Forensic engineering and materials innovation, key pillars on which our work and philosophy are based, would “limp” today without the existence of a third leg that responds to the technical design and prototyping team on which we are in luck. Recently we have been fortunate enough to expand the team with a new member: Plastic Design & Prototyping specialist. At present we add a total of 5 professionals with experience in this specific area.
Infinita was born with the forensic engineering service as the backbone of its business model, that is, the knowledge and experience of purely technical development was its main “core”. Marketing did not fit here, but from experience we consider that it should be included. The main reason is explained by Javier Sanz, CEO of the Aragonese company, “the planning and execution of a project from the technical point of view implies effort, resources and a lot of time. Let’s imagine that we participate in the adaptation and improvement of a new product that presents a weight problem and we make it lighter. A priori our result is very positive, but if the public does not like it, in reality it does not fulfill the objective 100% ”.
Strategic design is a work approach that is being imposed in the definition of the innovation guidelines of most of the companies, whose paths intertwine the interests of the users (research) and the product (design), without neglecting those corresponding to the business (analysis). Responding to the uncertainties generated about what kind of impact a product or service can have is the specialty of our team. To this end, thanks to Infinitia’s trajectory, we managed to find the most optimized route, also generating industrializable designs, which represents a significant cost reduction in the manufacture of large volumes of units.
Through technical design and mainly with prototyping, it is possible to define an action map. For Infinitia it translates directly into added value that differentiates it from the know-how of other recognized engineering firms. It is a way of “closing the circle and putting our feet on the ground”, metaphorically explains Sanz. The combination of the strategic design and the technical part “helps us to be more flexible and competitive than other companies”, he highlights.
Since that strategic market vision, two years have passed and this team has experienced exponential growth, due to the increase in projects that demand this type of service. Currently it represents around 25% of the company’s turnover and they do not rule out carrying out further extensions in the coming years.
The new member of the team, Laura del Rio Brusel, studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Zaragoza, also has a master’s degree in Design and Development of Injected Plastic Components and developed part of her training at the Technological University of Tampere, in Finland .
For the new component of the workforce, “the work environment in Infinitia is very creative, it allows the joint application of the knowledge of mechanical engineering and design”. In relation to a piece of plastic, she describes it as a “very challenging and exciting” challenge because “the resistant and rheological properties of the selected material must be taken into account; the injection process and selected injection machine; the manufacture and complexity of the mold; and the interaction between each of them. All are related to each other and the variation of one of them will have more or less important repercussions on the others, in addition to directly affecting the final cost of the piece ”.
The design and prototyping team at Infinitia
Sandra Ordovás: “What I like the most is proposing each new proposal as if it were the first time, there are never two equal challenges. Understanding end customers is a challenge, we love to guide our work with a consumer-centric approach ”.
Inko Romero: “I am an enthusiast of design as an engine of improvement in the industrial field and also outside its borders. I believe in innovation as a key tool for the development of the right solutions. I am also convinced that the best solutions are those that, in addition to serving locally, work in other places and markets ”.
Sergio Alfaro: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it. The Internet of things is not going to reach the industries anytime soon, the Internet of things is here. Constant innovation is the only way to stay competitive, because no advantage is sustainable in the long term. The best thing about electronic development is the ability to give life and intelligence to products ”.
Alberto Zurro: “The most challenging thing about prototyping is putting hundreds of ideas into a single concept, integrating technology, functionality and industrial production. It is a really challenging discipline, but at the same time it fills you with satisfaction to be able to see in the faces of your clients that you have exceeded their expectations and have made their ideas come true ”.