Exo-skeleton Design Brainstorm
Exciting stuff coming.. more words later
We press on with MWCreative in Dubai! Despite the challenging economic situation in the UAE we continue to win interesting print and digital marketing projects.
Click here to see what it takes for our small business to survive in Dubai
I recently completed a 3 month contract at Trend Marine In Norfolk. Using PTC Creo 4 and Windchill I helped remodel and enhance sun roof and patio door assemblies. Lovely part of the country, great team, really interesting mechanisms and a quiality end product.
Glassware designs for a boutique design and manufacturing company in Cumbria resulted in interesting design and visualisation opportunities. Rendering liquids can be tricky!
Actually this was a great opportunity to continue working with HDRI files, lighting, reflection, perspective matching, shadows and background images.
The first project I worked on with Jeff Marsden from Hygiene Systems in Auckland New Zealand was a simple new carrying handle cum wall mounting bracket for the femcare sanitary waste bin. This simple, injection moulded handle was sold as a retrofit kit with a sheet metal wall bracket and locking key, The single piece moulded handle enabled the bin to lock to the bracket and be released with a simple key.
Getting up to speed with Rhino and Vray. Super quick turnaround project required bus modelling first followed by a rough interior layout. The complex surfaces (complex in its loosest sense) of the bus exterior turned out to be the easy bit. Modelling without history could make me super lazy… Much prefer parametric with history.
When designing a product the cost of logistics is critcal, especially for low margin items. Nesting without the risk of damage is a great way of saving space and money and a key consideration for all sea freight products.
Never as easy as it looks, instructions need to be simple, clear and fool-proof… pff, never!
Antony Whitehead is a product development specialist with over 20 years experience delivering complex multidisciplinary projects in the industrial, consumer and aerospace product sectors.
His international project portfolio incorporates the complete product, and project lifecycle including all elements of commercial, operational and financial program delivery.
Antony has experience in the commercial aviation, consumer product, industrial product, automotive, rail, marine and consultancy sectors and has completed projects in UK, China, Singapore, Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, Japan and the UAE.
There’s nothing simple about a toilet brush.. except the function. To the washroom service provider ‘consumables are king.’ The idea here is to create a toilet brush for the commercial market that utlilises a propritary consumable.
Sharing the same consumable as the Hygiene Systems toilet brush the domestic toilet sanitiser product marked the beginning of Hygiene Systems plan to develop mass produced washroom products with proprietary consumable for the home
In 2009 Whitehead CC completed a series of concept designs and prototyps for a new range of digital portable radios. This project included reverse engineering and repackaging existing technology using new surfaces knitted together with existing internal geometry
Algorithm development, patent applications, product design, electronic circuitry development
GKN Sankey rep on-site at Caterpillar, ceiling panel modelling, plus door frame and lock modelling
In 2007 Hygiene Systems joined forces with Vida in Hong Kong to develop a paper towel dispenser concept designed around existing automatic and mechanical activation systems.
Hygiene Systems design team developed an elegant solution that aligned with the HS brand and offered the mechanical and automated solution from the same set of injection mould tools with different inserts. The image opposite shows the mechanical version of the hybrid product.
In 2007 Hygiene Systems joined forces with Vida in Hong Kong to develop a paper towel dispenser concept designed around existing automatic and mechanical activation systems.
Hygiene Systems design team developed an elegant solution that aligned with the HS brand and offered the mechanical and automated solution from the same set of injection mould tools with different inserts. The image opposite shows the automatic version of the hybrid product.
Toilet brushes with proprietary consumables designed for the New Zealand service providing industry has continued to be one of the most challenging projects for the NZ based design team. Bring together complex tooling, functional simplicity and a host of safety requirements and you have a surprisingly complex project.
A major element of all Hygiene Systems projects is innovation. The image opposite shows early valve design concepts for the disinfectant delivery system of an advanced….. toilet brush.
Whitehead CC have used mechanica for the mechanical anlsis of CFRP and polyprop product and marine structures as well as dynamic kinematic simulation for verification of complex mechanical assemblies in marine, aviation and product design projects
Idea generation and concept design is one of the areas in which we excel producing 100’s of thumbnail sketches per hour, to explore functional and aesthetic ideas in both design and engineering.
Innovation leads to improved products and new revenue streams for the business. Sanitary waste disposal is at the heart of the commercial washroom servicing business and any improvements to these products and services can be leveraged to gain the edge over the competiotion. Disinfecting and deodorising sanitary waste bins increases the service interval and reduces the toxicity of the waste; both positive commercial and environmental USP’s
In 2008 we identified a market for managing 3rd party tooling, product manufacturing and logistics through Hygiene Systems network of suppliers. This business not only increases revenue of the parent company, Hygiene Systems, but also effectively increases Hygiene Systems spend with vendors allowing greater leverage during price negotiations.
Conceptual and engineering design of a high speed CFRP amphibious vehicle designed for military and search and rescue applications
The image opposite shows the Kimberly Clark chute design. This product could be customised by offering different chutes to different customers
Hygiene Systems have a very aggressive product development schedule seeing every dollar spent on third party products in the service business as money that could be saved through in-house development. Still on the drawing board the Hygiene Systems Autosoap product is packed with user, service provider and manufacturer ‘friendly’ concepts
One of the many innovations under consideration for the second generation Femcare product is the biodegradable ‘flexiseal’ chute system that will reduce the need for detergents and deodorisers and further strengthen the case for the ‘in cubicle’ cleaning, especially in busy, high density city centre locations where transportation and other operational costs are at a premium.
In 2002/2003 Antony Whitehead was employed as the Design Manager for Sensation Yachts in Auckland New Zealand. A challenging role managing the structures, systems, electrical and interior design functions
New Zealand horse racing, on-course advertising project
Completed in 2004 this project was an indepth study into media spending in New Zealand and the opportunitties for on course advertising. The project culminated in a ‘launch event’ and the final negotiations of an exclusive advertising agreement at all New Zealand race tracks.
Packaging Design for all HygieneSystems products including graphics, raw material selection, folding and locking, die knife design
In 2006 we completed the design of a new paper dispenser. This project evolved into the Toweltronic paper dispenser launched in 2008
Working on the GYMtv project provided exposure to venture capital and merchant banking organisations as well as major media and advertising organisations. A full business plan was created for the project with a view to raising funding and building a team to take this exciting project forward.
Managing product lifecycle across a family range requires careful planning and effects all areas of the business including brand, marketing and logistics. This is especially difficult in the third party distributor arrangement where distributors must phase products in and out with their own customers.
The new gen. product range shown here was a combination of upgrade and complete new build depending on the stage of each products individual lifecycle.
Back when our second Finetech office was shiny and new in Hatfield circa 1999 we completed sheet metal assemblies and associated moulded components for HM Prisons cell ventilation assemblies. This was done using PTC’s Pro/Engineer version… hmm 17?
Wastecare chutes & compactors have been produced in a set of colours, with NZ recycling signage to give New Zealand companies the option to use the Wastecare product for office waste recycling applications.
Finetech design was established in 1999 in the Hatfield in the UK. The company took its name from the precision engineering company who kindly provided the office space in return for engineering services. Finetech started life as the sole provider of reverse engineering and design engineering services to Gatehill International in China. Gatehill developed clone laser printer cartridges and Finetech ‘re’ designed these cartridges.
The images shown in the brochure show various elements of the cartidges including intricate formed steel components.
Also on this sheet of the brochure we made reference to the other services offered, namely graphic design and branding. Freya Far East was an insurance fraud investigation company in Hong Kong and the RnR bar was a bar and night club in New Zealand.
The image opposite shows an exploded view from one of the 6 laser printer cartridge reverse engineering and design projects Finetech worked on.
We used our Browne and Sharp manual CMM to digitise the critical dimensions from the original and then set to work on redesigning the new product around all the IP and physical restrictions, ensuring the end product met a strict specification defined at the beginning of the project.
The completed 3D models, engineering drawings, prototypes and patent design-around manuals were then handed over to Gatehill in China
After graduation Antony Whitehead worked for Massey Fergusson Industrial / Fermec in Trafford Park Manchester as a Design Engineer and Industrial Designer.
As an intern and then graduate trainee Antony worked with the fitters, test department and then engineering department on Cabin development projects.
Antony completed his Masters Degree in Industrial Design for Engineers while working at Fermec.
Antony’s Masters degree major project was the cabin design for a new range of Fermec Backhoe loaders. The project was carried out in parallel to his actual design and project engineering role at Fermec.
This comprehensive project included the design of all controls within the cab and all internal and external fairing and features.
After completing the management of Singapore Airlines' Skysuite project in 1998 WhiteheadCC worked on concept design for coffee and tea making products in Hong Kong.
Finetech did not only design and engineer laser printer cartridges, like the Ricoh cartridge shown here, we also worked on transport design projects for James Park Associates and projects for HM Prisons and special purpose sheet metal assembly customers
As the Design Manager for Sensation Yachts damage limitation was the name of the game. Quickly reorganising teams and ensuring Lloyds and DNV compliance were the primary achievements.
The scope of the role at Sensation later shifted to include modelling of structures for future yacht projects (SY27)
Concept design & pitch preparation Lufthansa, China Airlines & ANA
In 1999 Finetech Design Consultants became James Park Associates Engineering and worked on concept design and pitch preparation for a number of propsective clients in Europe and Asia
(But why these terrible images????) While working as the project manager for James Park Associates Antony Whitehead designed the forward monument for the A380 upper deck of Singapore Airlines Business Class cabin… it was a race against the clock to get a design concept approved….
Technical documents and detailed instructions, reducing complaints and ensuring correct usage
Project manager, Singapore airlines 777 first class cabin
Managing vendor schedules and integrated master schedule on behalf of the client, Singapore Airlines, and active involvement in design direction and detailed design of aluminium and CFRP assemblies.
Representing the designers at ITCM, PDR, CDR and FAI and recommending design enhancements and improvements throughout the development process.