced stably in series, the correction cost multiplies compared to what it would have been in the design phase. Modifying an already-built injection mould, redesigning a tool or replanning an assembly line once production has begun has an economic and timeline impact that can compromise the viability of the project.
Furthermore, designs that do not consider the manufacturing process tend to generate products with a higher unit cost than necessary: more parts than needed, complex geometries that increase cycle time, tolerances tighter than the function requires. Design for manufacturing (DFM) applied from the start of mechanical development is the most efficient way to avoid these structural costs and ensure that the product reaches production with a sufficient level of technical maturity.
What information or documentation does INFINITIA need to start a mechanical development project?
The starting point of a mechanical development project at INFINITIA can be very varied: from a concept defined only at sketch or functional description level to an existing CAD model that needs to be optimised or adapted to a new manufacturing process. It is not necessary to have complete technical documentation to start work; in fact, one of the most common services is precisely to generate that documentation from existing physical components through reverse engineering and 3D scanning.
The most useful information to get started is a clear description of the function the component must fulfil, the intended use conditions, the desired or available manufacturing process and the estimated production volume. With that information, the specialist team at INFINITIA carries out an initial technical diagnosis that defines the project scope, the most appropriate tools and the technical risks to be managed. To start that first technical conversation, the most direct approach is to contact the INFINITIA team.
How is the most suitable manufacturing process for a component selected?
The selection of the manufacturing process is one of the most determining decisions in mechanical development, as it conditions the achievable component geometry, the attainable tolerances, the cost of the required tooling and the unit production cost. The main factors determining that choice are the component material, the required geometry, the projected production volume and the target unit cost. A plastic component in high volume points to injection moulding; a metal part with complex geometry in short series may be better resolved by machining or additive manufacturing; a structural sheet metal part points to stamping or laser cutting with subsequent forming.
At INFINITIA, manufacturing process selection is not treated as an isolated decision but as an integral part of mechanical development: the selected process defines the design constraints that the specialist team integrates from the first CAD model. This coherence between design and process is what guarantees that the component can be manufactured stably, at the required quality and at the projected cost, without modifications once production has begun.
What tools and software are used in industrial mechanical development?
Industrial mechanical development relies on a set of tools covering the different phases of the process: parametric CAD modelling software for the complete geometric definition of parts and assemblies; finite element analysis (FEM) tools to verify structural behaviour under load; manufacturing process simulation software (plastic injection, stamping, casting) to predict defects before building the tooling; and 3D scanning systems for the digitalisation of existing components and dimensional control of produced parts.
The selection of specific tools within each category depends on the type of project and the manufacturing process involved. At INFINITIA, the combination of these capabilities in a multidisciplinary team enables the complete mechanical development cycle to be addressed, from concept to design ready for manufacturing, with the most appropriate tools for each phase and each type of component, without dependence on a single technology platform.
What is the difference between mechanical development, reverse engineering and product redesign?
Mechanical development is the complete process that transforms a functional need into a defined, optimised and documented component ready for manufacturing. Reverse engineering is a specific technique within mechanical development that enables the reconstruction of the geometry and specifications of an existing component when no original CAD documentation is available, combining measurement (3D scanning, coordinate measurement) with parametric redesign. Product redesign is the application of mechanical development to an existing component with the aim of improving its performance, reducing its manufacturing cost or adapting it to a new process or material.
The three concepts are related and are frequently combined in the same project: reverse engineering generates the starting model, mechanical development defines the necessary improvements and redesign materialises those improvements into a new manufacturable component. At INFINITIA, these three capabilities are integrated into the mechanical development service as part of a continuous technical process that starts from the client’s real situation and reaches the design ready for production.
How is a mechanical design validated before manufacturing the definitive tooling or mould?
Validating a mechanical design before committing investment to definitive tooling is achieved through two complementary tools: digital simulation and physical prototyping. Simulation (FEM analysis for structural behaviour, injection simulation to predict process defects) enables the component’s behaviour to be verified in a digital environment under the expected load and manufacturing conditions, identifying design problems before manufacturing any physical part. Rapid prototyping through 3D printing or single-unit machining enables geometries, mechanisms, assembly tolerances and appearance to be verified in real physical parts before investing in moulds or tooling.
The combination of both tools in the mechanical development process significantly reduces the technical risk of each project: simulation filters out design problems that can be resolved without manufacturing anything, and prototyping validates aspects that can only be verified in a physical part. INFINITIA integrates this validation sequence as a standard part of the mechanical development process, ensuring that the design reaching production has been technically verified before committing investment to definitive tooling.
How much does it cost to develop a product mechanically from scratch?
The cost of a complete mechanical development project depends on factors such as product complexity (number of parts, type of mechanisms, tolerance requirements), the intended manufacturing process, the level of simulation and validation required before production and the technical documentation needed to work with manufacturing suppliers. There is no standard price because each project has a different technical scope and starting point.
At INFINITIA, the usual process begins with a no-cost initial technical consultation where the project scope is defined and a specific proposal tailored to real needs is prepared. Mechanical development timelines typically range from 2 to 8 weeks for medium-complexity projects. To obtain an adjusted valuation, the most direct approach is to contact the specialist team and describe the project with the available level of detail, without needing complete technical documentation to initiate that first conversation.
Can INFINITIA help reduce the cost of a product already in production?
Yes. Cost reduction for a product already in production is one of the most common mechanical development projects and delivers the highest immediate economic return. When a product has been in manufacturing for some time, there are frequently optimisation opportunities that were not identified in the original design phase: parts that can be integrated into a single multifunctional component, geometries that can be simplified to reduce cycle time, materials that can be replaced with alternatives offering a better performance-to-cost ratio, or assembly processes that can be redesigned to reduce the number of operations. Each of these improvements has a direct impact on unit cost that multiplies by accumulated production volume over the product’s life.
At INFINITIA, these projects begin with a technical analysis of the existing product aimed at identifying the cost reduction levers with the greatest potential and the lowest risk of impact on quality or functionality. The result is a redesign proposal prioritised by economic impact and technical viability, enabling the client to make informed decisions about which improvements to implement and in what order.
Can INFINITIA handle only part of the mechanical development, such as the redesign of a specific part?
Yes. INFINITIA’s mechanical development service does not require a full-cycle engagement: it is common to work on specific parts of the development — the redesign of a part generating production problems, the optimisation of an assembly to reduce manufacturing cost, the digitalisation through 3D scanning of a component without CAD documentation, or the manufacturability analysis of an existing design before building the mould. Each of these partial interventions delivers concrete technical value without needing to replanning the entire project.
This scope flexibility is particularly useful for companies that have an internal development team but need specific capabilities they do not have in-house (FEM simulation, 3D scanning, DFM) or for startups that want to validate a specific technical decision before advancing in development. At INFINITIA, the starting point of every project is always the initial technical diagnosis, which enables the most efficient scope to be defined for the client’s real needs regardless of whether it is a partial or complete project.
What happens if the product is already designed but cannot be manufactured well in series?
This is one of the most common scenarios in industrial product development: a component that works correctly in prototype but generates recurring defects in series production (sink marks, warpage, dimensional rejects, assembly problems) or whose unit cost in series is significantly higher than forecast in the design phase. The usual cause is that the design was developed without systematically integrating the constraints of the manufacturing process, generating a gap between what was designed and what the process can produce stably and economically.
INFINITIA addresses these situations through a technical analysis of the existing design aimed at identifying the causes of manufacturing problems and proposing the modifications needed to resolve them without compromising component functionality. The result is a manufacturability-oriented redesign that enables the transition from a problematic design to a component that can be produced stably, at the required quality and at the projected cost. To initiate that analysis, contact the specialist team at INFINITIA.
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