Design 1st is a full-service, physical product design-engineering firm that turns ideas into professional commercialised products. We have experience across all stages of a product’s lifecycle and developed over 1,000 projects that influence millions of people globally and helped secure more than 180 client patents.
Design 1st has been helping mining organisations bring new mining equipment to market for more than 20 years. With senior-level expertise across all aspects of industrial design and mechanical and electronics engineering combined with a philosophy of incorporating human behaviour science, Design 1st has helped mining equipment providers fuel innovation with the delivery of rugged, high-impact mining equipment transforming standards in the mining industry.
Mining equipment companies turn to Design 1st for help in developing weather-tight custom electronics and enclosures and high-precision components that meet stringent safety and regulatory requirements. We plug into your existing team, help you identify and overcome risk factors early, and leverage expertise that spans a wide range of disciplines.
Ruggedized product design in the mining industry
Design 1st has an internal team of mechanical engineers, industrial designers, and electronics specialists to ensure your manufacturing hardware product can withstand adverse underground and outdoor environments. With our experience in navigating the complex regulatory process, we work closely with you to ensure your product meets certification requirements and gets to market fast.
Re-design and modify existing mining products
Design 1st integrates into your existing engineering team and helps you accelerate the transformation from your existing product to a new look, form and functions that deliver optimal performance in emerging data-driven, high-bandwidth mining environments.
We design and coordinate low-yearly volume product and higher volume builds.
Mechanical engineering support
Design 1st offers a world-class experienced mechanical engineering team with deep roots in identifying strong, patentable elements that help to enhance and develop ruggedised mining equipment. Clients also own all the intellectual property (IP) created.
R&D exploration with Rapid Test Iteration
Design 1st drives the transformation of your new idea into a production-ready item with a proven process of design, test and build. When risks are identified, we find low-cost options to qualify risk and determine the best solution to proceed with. A recent example is how we helped our client Sky-X to design, prototype and deliver the world’s first production-ready prototype autonomous drone landing station.
Manufacturing support services for mining equipment
Design 1st has an internal team of supply coordination experts who work with the design team to choose and select your part suppliers and help you choose a contract manufacturer early in the product development process.
Our network of more than 1,000 component suppliers and manufacturers support teams when it comes to sourcing cost-driven quality parts and building your new product. This approach helps ensure new product development stays within your budget and timeline.
Connected devices within the mining sector
Design 1st knows that the future of mining involves connection to high-bandwidth networks allowing the transfer of data and interaction between devices and Cloud networks.
Our embedded electronics hardware and firmware teams are experts in modifying existing products to add processing power, sensors, interfaces, and new features with intrinsically safe wireless and wired connectivity, and updating the electronics to energy-efficient high-quality devices with redundant design.