A checklist for choosing an industrial design team.
Use these questions to compare suppliers against the same package. They are more useful than a promise about headcount, a discount or a free sample.
Nine points to settle before appointing a team.
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Define the package
Give each bidder the same drawing register, source information and example mark-ups. Separate new engineering development from drafting existing decisions.
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Name the review owner
Ask who is responsible for technical queries, checking and accepting the issue. A named contact is more useful than an unspecified team size.
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Confirm the toolset
Record the software version, native file format, title blocks, symbol libraries and naming convention. Check how source files will be handed back.
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Discuss the design basis
Identify the project standard and edition, design inputs and who owns calculations and design decisions. Agree any certification or statutory review separately.
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Agree a query process
Missing inputs should be visible. Ask how questions are referenced, assigned and closed before a drawing moves to the next issue.
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Set the review allowance
Define review rounds, response windows and how a change to the design basis is priced. Do not assume an unlimited revision promise covers a changing scope.
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Set file access and confidentiality
Agree the NDA, permitted workspace, access approval and handover requirements before sharing confidential source information.
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Compare the complete estimate
Include input preparation, onboarding, checking, coordination, revisions and handover. Compare quotes against the same inclusions rather than an hourly rate alone.
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Agree the issue and handover
Confirm the drawing register, revision record, native files, PDFs and model exchange requirements. Make clear what counts as accepted delivery.
Use a small scope to check the working arrangement.
If both teams want to begin with a limited package, agree the source files, deliverables, price and acceptance criteria first. Use the review to check how queries are raised and how source files are returned. A complimentary drawing is not evidence of how the next package will be managed.
For a wider resourcing decision, read in-house or external design support . For budget preparation, use the industrial design budgeting guide .
Take the checklist into your supplier review.
The text version has space for the project, review owner, standard and issue date. Add your own procurement requirements before using it.
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