Engineering
technical creativity
Great products need great engineering
Our highly skilled engineers and first class facilities allow us to take on challenging and high-tech projects and solve a wide variety of engineering challenges. Our engineering activities include:
- Design for manufacture and assembly
- Material and process selection
- Cost reduction / value engineering
- CAD Design
- Engineering Analysis - CFD, FEA and Thermodynamics
- Mechanisms and systems
- Testing and experimentation
- Electronics hardware and software.
CAD Development Work
Design for
manufacture & assembly
Engineering Drawings
DFMA
To be a great design, a product not only needs to work well but also must be manufactured reliably.
The design of each component needs to take into account the materials and manufacturing processes in order to create a design which is as functionally and cost effective as possible.
Material &
process selection
Selection of the right material goes hand-in-hand with selection of the manufacturing process. IDC’s engineers can advise you on the best materials and process for your application.
Injection Moulded Samples
Factors for material and process selection
- Aesthetics, form and feel
- Size and shape
- Mechanical and electrical properties
- Chemical and fire resistance
- Safety, traceability, biocompatibility and sterility
- Sustainability
- Production volumes and tooling budgets
- Cost targets
We understand and have experience of designing products using processes which include:
Plastics and composites
Injection moulding, thermoforming, extrusion, blow moulding, rotational moulding, RIM, pre-preg and RTM, vacuum casting, compression moulding and machining
Metals
Machining, fabrication, extrusion, stamping, pressing and deep drawing, sand casting, die casting and investment casting, metal injection moulding, sintering and spinning
Ceramics
Blowing, moulding, casting and ceramic injection moulding
Natural materials and textiles
Wood working, card engineering and textile design and specification
Joining
Adhesives, welding, riveting, bolting
Finishing
Spray painting, powder coating, printing, embossing, plating, anodising, vacuum metalising, etching and engraving
Engineering analysis
CFD, FEA & thermodynamics
Combining engineering science with the latest developments in computer analysis, we refine and predict the performance of components, products and systems before committing to the time and expense of manufacture and testing.
Simulation for optimised solutions
We use engineering analysis to reduce the number of prototypes, and thereby the cost and time to get to a final design. Depending on the part and application, we select the most appropriate approach for each project to get to the best solution in the most efficient way. Our capabilities include:
- Thermodynamics and fluid mechanics including calculations and CFD for analysis of fluid flows and heat transfer problems. Our experience includes the electronics cooling, optimisation of domestic appliances, design of novel refrigeration systems and wind drag of external structures
- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for analysis of the stress, stiffness and safety of mechanical components
- Dynamics simulations for complex mechanisms, linkages and moving parts.
Through partners we can provide complex optical analysis and design and other types of specialised analyses.
Mechanisms for
reliable performance
Our experience of developing complex mechanisms allows innovation and cost reduction without compromising reliability.
Reliable mechanisms at every scale
Whether intricate plastic parts for drug delivery and dose counters or high strength power tools for construction sites, complex mechanisms feature in many of the innovative products we develop.
Our process includes conceiving appropriate and effective mechanisms, building and testing proof of principle prototypes and creating detailed tolerance manufacturing drawings. IDC’s mechanical and electronics engineers work together to develop electro-mechanical and mechatronics systems to automate machinery and develop smart systems.