About Product Drawings

If you are new to inventing products, you may be wondering what the end goals are in terms of design work. You may have seen some terms never heard before such as AutoCad or Solidworks.

Here we’ll break down what you should expect to get when you use a product designer to develop your product.

What to Know About Product Drawings

Product design drawings are crucial to any new product. They are what manufacturers will use to produce your product; and are what engineers and designers go to college to learn to create. When you hire a product design firm, they are going to work to draft technical files. They will come in either a 2D or 3D format, but you should opt to have both made. Properly completed design drawings will give a factory all the information they need to make your product and will save time and money by eliminating a lot of back and forth in questions and studying the design.

2D Drawings

2D drawings are essential to the manufacturing process.

Proper 2D PDFs will have all the information needed to manufacture your product. They will contain all dimensions and specifications including dimensions such as length, width, height, radii, threads, chamfers, concentricity, information on the material such as if its specific steel or plastic, and information on the finish, like how smooth the part needs to be, whether it needs to be polished, heat treated, or plated.

2D drawings are critical because they will set the standard for what makes a part acceptable.

3D Models

While 2D drawings provide enough information to be produced for most parts, there are instances where more information is needed that a 2D PDF just can’t display. Hard to see details or assemblies are much easier to zoom in on or explode with a 3D model than with a 2D PDF. In the manufacturing and engineering world, these 3D files are what is known as “CAD” (Computer Aided Drafting) files. These files can be made in different formats, some of the more prominent ones being step files, stl files, and solidworks files. Oftentimes you’ll need a special engineering software to be able to open them, such as solidworks or mastercam, but you can always request screenshots or renders from engineers to be able to see them if needed.

It’s important to note that factories in China usually prefer 3D files in step file format.

There are many benefits to getting 3D files made. Factories are able to give quotes out quicker when CAD files are provided. Some factories won’t quote the production cost of a part without them. The more complex your part is, the more likely you will need the 3D files to be able to get your part produced.

Electronic Components

If your product has electrical boards on it, you are going to need what’s called Printed Circuit Boards Assembly (PCBA) files. These are also similar to the 2D PDF example shown above.

These are specific files that will diagram how the electrical components will interact with each other to produce a specific function.

They will detail components such as resistors, transistors, switches, capacitors, and integrated circuits, among other things.
They will display how the components are to be wired together in a circuit through lines and nodes.

The files will include specific information that will allow the manufacturer of the circuit board to know exactly how to make the board, what regulations it needs to follow, and where the board will fit in the part.

Putting the Finalized Drawings & Prints to Production

With those files, you’ll be able to get your product manufactured and produced. Our engineering team can help you draft engineering files for your new invention. We are based locally in the US in Chandler, AZ.

After we help you get your product design drawings finished, our company can help you get a quote for a prototype on parts from China, so you can test your product. We also help with overseas sourcing, and can provide you with a competitive quote. If you are looking for help with design work, engineering work, product development, or prototyping, contact us here!