Compliance gets a bad press. There’s something about the regulatory hurdles required to obtain a CE marking or FCC approval that recalls the drudgery of tedious homework assignments, while the legal obligation to conform with various standards makes it feel even more of a chore.

When you’ve got a concept that you want to build and sell, you’ll hear talk of development phases, proofs of concept, various types of prototype or demo and alpha testing. For the uninitiated, this can be confusing; for the sceptical it may seem unnecessary. So what are these stages – and why do we go through them?

Digital twin is a regular topic of discussion, but it can mean different things to different people. Digital twin prototyping (DTP) is essentially simulation. For preventative maintenance, we want to look at a real-time system to determine its health, but this is where the waters can get muddied.

So, you have a great idea that you want to take forward. You take this idea, develop it, and make a working prototype. You may think you’re near the finish line, now that your proof of concept works and you’ve shown the value of your invention with some trials.

Integrating compliance at the early stages of your process minimises cost and impact. It can often make design decisions easier and result in a better product and a smoother running project.

The design for X process (DFX) is one of the cornerstones of productisation. For fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), DFX is largely concerned with cost – either directly or indirectly. Design for manufacture (DFM) and design for cost (DFC) are concepts where we look at ways of directly reducing the cost of tooling, materials, components and build processes.

Having a product that is competitive in the marketplace is a multifaceted challenge. Industrial design plays a huge part, as does marketing. Both of these areas are usually constrained by cost and, on some level, the sales cost of your product. In a competitive market, even a slightly lower price than your competitor’s can have a huge influence on sales.