Agentdraw Blog // The Maze That is New Product Development (NPD)

New product development (NPD) for plastic product designers working with injection moulding is both exciting and daunting. Getting every element of the process right is crucial, and missing something can have a serious knock-on effect—it’s like trying to navigate a maze blindfolded, with your hands tied behind your back while wearing ear defenders. In this blog, Agentdraw explores the challenges and solutions for new product development in the plastic injection moulding industry, and how strategic planning and partnerships can ensure efficient, cost-effective production from concept to market.

There are so many things to consider and plan for—you know what you know, but the real problem is that you don’t know what you don’t know.

The Harsh Reality of Getting It Wrong

If you’re experienced in product design, you’ll already understand the potential cost in both time and money of getting things wrong. And you’ll likely find out the hard way if not—by walking face-first into a privet hedge and bouncing from one setback to the next until you eventually (and expensively) reach your goal… if you persist at all.

Traditionally, companies take one of two routes when developing a new product:

1. Commissioning a product design company – This option feels safe because these guys are professionals, right? They must know what they’re doing. And while that may be true from a design perspective, from a manufacturing perspective, the guys in black polo necks, drinking Evian in their posh, glass-clad office, probably haven’t actually made anything in their lives. Their designs might look great but aren’t always practical for injection moulding, leading to costly modifications down the line.
2. Using an in-house design team – The advantage here is a team with a deep understanding of your business and its challenges. But their perspective can be narrow, and without exposure to other industries, materials, and manufacturing techniques, they may overlook opportunities to optimise designs for production. Plastic product designers need to balance innovation with what already works—too much focus on “this is how we’ve always done it” can stifle progress.

The Hidden Motivations Behind Product Design

When you consider the motivations behind each option, it’s easy to see why companies struggle to get a product from concept to market efficiently.

• Design houses need to be paid for their work, so their priority is to break projects into stages, get sign-offs, and invoice as quickly as possible—without necessarily thinking about how the design will translate to injection moulding.
• In-house teams often lack experience in Design for Manufacture (DFM), budgets, and real-world production constraints, leading to designs that are impractical or too expensive to produce.

What happens when the fancy design is approved, the agency has been paid, and the client is left holding the baby? They suddenly have to figure out how to turn a concept into a product that works within manufacturing limitations—usually with no roadmap to follow.

At the end of the day, businesses don’t just need product designers—they need a seamless process that ensures their new plastic product is designed and manufactured efficiently, on time, and at a competitive cost.

The Agentdraw Difference: No Privet Hedges in Your Face

Things work differently at Agentdraw. Our end-to-end service considers the entire process, and we have vast experience in this—from concept generation to full-scale injection moulding production. It’s like heading into the NPD journey with a GPS map of the entire route, a packed lunch, and no risk of ending up lost in a privet hedge.

We work closely with our clients, taking every step to fully understand their project requirements, business needs, and customer expectations. There’s no such thing as too much information.

How We Make Product Design Work for You

1. Project Brief & Feasibility – Once a deep understanding of the project goals is established, we start by either helping to create or creating a project brief. This brief is as detailed or simple as necessary, depending on the project. It will contain everything required to make the project a success, including any potential technical or commercial risks.
2. Cost & Timeline Planning – Unless a feasibility study is required, at this stage, we can set out a timeline, create a detailed online Gantt chart, and provide a quotation for the entire project, from beginning to end. It is important that each project is resourced, has the appropriate budget, and is commercially viable. Setting out project costs as early as possible prevents the development of a product that ends up being too expensive to manufacture. These “numbers” are a guiding factor in the concept, design, and engineering phases and can help keep an overenthusiastic product or marketing team from going too far by staying on task. (There is always the option to save new ideas and developments for Version 2!)
3. Concept to Production – Once everything is agreed, we’re off! Each stage has agreed milestones and deliverables. We manage the entire process alongside your own project team and project managers. We work in close collaboration with our clients to expedite projects quickly and efficiently. With a single point of responsibility and one shared common goal, there are no conflicts of interest or personal agendas to get in the way.
4. Seamless Transition to Injection Moulding – Unlike traditional product designers, we don’t just focus on aesthetics—we specialise in plastic product design that is fully optimised for injection moulding. Whether you’re working with injection moulding companies or manufacturing in-house, our designs are production-ready, ensuring nothing obstructs an efficient and on-time project delivery.

Whilst others attempt to navigate through endless miles of maze and privet hedges, Agentdraw’s clients already have their products in the marketplace—ready for manufacturing, making those all-important returns.

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