Mass Product Development
Making Ideas a Reality

The core goal of every product-based company is to bring high-quality products to the market at a competitive price point. This demands a systematic development process that begins in the prototyping stage.

Having an experienced, lockstep partner like Mass Product Development can make all the difference. Over the past five years, the company has enabled numerous clients to fast track their innovation to the market—from tight-tolerance medical devices to mass-produced consumer electronic devices.

“Our MASS Development® process entails developing early-stage prototypes with parts that replicate the eventual manufacturing methods used in the end product. This is crucial to addressing and stress-testing ergonomic challenges of the design that can emerge in the transition to production,” says Alex Gilbert, founder of Mass Product Development. “By testing manufacturing considerations before tooling, we ensure a seamless transition to production and the highest possible quality of the end product.”

Before designing product prototypes, Mass Product Development identifies the product architecture that will be most cost-effective in production. Next, the company involves industrial designers in prototyping, where they focus on certain essential product parameters (including key components and their placement, required volume and weight, and part material and robustness).

Mass Product Development’s cutting-edge, rapid-prototyping technologies and proven methodologies maximize the learnings from each prototype iteration to accelerate the timeline to market. Above all, every prototype is conceived with mass production in mind—even proof-of-concept prototypes. Gilbert asks,

“How useful is a prototype to a client if it can’t prove the concept can be made at scale?” That is why the company believes in avoiding ultra-low-quality materials and – equally importantly – in carefully considering the use of too-high-quality materials in the prototyping phase.

For instance, one of their clients discovered that a significant amount of money was being spent replacing windshield wipers every year, as the little tip starts to wear off over time with use and sun exposure. Through testing, Mass PD found that the vast majority of windshield wipers are similar in geometry; they then realized that the problem could be solved by designing an ergonomic handheld device that the user could quickly run down the length of the wiper blade to remove the worn tip.

They produced a functional prototype with a very similar material and geometry to that which would be used in production, thereby ensuring the design could be scaled cost-effectively. By foreseeing and testing manufacturing considerations, the product is now proudly manufactured in the United States (an important point for their client and a phrase rarely seen on consumer products today). This process enabled the client to quickly move into the manufacturing stage and, soon thereafter, to market.

Instances of client success like this are a testament to Mass Product Development’s indomitable zeal in serving their clients with utmost efficiency and without sacrificing quality. “We pride ourselves in being a creative group of results-driven engineers. We do a deep dive into the unique attributes and needs of every product – plus our eagerness and energy help bring it to life,” says Gilbert. “This passion and adherence to our MASS Development® process are what have our clients bringing us the next idea in their product line and asking us to assist them in bringing it to fruition.”