Product design and mechanical engineering consulting services.
If you are on the path but need some guidance, I’d like to help.
Define & Explore.
What’s your inspiration?
What are the risks and how can we control them?
How long should this take, and how much will it cost?
What’s your competition?
How do potential users react?
What are the product requirements and feature set?
Design, Develop & Engineer.
Propose a complete credible solution with best-estimate placeholders for each feature.
Identify high-risk aspects of the design and lay out workstreams to address these risks.
Refine your Industrial Design vision to reflect engineering and manufacturing realities.
Detailed part and assembly design, with production intent.
Prototype as much as possible.
Identify sources for key components and estimate product costs.
Analysis to increase confidence in proposed solutions.
Test & Manufacture.
Document the design thoroughly.
Evaluate tooled parts performance.
Assemble multiple units to understand reliability. Update design as needed.
Develop detailed assembly plan, including fixtures and jigs to improve qualiity and through-put. Add quality checks as necessary.
Langskip Design is Adam Reed-Erickson, a twenty year veteran of product design and development consulting, with a focus on mechanical engineering and project management, spanning initial concept exploration to manufacturing ramp. Proficient in hands-on design/build/test role, management role and advisory role. Experience with a wide range of markets and products -- consumer electronics, lifestyle, enterprise computing, medical/lab-tech, consumer packaged goods. Dynamic and engaged team leader focused on efficiency, clarity and accountability.
My specialty is design engineering for consumer products with a high aesthetic bar. If you're paying top dollar for compelling ID, I can help carry that design through to production with as few compromises as possible, and help you understand the tradeoffs.
The following projects highlight some recent and significant work. Please inquire if you’d like to know more!
“Level” by Fluidstance
Image courtesy Fluidstance
Image courtesy Fluidstance
Balance-board for standing desks.
Start-up client had a slick ID model and bare-bones product spec but needed help getting into production with a high-end balance-board for standing desk users. This was a launch product for a new brand and company built around keeping desk workers moving and healthy.
My role: Design for Manufacturability, starting with ID CAD. Manufacturing process and material recommendations. Engineering analysis. Design validation (test planning, first-article reviews, fit checks). Production release coordination and CMF document management. Vendors included sand-cast aluminum, wood router and finishing, injection-molded TPU bumpers (Domestic); die-cast aluminum tooling (off-shore).
Accomplishments: Bronze medal in 2016 Edison design award. First of many projects for an on-going client relationship. This design has inspired several imitators.
“Bevel Trimmer” by Walker&Co.
High-end beard trimmer with cool blades, rechargeable battery, adjustable blade gap.
Start-up client came to PCH Lime Lab in San Francisco with an ID rendering and preliminary product requirements document. PCH team developed all mechanical, electrical and firmware systems, and brought the product to mass production in about 15 months.
My role: Mechanical design lead with a team of 4 mechanical engineers. Defined quantitative performance for motor life, battery and blade. System architecture and CAD environment definition. Performance and reliability test planning & execution. All part and assembly documentation. On-site build oversight and trouble-shooting in Shenzhen and Dongguan, China.
Accomplishments: My first product launch with PCH team (SF and SZ). Product accepted for sale nationwide at Target stores. Named on patents for adjustable blade. Uncompromised aesthetic vision (snap-in blade, total absence of exposed screws, minimal reveal gaps, over-molded grip area, subtle faceted metal surfaces, fold-away hook). First product referenced in a hip-hop song (“Nas Album Done” by DJ Khaled, released 2016). Improved thermal performance and blade speed vs. competitors. Walker & Co. was subsequently acquired/absorbed by CPG behemoth Proctor & Gamble.
“QuickBooks GoPayments” by Intuit
Image courtesy BoxClever
Payment readers and weighted, non-slip Cradle for retail merchants.
Intuit’s QuickBooks team needed to quickly roll out a contactless payment tool for their upcoming SBM software release. PCH’s engineering team worked with Intuit and a Shenzhen-based payment PCBA supplier to roll out a set of custom enclosures and desktop Cradle for point-of-sale applications.
My role: Mechanical design lead with a team of 3 mechanical engineers working in parallel to support external ID team’s concept down-selection. Performance spec development for desktop Cradle. Detail CAD and 2D documentation for 2-in-1 Reader and Cradle. Prototyping and testing for Cradle. Detailed tolerance studies to prevent binding and snagging between 3-in-1 Reader and Cradle. Intensive DFM and DFA reviews with ODM to maintain ID intent and ensure docking performance.
Accomplishments: All 3 products launched on time (summer 2018). Docking performance is smooth and free of snags.
Headspin Outdoors
Image courtesy Headspin Outdoors
Modular LED Light with innovative “SPINDOCK” attachment mechanism.
Concerned that their lack of hardware and manufacturing expertise would expose the product to unnecessary development risk, this outdoor enthusiast start-up client approached me to serve as an intermediary between the founders and their Hong Kong based mechanical design team and eventual manufacturing partner.
My role: Extensive design reviews with HK and DG engineering teams. Material specification. Tolerance studies. Test plan development. Late-night pinch-hit CAD surfacing. “Spindock” performance test trouble-shooting, acceptance criteria definition and Golden Sample quantification. On-site build supervision for EVT and DVT builds (Dongguan, China). Reliability testing review and defect resolution.
Accomplishments: Launched on time for Holiday 2018. On-going client relationship for further accessory design and development.
Vestaboard Inc.
Image courtesy Vestaboard
Elegant mechanical display.
Start-up client conceived of a screen-free way to post messages in physical space. Vestaboard consists of 132 “Bits” capable of displaying 64 possible characters. Set to launch summer/fall 2020.
My role: Mechanical design and 2D documentation for enclosure and frame. Test planning. On-site build supervision for EVT (Dongguan, China). Build issue resolution. BOM ownership. Tolerance and wear analysis and mitigation. Assembly fixture design and procedure definition.
Accomplishments: TBD, pending launch later this year!
Pre-roll Tube for Koleto Innovations
Child-resistant, airtight packaging and storage for cannabis retailers.
Supplier of white label cannabis packaging was looking to update its pre-roll container to be child-resistant, air-tight and allow a better product presentation on a shelf. After several rounds of 3D printed prototypes, the team came up with a one-way clutch design which met the client’s safety, performance and cost goals.
My role: Design for prototyping & production. FEA for plastic spring fingers (both MarkForged 3D prints and production molded polypropylene). Prototype performance testing. 2D documentation. DFM support for injection molder.
“Reader” by Intel Digital Health
Handheld computer to allow blind, low-vision and learning-disabled users to discreetly read printed text.
Intel approached Lunar Design in 2006 to help design an innovative tool to assist a traditionally under-served community. Lunar provided Industrial, Interaction and mechanical design and worked closely with Intel and subject matter experts in digital photography, illumination and ray tracing, software design and electrical engineering.
My role: As a Sr. Mechanical Engineer at Lunar Design in San Francisco, I took over engineering and Project Management duties to bring prototype design from pre-EVT through DVT. Activities included acceptance criteria definition, leading defect resolution planning and execution, risk mitigation, test planning, project schedule and design team management.
Accomplishments: Product had significant impact in users lives and exceeded sales estimates. I personally grew my PM and engineering management skillsets with the help of client and co-workers.
