News & Project Updates

Wow What a Year!
We celebrated a significant milestone - 25 years of dedicated work in the field of product design, development, and manufacturing supply.
We worked on some pretty cool projects during 2023 ranging from; Apiary (Bee Keeping) hive monitoring systems & Animal Welfare, to Solar conversion of Robotic Lawn Mower, through to Aviation, Building Industry & House Hold appliance products, not to mention an interesting selection of start-ups!
Check out the full story and much more in our volume 59 Newsletter issue out now.

Idea Developments is celebrating a significant milestone of dedicated work in the field of product design, development, and manufacturing supply.
25 years of Creating Products from Ideas ! 

The journey began in 1998 when Kim Scott, previously the Design Manager at Sunbeam Kitchen Appliances (NZ), founded Idea with a clear vision: to create a product design and development company that delivers comprehensive solutions from an idea "exceeding expectations through holistic design".
The company's name itself encapsulates its essence - Industrial Designed Engineering Answers (IDEA).
After 25 years, Idea remains proudly New Zealand owned, with our creative team continuing to drive innovation in product design and development, extending to manufacturing and supply with the formation of Idea-China in 2010.
We are proud to have contributed to numerous projects during these 25 years, witnessing our clients' growth and success has been a gratifying part of our journey.
Furthermore, some of our former designers have pursued remarkable careers in companies such as Lamborghini (Italy), Dyson (UK), Shark EuroPro (USA), and prominent international consultancies. Some have even ventured into entrepreneurship.
From the team at Idea, a big thank you to all those who have supported us over the last 25years, especially our wonderful clients!
We are excited for the future as we continue to Create Products from Ideas.

Clay modelling is still an industrial designer’s best friend when it comes to resolving form, contours, edge details and proportions of a new product in a fast effective manner.
Talk to us about how the team at Idea use clay modelling techniques to bring product concept sketches to life in physical 3D form-study models, applying learnings and improvements as our designers work with the clay evolving the product, providing early form validation.

During 2022, we worked on some pretty exciting projects ranging from; Fishing boat monitoring systems & device App’s, to the Building industry & Concrete moulds, through to Body protection & Childcare products, not to mention a strong selection of start-ups!
Despite COVID-19 disruptions in China, our Idea-China manufacturing facility had another busy year, mould making, sourcing & producing parts, assembling products and shipping around the globe.

When the team at Roller Blaster approached Idea, their working prototype clearly demonstrated the market potential for this innovative Paint Roller® cleaning concept product.
The challenge for Idea was to redesign the prototype into a mass production ready design, with enhanced cleaning performance, whilst retaining the maximum 3 litre water consumption and 30 second time cycle efficiency.
Idea’s knowledge base and team experience with DFM & DFA techniques ensured every design decision around, internal engineering structure, material and manufacturing method selection, and visual aesthetics delivered a production ready, award winning design exceeding the project brief and goals.

Check out this promotional and informative 35 Sec YouTube video post of The Roller Blaster paint roller cleaner.
Idea's engineering design team developed this product from, client supplied concept through to production ready engineered design, complete with electronics development and build of prototype samples for industry development testing and product marketing.

When a Mainland Chinese factory approached Idea, their vision was to produce their own home appliance Stand Mixer, to grow their manufacturing export business.
Starting with an engineering brief, Idea’s team of industrial designers worked closely with the factory engineers, and marketing team researching and defining the product brief.  Creative conceptual sketches were generated, with refinement of internal component layouts, product proportions, visual aesthetics and ergonomics, further resolved via hand crafted form study models; and captured in 3D CAD with high quality A-Class surfacing.

There are many companies that struggle to design their products. Thankfully, there are companies like Idea Developments to help you and assist you throughout the process.
Founded in 1998, Idea Developments is a leading product design, development, and manufacturing company in New Zealand. They provide the complete product design and development service from; industrial design to engineering and prototypes, and much more.
Today, we are very happy to announce that we’ve been recently named as one of the best product design companies in New Zealand. According to Clutch’s recent press release, our team has been featured in the top B2B companies locally for 2022.

During 2021, we worked on some pretty exciting projects ranging from; Pharmacy devices and Laundry products, to the Construction industry and Apiary (bee keeping) products, not to mention a strong selection of start-ups!
Our Idea-China manufacturing facility was busier than ever, building new mould tools, producing parts, assembling products and shipping around the globe.

Here at Idea, we have developed and refined a proven system for creating clear, effective and concise product Design Specifications.
It is often said “you can't inspect quality into finished products." Quality starts during the design process and carries through into the manufacturing build process!
Idea's design specifications are created by our NZ engineering design team during the Design and Develop process; capturing critical areas of importance for the design, forming the basis of the quality control plan for manufacturing.

Check out this promotional and informative YouTube post from Godfreys Vacuums.
Idea’s design team took a ‘blue sky’ approach - developing conceptual designs evolved through actual size Form-Study (ergonomic) models, 3D CAD assembly modelling into marketable prototype samples ready for production engineering and tooling.

When leading horticultural/growers supply company ProLine Products approached Idea, they wanted an innovative, practical, and low cost solution to secure their reflective ground sheet material in place without damaging the product in windy conditions or puncturing tractor tyres when driven over. Critical design factors included easy-to-use, environmental resistance (windy & UV), performance, low cost production, and able to produce 10,000 GatorClip's per day.
Through a process of on-site orchard visits and conceptual 3D CAD modelling, strength (FEA) simulations and prototype test samples, the team at Idea successfully developed and built production mould tools for the GatorClip with over 500,000 global sales to date.

The balance between ‘over-engineering’ and ‘cost targets’ has always been a challenge in the design process. On the one hand over-engineering reduces failure rates, and on the other hand material weight savings offer easy cost reductions, but can introduce uncertainty with life expectancy or unforeseen breakages. Idea integrates FEA Simulations as part of their design optimisation process, providing early insight into strength performance and material/weight reductions.

In these challenging times it is important to evaluate the likely success of a product concept as early as possible during the development phase to ensure the final product outcome is viable.
Idea utilises a wide array of mock-up build techniques for model making including; soft (blue) foam, clay sculpturing, 3D Printing, engineering fabrication and general workshop skills to develop a wide range of mock-up models fit for purpose.

In these challenging times it is important to validate a design during the development phase(s) to ensure the final outcome (investment) is aligned correctly with the marketplace
Idea uses the very latest in 3D CAD modelling software (NX by Siemens) for computer modelling and generation of technical and marketing style rendered images to showcase the design.

Creating fresh original designs can be challenging from a written brief, particularly for start-ups or when developing a new product line.
Idea has developed a proven process for conceptual design generation, where our design team work closely with our clients, drawing knowledge from our manufacturing operation (Idea-China) to create validated concept designs.

We are celebrating 21 years of creative product Design, Development and manufacturing Supply of exciting and successful products around the world. From humble beginnings in 1998 when Kim Scott formed Idea, to the 2010 formation of Idea-China, to the present day NZ team of six and manufacturing operation in China. Idea’s mission to ‘exceed expectations through holistic design’ remains unchanged in proving; Industrial Designed Engineering Answers (IDEA).

When a leading Australian Vacuum Cleaning specialist approached Idea, their new product vision was very clear, to design a Vacuum Cleaner with a ‘World-first Comfort System’ for maximum user comfort and lightest weight performance.
Idea’s design team took a ‘blue sky’ approach - developing conceptual designs evolved through actual size Form-Study (ergonomic) models, 3D CAD assembly modelling into marketable prototype samples ready for production engineering and tooling.

When an Australian product engineering & testing firm approached Idea, on behalf of their client, they recognised the difficultly in combining visual design aesthetics with engineering (airflow) requirements.
Idea’s design team developed a strategic plan combining early aesthetic product resolve concurrent with engineered requirements. Time reducing milestones included Idea’s build of working (ready to test), marketable prototypes early in the process, resulting in early tooling/ manufacturing sign off, and pre-sale marketing of the Mega Gulper.

When Godfreys, the leading specialist Vacuum Cleaning company in Australia & New Zealand approached Idea, their vision to create and sell a market leading product was very clear.
In May of this year the Sauber Visualiser was awarded Finalist in the 2015 Australian Good Design Awards.
The concept of this product started from an idea of capturing and combining product performance, ease-of-use, reliability and visual brand integration. Through Idea’s design and development process, the product evolved into working 'marketable' prototype samples, fully engineered ready for tooling.

When qualified builder Aaron George approached Idea he already knew there was a need for improved technology in the way boxing/ formwork is built. The challenge was then how to create a patentable, functional bracing system design with a difference, ready for production and supply.
Through Idea's design and development process a series of concept designs and mock-ups were created and tested to validate the design direction. Idea’s team then engineered and developed the design through to tooling, production and in-house assembly of the Probrace System .

When Doug and Aileen from DnA Lifestyle Products approached Idea with their vision of a marketable end product, the challenge was then how to create a product design with the feature set to match their expectations.
Through Idea's design and development process a series of concept designs and mock-ups were created to validate the product design and feature set with actual farm testing. This approach provided clear direction for the remaining design and engineering work through to tooling. The CARRY-MATE logo, website and supporting marketing print material was designed by Idea's graphics team.

When three kiwi entrepreneurs from Evolve Coffee Ltd created a vision of integrating their three favourite processes into one coffee device. They approached Idea with the goal of creating a 'workable' prototype at 'marketable' qualityready for production.
Over the following months Idea's team of designers and engineers in both NZ & China created this successful product solution, along with manufacturing infrastructure, pricing and planning.

When a Leading Dairy Industry  supply company approached Idea they were at a cross road. Having already rapid prototyped (3D Printed) several parts as part of their 'proof of concept' process, they were still looking to 'real world' test and validate the 'product' prior to committing to production tooling.
Idea's team of design engineers reviewed the test requirements and prepared a prototype program, producing 30 part sets in a variety of production materials for real world 'Milking Shed' testing.
End result; tangible test results, design refinements and production tooling started all ahead of schedule with reduced risk and on budget.

Steelfort Engineering approached Idea with a vision of developing a new semi commercial 'wide-cut' mower for their next generation Eco Series Lawnmower Range.
By establishing a strong interactive partnership through one of Idea's tailored resource packages, our design team accelerated the research, design and development process forward providing new design/ engineering opportunities. This level of collaboration resulted in a final 'team' design solution delivered on time to catch the seasonal product launch.