I have no clue where to start. I have crude drawings and a crude but working prototype.
The materials would consist of a plastic case, foam, with 1 moving but relatively simple part.
Is this something I can look for locally? If so, who or what type of companies would I reach out to ?
How many units are you considering for your initial order?
I had a physical product mass produced by finding companies on Alibaba that sold similar products in bulk and emailing them about ordering my own design.
One drawback of this approach is that the sort of companies that are on Alibaba will rip off your design if it seems like it’s doing well.
You can either find a way to produce it locally, then pitch the sale of it to a larger company, or you can reach out to one of those invention companies. I believe you would be selling the idea to them. Don’t know if that would work for you after putting so much into it.
At this stage you need a product designer. There’s lots of firms out there similar to IDEO but you likely need a small product engineering firm. They’ll be able to put together the CAD package and next round prototypes that you can then shop out to manufacturing and design. Around 10k would get you started. Or just learn Solidworks and do it yourself lol
I’ve already got a 3d printable version of it. Not exactly what I want but i’s pretty close.