physical-products
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Optical manufacturing bottlenecks, air conditioning as development infrastructure, and the anisotropy lesson every process quietly reteaches
Discover how Geometric Deep Learning and Graph Neural Networks power Simcenter PhysicsAI to cut CFD & FEA simulation time from days to seconds.
Surface Truths: A Practitioner’s Guide to CMF Specification Color, Material, and Finish (CMF) is the user’s first physical interaction with any product, yet the specification knowledge required to execute CMF across a global supply chain is rarely documented in one place. This guide fills that gap. Written for industrial designers, product engineers, and manufacturing partners working across the US–India–China supply chain triangle, this document covers the complete CMF specification ecosystem: from CAD color tagging and technical drawing callouts, through mold surface finish standards (SPI, VDI, Mold-Tech), material compatibility, coating specification, colorant systems, durability testing, and QA inspection protocols — through to golden sample management, multi-part assembly color matching, and vendor communication across regional standards. Each section translates design intent into manufacturing-executable language, with parallel regional standard references, cost implications, and real-world failure modes drawn from production experience. Intended as an open, freely shareable reference for the global product design and manufacturing community. Keywords: CMF, color specification, material specification, finish specification, industrial design, product development, injection molding, surface finish, Pantone, CIE Lab, mold texture, coating specification, QA, manufacturing
Every robot and drone runs on actuators — and China makes 90% of them. Inside the American startups racing to win back the motors the U.S. forgot how to build.
I’m a big fan of focusing on things that are within my control. This article is about real actions we can take while we’re waiting for lawmakers to get their shit together. @andrewmccalip, @zanehengsperger, and others have
The world's largest mattress maker now owns America's largest mattress retailer. The FTC tried to stop them and lost.
GE killed their biggest competitor. Russia lost another. A Nebraska family kept making the component nobody thinks about, and now they basically own the market.
A 97-year-old fastener manufacturer in Albion, Michigan, trading below book value with zero analyst coverage, just paid a special dividend.
In the world of additive manufacturing, “What tolerance can you guarantee?” is the question everyone asks -- and the one no responsible shop should ever answer with a promise. Industrial 3D...
https://youtu.be/MhqH6AyYn3I EDC and stationery have been moving closer together for years. Pens became precision objects. Rulers became desk jewelry. Pocket tools started borrowing the language of industrial design, while analog work tools picked up the portability and finish standards of everyday carry. Somewhere in that overlap, products began chasing a sharper balance between usefulness and
How to define a physical product concept and get it ready for execution.
We look at reference classes, factory buildout timelines, and upstream component supply to estimate plausible production rates for humanoids, quadrupeds, robotic arms, wheeled robots, and drones.
Protolabs, Xometry, Fictiv and Jiga Deep Dive
How TTI and Stanley Black & Decker took the same playbook in opposite directions.
Joe Hogan, Align Technology’s plastics-nerd CEO, says you shouldn’t eat with your aligners and that you don’t need to wear your retainers every night.
Building in consumer hardware as a software engineer
An analysis
Why Silicon Valley's Defense Obsession is Missing the Real Path to American Reindustrialization
Can microfactories solve prefab's economic problem by inverting the factory model?
I asked an 🍎 Apple Vision Pro designer turned solopreneur how he sells HW.
Modern appliances pack in more features and efficiency than ever — but you might need to accept that they won’t last as long as Grandma’s old fridge.
What can you sell at a pawn shop? We explain what pawn shops buy, plus how to get the most money. Find price details for electronics, clothing, and more.
Inside of a pawn shop / Photo Credit: PawnGuru Pawning something you own can be a major challenge. You want to get the highest amount for your item, but you don’t know which pawn shop will pay the most. Reality TV shows like “Hardcore Pawn” and “Pawn Stars” demonstrate how pawn [...]
I asked an 🍎 Apple Vision Pro designer turned solopreneur how he sells HW.
You go to a tech expo like CES expecting to be absolutely wowed by phones, laptops, GPUs, cars, and all sorts of prominent product categories. I went to CES 2025 and was wowed by a mouse... yes, a wireless mouse that connects to your computer. Designed by the folks at Lenovo, the AdaptX Mouse easily
Machine tools – machines that cut or form metal – are the heart of industrial civilization.
Exactly: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
archived 22 Jul 2023 03:08:13 UTC
Sometimes there is a replacement for name brand tools. Knowing who makes what is the best way to save big when building your tool collection.
Not every Phillips head fastener is a Phillips head fastener. If you don't know about Japanese Industrial Standard, now you'll know.
Hasbro has announced Hasbro Selfie Series figures—a groundbreaking endeavor to use 3D printing to manufacture personalized action figures at scale.
High-end custom mechanical keyboards designed for Mac and PC. Built with premium typing sound and feel for designers, programmers, gamers, and more.
On the right machine, typing can be like playing a Steinway grand. Is tactile perfection possible?
Hidden away in Juicero’s bad week of press is one of the most powerful lessons we preach to hardware startups: unconstrained development is…
This post originally appeared on Hackthings.com So you have a hardware product in the works? Before you can launch it, one of the most important things you need to figure out is pricing. Unlike software, you can’t AB test your pricing and change it for different customers, which means your product has one price and …
It’s no secret that investors don’t like hardware businesses. Despite the eternal frustration of startup founders, investor distaste in physical product businesses is actually entirely logical. It’s nearly impossible to build a venture-scale business by selling dumb plastic parts at a 30% gross marg
My name is Molson Hart. I’m the CEO of a consumer products company I founded 10 years ago, called Viahart. We design and distribute toys…
You can make software if you choose to. Not just the expected version of software that runs on a computer, but the metaphorical idea of rules and algorithms designed to solve problems and connect p…
I have always avoided writing. As a mechanical engineer, I would rather do just about anything else: sketch parts, build prototypes, or collaborate with manufacturers. Rough sketches for Dor, one of Bolt’s portfolio companies For over 15 years, I have designed and engineered products — mostly a
Dyson almost launched a robot vacuum. Back in 2001, after three years in development. Its first effort, shown to the British public in London looked nothing (and we mean nothing) like the eventual 360 Eye unveiled today. Sixteen years is a long time in tech. The DC06, as it was called, never made it past home-trial stages in 2012 -- apparently too pricey and heavy. Between then and now, technology got better. A lot better. At the Tokyo launch of its new robot vacuum, Sir James Dyson himself, told us how it all came together, and why it's not his native UK, but Japan, that'll get to buy it first.
Increase customer loyalty and take advantage of an additional opportunity to connect with customers by using packaging inserts. Here's why and how to use them in every package you send out.
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Even the software-focused Chromecast relies on hardware sometimes.
Connecting things physically, mechanically or digitally can have profound effects. Here’s a list of 5 connectors that changed the world.
During quarantine I designed and built my own CNC router from scratch. This is everything you need to know if you want to do the same.
Meet the manufacturers capitalizing on 3D printing today, and find out how they are transforming their design and production workflows with additive.
It may surprise you that only a handful of larger companies own your favorite power tool manufacturers. Here's who owns who...with lists!
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From brewing tea to making shipping containers.
This course provides a hands-on introduction to the resources for designing and fabricating smart systems, including CAD/CAM/CAE; NC machining, 3-D printing, injection molding, laser cutting; PCB layout and fabrication; sensors and actuators; analog instrumentation; embedded digital processing; wired and wireless communications. This course also puts emphasis on learning how to use the tools as well as understand how they work.