Sample Pricing for Product Development

How much should you budget for hiring a product development firm?

Wondering what it might cost to develop your product?

Development cost is an important factor for product viability. Along with production cost, tooling cost, sales price, and sales volume, it is a critical input to the financial analysis that drives your decisions.

The examples below show development, engineering, and prototyping cost, but do not include tooling costs, first-run production costs, packaging cost, etc. In some of these examples the timeframe is driven by the client’s target spend rate per month.

Several factors impact the total cost of development. Product complexity and level of cost-optimization are two of the biggest drivers. Accordingly, the project examples and related costs may not correlate to the actual cost of your project.

 

 

Build-Measure-Learn in action at SGW Designworks

Project Example

Development cost($)

Timeframe

Rugged single-part plastic product that incorporates innovative mechanical elements $44,000 4 Months
Large industrial equipment incorporating a purchased drivetrain with custom designed ruggedized chassis, controls, cooling system, and enclosure $450,000 12 Months
Industrial docking station for proprietary tablets, including secure bet sheet metal enclosure and mounting considerations $125,000 3 Months
Rugged wearable electronic device that measures acceleration to warn the user of hazardous conditions $75,000 6 Months
Rugged single-part steel hand tool for specific cutting tasks, with multiple proprietary features integrated $20,000 2 Months
Re-design of existing Specialty equipment for specific industrial application requiring rugged design, electronics integration, touch screen, sensor integration $95,000 9 Months
Industrial automation cell for production of a small medical device with very high precision, using commercially available robotic arm but custom designed fixturing, infeed, and outfeed $370,000 12 Months
Rugged home appliance with integrated wireless communications (BLE and WiFi) plus integrated mechanicals and control systems $525,000 15 Months
Commercial equipment incorporating industrial servos, motion control, custom chassis, control scheme, multiple sensor sets, and communication with outside hardware $380,000 12 Months
Enclosure development for rugged (IP-67) industrial product that is mounted inside fleet vehicles. $44,000 4 Months