The number and nature of changes made to the design of machines predetermine whether it is necessary to manufacture a prototype machine. In cases where changes affect the fundamentals of the design, such as changing the kinematic diagram of the product, layout, basing of the main units, etc., it becomes necessary to check the design, for which a prototype product is made. In those cases where design changes affect only individual parts of the machine, such as any unit of the machine or its location, verification of the drawings can be carried out by manufacturing this part of the machine and checking its performance.

Not less than important task is consumer feedback. Based on the above, a primary concept of a new product is created that needs to be verified. To this end, it is necessary to present the intended product to the consumer (a prototype, a detailed description of a new product) and identify his attitude towards it, and maybe even conclude a contract for the supply of this product already at this stage of development. Proof of concept is an inexpensive tool for assessing the enthusiasm of potential consumers who are asked to express their opinion on the image, written information, or even oral description of a future product before starting a very costly and time-consuming development of a new product. In this case, it is necessary to ask a number of questions, the answers to which can serve as very valuable information for the manufacturer to think about. The statement of the question should be simple, clear and extremely specific. For example, is it easy to understand the core idea of ​​a new product

Most of the initiators, especially innovative projects, react quite painfully to the question of the availability of marketing research, believing that this is not part of their task, since they are confident in the high quality of their product (technology), and that they will immediately begin to buy it and in the quantity that the project initiator plans to produce. That is, most of the initiators do not have a causal relationship, which should serve as the basis for the development of a new technology, a new product. The existing market forms well-defined requirements for the product, and the manufacturer of the product, if he wants to stay in this market, transforms these requirements through himself, taking into account the capabilities of existing or newly developed technologies. The Russian developer of an idea (technology, product) in most cases does not know and does not want to know whether this technology (product) will be in demand in the consumer market. Under the conditions that until recently existed in the domestic market, this was not required of him. There was a system of centralized (state) orders, in which the range of possible consumers and performers was determined by higher authorities. The contractor (developer of technology) was given a task that was solved, but the industry turned out to be unclaimed. That is, the developed technology, the prototype did not receive a commercial implementation. At the same time, the developer of the technology, the new product, was cut off from the process of selling goods on the consumer market. He did not even always understand exactly who would consume these products. Unfortunately, this situation still exists today. The initiator firmly believes that his development will find demand due to its uniqueness. However, he may be wrong. In the process of analyzing the project, its marketing part, it turns out that there are a number of companies on the market that produce similar products. At the same time, there are leaders in terms of price / quality, sales volume, and the project initiator, since it is just entering the market, is an outsider and, for a number of reasons, cannot vary price parameters. This has a depressing effect on both the initiator and the investor.

The price of the product will be equal to the sum of materials + the cost of materials multiplied by the coefficient. Material consumption can be determined by making a prototype. In this way, the calculation of the preliminary cost can be made in the shortest possible time.

In cases where the cost of manufacturing a prototype is included in the estimate for pre-production, they include the cost of materials and purchased components, wages of workers, workshop and general factory costs, and the cost of manufacturing special equipment for a prototype. When determining the cost of a prototype, it must be kept in mind that factories supplying purchased components may, in turn, have to bear the costs of developing these new products.

To justify (and control) the cost of manufacturing a prototype, the reporting data on the manufacture of a prototype of a similar product at this or another plant are used. It is possible that the customer, in accordance with the contract, does not pay all the costs of manufacturing a prototype, but only its planned cost. In this case, the estimate for the preparation of production includes the difference between the costs and the amount of sales. In the case when a prototype is manufactured under a contract with the customer and paid for by him, the cost of the sample includes all costs for manufacturing, developing working drawings of the sample, designing the technological process for manufacturing the sample, special tooling and testing work.

Promising development reflects the stage when the fundamental possibility of creating a product has been proven and a prototype is being manufactured.

After the acceptance of the prototypes by the State Commission and the approval of the act of accepting the product for serial production, the prototype or the first experimental batch of the product is included in the commercial products of the manufacturer at the prices of serial production established for the sale of this product, and in the cost of the commercial products of the plant at the cost corresponding to the conditions for the serial production of a new product.

Product prototype test 4 8 8 Prototype assembled

Prototype product (prototype model, prototype)

In accordance with Article 769 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, under a contract for the performance of scientific research, the contractor undertakes to conduct scientific research stipulated by the technical specifications of the customer, and under a contract for the performance of experimental design and technological work - to develop a sample of a new product, design documentation for it or a new technology, and the customer undertakes to accept the work and pay for it.

The first batch of new machines is manufactured on the basis of the route technological process. The technological process is checked and refined, future equipment is designed and the need for labor, equipment, etc. is roughly determined. On the basis of the route technological process, a prototype product is manufactured and assembled and presented to the acceptance committee. A prototype can also be demonstrated at special exhibitions to identify consumers of new equipment and form a portfolio of orders.

characteristics of operational and technical-co-eco-iomic. qualities of O. o. machines productivity power speed dimensions weight energy or fuel consumption efficiency efficiency ease of operation, maintenance, repair strength duration of service reliability in operation, etc. K O. o. diverse consumer goods impose specific requirements for each case, for example, to fabrics - beauty, strength, lightness, etc. Along with the high performance of clothing. characterized by manufacturability design. O. o. undergo extensive testing under conditions as close as possible to the conditions of normal operation of products. K O. o. especially critical products are subject to testing requirements,

Tests of the prototype are carried out in strict accordance with the approved program. The actual parameters of performance, accuracy, reliability characteristics, etc. are carefully checked and measured, if possible.

For unique products, everything is solved simply. If the product is intended for serial production, several prototypes are first made. Their number may be different in most cases, the prototype is produced in a single copy. Aircraft Concord" was made in two prototypes, aircraft engines are usually worked out on the head batch of up to 12 pieces, and cars new design - 100 or more copies.

The concept of a prototype product or prototype is more familiar than the concept of a prototype part discussed above. But it has also changed its content. Previously, when talking about a prototype, they always had in mind a model or a working sample of a product made by hand, which is long and very laborious. Now it is possible to create prototype products on the so-called 3D printers based on computer simulation. The product under development different types and sections can be disassembled, assembled and "twisted" on the monitor screen as much as you like, and then "printed" in the form of a real design. Relatively inexpensive installations for rapid full-scale prototyping have appeared (for example, Stratasys - plastic prototypes).

Unlike the practice of most branches of mechanical engineering, the annual plans of power engineering enterprises include all products to be mastered, since there are no pilot plants in this industry and the first sample of power equipment manufactured by factories, with very few exceptions, is a product intended for industrial operation at power plants. The first copy of a new product is manufactured in the same workshops of turbine and boiler plants as already mastered products.

Industrial model, more often, confused with layout sample, experimental or prototype (all three concepts are used, but according to GOST R 15.201 there is only "experienced"), which are the results of scientific and technical activities and relate to material results in the performance of development work.

Speaking of an industrial design as an object of intellectual property, it is important to pay attention to a very common mistake that is typical for conducting development work (R&D) and taking into account the results of such work. As a rule, ROC is carried out in several stages. These stages are described in GOST R 15.201-2000 “System for the development and production of products (SRPP). Products for industrial and technical purposes. The procedure for developing and putting products into production”, and in more detail in the military standard GOST RV 15.203-2001 “The system for developing and putting products into production. Military equipment. The procedure for performing development work on the creation of products and their components”, some provisions of which are often used in the development civilian products, because this standardization document describes the entire development process in a very precise and consistent manner.

At certain stages of the R&D implementation, such material results of scientific and technical activities as a “prototype model”, “prototype”, “experimental sample” appear. Based on the names, it is quite obvious that often among this set of material values, in the perception of developers and chief designers, there is by chance such a result of intellectual activity as an industrial design. Concepts are confused, and the consequences can be very unpleasant: for example, errors in accounting, or an unresolved issue of legal protection of product design.

This error is very common. You can even say that it is typical for engineers to confuse an industrial design with a mock-up / prototype / experimental design. The key difference is that an industrial design is the result of intellectual labor , an art and design (more related to design) solution that may be protected by a patent.

Industrial model- this is the idea of ​​​​the appearance of a product, which the designer and designer aim to translate into future products. An industrial design, like all objects of intellectual property, is accounted for as an intangible asset (in accounting, when reflected on the balance sheet).

In its turn mock-up / prototype / experimental sample - all these are material values, things . For a more detailed justification, it is necessary to give well-known definitions:

• Breadboard sample- a term not found in normative documents, but often used in scientific and technical reporting and other documentation. A mock-up sample is understood as a mock-up - a simplified reproduction of a product or part of it on a certain scale, on which individual characteristics of the product are studied, and the correctness of the technical and artistic decisions made is assessed. The term "layout" is usually used for a model in which the quantitative relationships between the elements of the product are stored and its individual properties are modeled, for example appearance(Recommendations. System for the development and production of products. Terms and definitions R 50-605-80-93)
• experimental sample- a product sample that has the main features of the product planned for development, manufactured in order to test the proposed solutions and clarify individual characteristics for use in the development of this product. ( Interstate standard GOST 15.101-98).
• Prototype- a product sample manufactured according to a newly developed working documentation for verification by testing compliance with its specified technical requirements in order to make a decision on the possibility of putting into production and (or) use for its intended purpose. (GOST 16504-81).

The most important thing to understand when talking about mock-up / experimental / experimental sample - all these are material values, some samples of products being prepared for release, fully or partially possessing the properties and characteristics of the future (developed) products, which are intended for demonstration, experiments or experiments.

There are precedents when, when performing R&D under government contracts, having got confused in these definitions, the developers tried to hand over prototype products to the state customer as objects of intellectual property, erroneously referring them to intangible intellectual results of work in the reporting documentation. Such errors, becoming the subject of public discussion, can significantly damage the reputation of the developer, exposing his illiteracy in matters of intellectual property.