Product development · FabraForma

Product development: from idea to a first batch you can sell

FabraForma develops physical products in Powai, Mumbai, taking an idea through design, prototypes and a first small batch in one studio.

Founders, hardware start-ups and brands come to us with a sketch, a problem or a competitor's product. You leave with a tested design, the files, and parts you can put in customers' hands.

Where we can take a product

Concept and industrial design

Form, ergonomics and user flow worked out in sketches and quick blocks before any detail CAD.

Engineering CAD

Wall thickness, draft, fasteners, snap fits, tolerances and assembly order, modelled so the part can actually be made.

Looks-like and works-like prototypes

Printed in-house on our Bambu Lab FDM fleet and HeyGears SLA resin, usually turned around in days rather than weeks.

Enclosures for electronics

Housings designed around your PCB, display, battery and connectors, with the bosses, vents and cable exits in the right place.

Pilot and small-batch runs

Tens to hundreds of finished, packed units by printing, CNC, or silicone moulding and PU casting, to test the market before tooling.

Hand-off to mass production

When volume justifies injection moulding, we prepare the design for it and tell you so plainly, rather than keep printing.

What it can look like

From working prototype to packed first batch

The stages a product goes through, from prototype loops to a first batch.

Painted off-white looks-like model beside an opened grey 3D-printed works-like version showing its circuit board, on a desk by a rainy window — **Looks-like and works-like, side by side**A painted model to judge form and finish, next to an opened working print that proves the board, battery and cable fit.

Tray of identical navy cast cable organisers with their grey resin master in front, and boxed units on a packing table — **A pilot run, cast and packed**Identical units cast in PU from a silicone mould taken off a printed master, packed to sell before anyone pays for tooling.

How a development project runs

Short loops, real parts and decisions made next to the machines. Each stage ends with something physical you can hold and judge.

1. Discovery.
What the product must do, who uses it, where it is sold, what it may cost to make, and what already exists.
2. Concept.
Two or three directions as sketches or rough prints. You choose one, or a mix.
3. Engineering and first prototype.
Detailed CAD, then a prototype printed in-house for fit, feel and function.
4. Iterate.
Test, mark up, reprint. Most products take a few loops, and in-house printing keeps each loop short.
5. First batch.
A pilot run with finishing and packaging, plus the files you need to scale with us or any manufacturer.

Also from the studio

Related services

Reverse engineering, when the starting point is an existing part
Forge, our design-and-build line for bespoke commissions
Design tips for 3D printing to get more out of your first prototype
Capabilities: exactly what runs in-house and what goes to partners

Questions buyers ask

Who owns the design?

You do. Unless we agree otherwise in writing before the work starts, the design files and rights to the product you commission belong to you.

Will you sign an NDA?

Yes. Send yours or ask for ours before you share details.

How much does product development cost?

It depends on how far along you are and how many loops the product needs. After a short discovery call we quote stage by stage, so you can stop after any stage and keep what has been made.

Can you make the first few hundred units?

Yes, by 3D printing, CNC or silicone moulding and PU casting depending on the part. When the numbers favour injection moulding we say so and prepare the design for it.

Tell us about the product

An idea, a sketch or a competitor's product is enough to start. Replies within 24 hours.

Start a product conversation