Prototyping
Three Biggest Operational Challenges in Prototyping
Frequent Design Changes and Lack of Revision Control
Prototypes evolve rapidly, and without version-controlled instructions and data, operators risk using outdated BOMs, files, or build steps—leading to scrap or misbuilds.
Manual Data Collection and Poor Traceability
Critical build insights (e.g., issues, changes, measurements) are captured in notebooks or spreadsheets, making it hard to replicate builds, analyze failures, or inform engineering.
Unstructured Feedback Loop Between Shopfloor and Engineering
Operators often spot issues or suggest improvements, but there’s no standard process to capture and link this input to the product design or process flow.
Key Personas Involved in Prototyping
Dan, the Development Engineer
Owns the product design and BOM, defines prototype objectives, supports the technician during builds, and iterates on the product.
Quincy, the Quality Engineer / Lab Technician
Performs validation tests, ensures measurements are documented, and checks compliance against functional targets.
Phil, the Production Engineer
Ensures manufacturability of the design, captures process learnings for scaling to production, and helps define work instructions.
Richard, the R&D Manager / Product Owner
Coordinates design iterations, validates product hypotheses, and reviews build and test data to make go/no-go decisions.
Five High-Value Use Cases for MBrain and Mint
1. Use Case: Digital Work Instructions and File Versioning
Challenge: Operators use outdated documents or don’t know which CAD or BOM revision is correct.
How MBrain + Mint helps: MBrain provides digital access to version-controlled files (drawings, 3D models, test specs) tied to product and revision. Mint syncs directly with PLM/CAD vaults, ensuring that latest versions are always available at the bench.
Benefit: Fewer build errors, reduced confusion, and a fully auditable trail of which version was used in each build.
2. Use Case: Structured Feedback and Issue Capture During Build
Challenge: Operator feedback is lost in emails or not captured at all, slowing the learning cycle and design refinement.
How MBrain + Mint helps:MBrain lets users log issues, comments, and improvement ideas per process step. These are tagged to the product and serial number. Mint links this feedback to the engineering team via dashboards or integration with project tools (e.g. Jira, Teams).
Benefit: Accelerates iteration speed and creates a feedback loop between operations and engineering.
3. Use Case: Traceability and Build History per Prototype Unit
Challenge: It’s unclear what was built, by whom, and under what conditions—making it hard to troubleshoot or replicate.
How MBrain + Mint helps:MBrain assigns each prototype a unique serial number and logs every action, test result, component, and material used. Mint integrates this build history with engineering tools or compliance reports.
Benefit: Full digital passport for each unit, enabling root cause analysis, documentation for audits, or repeating a successful build.
4. Use Case: Test Data Capture and Reporting
Challenge: Measurements and test results are often recorded manually and inconsistently across technicians.
How MBrain + Mint helps:MBrain allows structured entry of test results at each step, including pictures, measurements, and observations. Mint aggregates test data for review, visualization, or export to R&D databases or BI tools.
Benefit: Reliable and standardized test documentation—reducing validation errors and improving comparability.
5. Use Case: Prototype Build Analytics and Engineering Insights
Challenge: Engineering lacks visibility into how builds perform across trials—slowing decisions on readiness or redesign.
How MBrain + Mint helps:MBrain tracks build duration, number of issues, test results, and rework per prototype or revision. Mint visualizes this data across builds to identify trends or design weaknesses.
Benefit: Enables data-driven decisions on whether to iterate, freeze, or scale a prototype design.