Manufacturing Payoff Visualiser
Compare fixed setup cost and variable unit cost across 3D printing, CNC machining, vacuum casting, and injection moulding.
Break-even
Cost curves
Bridge production
Tool library
Interactive tools for hardware decisions.
Use these tools to compare manufacturing options, estimate assembly effort, assess lifecycle impact, and test the commercial case before committing more time or money.
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practical tools for common product decisions
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guides explaining what the numbers mean in practice
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core decision areas: manufacturing, sustainability, development, and commercial planning
Engineering and sustainability
Tools for product architecture, manufacturing, and lifecycle impact.
These tools help teams compare process routes, labour burden, footprint drivers, and lifecycle leverage before committing too early.
Product Cost Estimator
Build a bottom-up COGS estimate using material, bought-in parts, labour, packaging, scrap, and overhead assumptions.
COGS
Bottom-up costing
Supplier prep
Assembly Time Estimator
Estimate concept-stage assembly effort using part count, handling complexity, join count, and quality checks.
Labour cost
DFA
Part count
Carbon Footprint Estimator
Estimate concept-stage footprint using material, process, transport, and use-phase assumptions.
Embodied impact
Use phase
Comparison
Product Lifecycle Explorer
Explore how lifetime, repairability, energy use, and end-of-life strategy shape lifecycle performance.
Durability
Circularity
Recovery
Concept and development
Tools for concept selection, process mapping, and delivery planning.
Use these to structure debate, prioritise the next stage of work, and decide what should be proven before scale-up.
Product Purpose Framework
Review ideas across human value, planetary impact, viability, and technical feasibility, then compare them against practical benchmarks.
Radar chart
Ranking
Sustainability
Pugh Concept Selector
Compare early concepts against weighted engineering criteria with a clear decision matrix.
Weighted scores
Concept choice
Trade-offs
Product Design Process Map
Map development priorities based on stage, complexity, regulation, novelty, and launch pressure.
Gate planning
Project flow
Priorities
Production Strategy Planner
Stage low-volume validation, bridge production, and scale-up planning in one route model.
Tooling timing
Risk staging
Scale-up
Prototype Strategy Tool
Choose between 3D printing, CNC, vacuum casting, bridge tooling, and pilot injection based on what the next build must prove.
Prototype route
Fidelity
Learning speed
Commercial and market
Tools for hardware economics, channel design, and investor-facing signals.
These tools connect unit economics to launch route, business-case quality, and the metrics that matter outside the engineering team.
Launch Margin Planner
Model blended launch margin using route mix, hidden selling costs, overhead, and current COGS.
Route mix
Break-even
Hidden costs
Hardware Business Case Builder
Connect market size, cost structure, pricing, and operational assumptions in one working model.
Market funnel
Payback
Screening
Target COGS by Route to Market
Work backwards from RRP to see what COGS DTC, marketplace, and retailer routes can support.
DTC
Marketplace
Retail
Investor Metrics and KPIs
Summarise monthly revenue, gross margin, CAC, runway, and payback signals for a hardware business.
Runway
CAC
Gross margin
Break-even Calculator
Calculate the unit volume and revenue needed to recover fixed costs at the current contribution margin.
Contribution margin
Volume target
Fixed cost recovery
Founder planning and legal
Tools for cash, pre-launch budget, and supplier-ready conversations.
These tools help founders and product teams estimate the capital required before launch, manage runway pressure, and prepare for manufacturer discussions more cleanly.
Cashflow Projection Tool
Project twelve months of cash movement using opening cash, growth, payment delay, overhead, and upfront spend.
Runway
Working capital
Payment timing
Startup Cost Planner
Estimate development, prototype, tooling, compliance, inventory, and launch costs before sales begin.
Budgeting
Contingency
Fundraising target
NDA Generator
Create a simple one-way or mutual confidentiality draft for early design, cost, and manufacturing conversations.
Confidentiality
Supplier discussions
Document prep