Virtual platform fuses technology with prototyping process to connect inventors and experts from around the world and turn ideas into reality in less than half the usual time and cost
London, 29 June 2021 – LastBasic has today announced the launch of its new industrial design and engineering platform for inventors to turn ideas for products into functional prototypes. The first-of-its-kind platform unites inventors with designers and engineers from around the world to create a product prototype at a fraction of the time of traditional, offline prototyping methods and at costs of up to 60% less than traditional engineering consultancies.
The digital platform uses automation to eliminate admin and inefficiencies and smoothly move inventors, designers, and engineers from ideation to prototype completion in an average of 14 weeks. The process begins with an inventor submitting their idea through the platform, at which point LastBasic’s community of industrial designers compete to win this project by submitting proposals for real-world designs of the idea. Instead of bidding via a quotation, such as how a traditional consultancy might win a project put out to tender, the designers win the project by showing how they would complete the task. Inventors then provide feedback and select a proposal to proceed with. This process is repeated for each stage of the process, from sketch, 3D modelling, electrical, mechanical, to final prototyping.
LastBasic rewards the industrial designers and engineers who have their proposals selected with payment at each stage of the process, while the other designers and engineers who submitted a proposal but weren’t selected are paid for their efforts too. This ensures the valued expert community of designers and engineers remain hungry for work and continue to push boundaries with innovative proposals as they seek to win inventors’ projects.
“Creating prototypes is critical to validating products and projects, but the traditional models for generating them can be complex, taking many months and sometimes costing tens of thousands of pounds. LastBasic’s platform is disrupting these traditional models, making prototyping more accessible, much faster, and providing better value,” comments Alejandro Turell, CEO at LastBasic.
“By using LastBasic, inventors can access skills and knowledge of designers, engineers and Makers from different regions, who bring ideas, experience, and methods that are beyond the capability of many engineering consultancies. And for designers and engineers, it is a unique opportunity to compete with the design and engineering community to see your proposal become a reality and be rewarded every step of the way.”
Ahead of the official launch, the LastBasic platform has been collaborating with inventors and expert designers and engineers to validate the automated process. In addition to the time and cost benefits, inventors have also valued the control and decision-making power that remains in their hands during every stage. This contrasts with traditional engineering consultancies, where prototypes can often differ significantly from the original idea. The LastBasic platform has around the clock visibility, giving inventors clear oversight of the process, the status of a project and, ultimately, the final say on all decisions.
“LastBasic is putting the power back into the hands of inventors – they get the prototype they want and a hassle-free design and engineering process that they can monitor every step of the way,” continues Turell. “Finally, the major hurdles of turning an idea into a real prototype, such as high cost and long turnaround times, can be bypassed and the entire process can be easily managed remotely via a single online platform.”