LKD Project management
Meeting the client
Is generally the owner that meets the client, fills up a data sheet fool of informations on the client's need, requests and expectations.
The work at this moment is to understand what the customer's need are.
We are not going to the meeting to sell anything, we go there to hear what the client needs, we are usual
Design process
The Designing process starts on the owner's desk with his hands, pencil and paper. He personally designs most of the knives sketching them to the experimental final shape.
He often builds with his hands wood, aluminum and even steel test blades to verify defects, ergonomics and feeling. Only when satisfied the sketches goes to the engineering department for final design and prototyping.
Prototyping
Industrial Prototyping is the second step, all the parts from the CAD are 3d printed or machined in aluminum inside a lab cnc milling station.
This to have a final product appearance before preparing the operative prototypes that will be field tested to verify the working performances
Testing the Products
The testing step can take from days to months.
The first to test them is always the owner with performance on the field tests, then it goes to destructive tests performed in lab to verify the mechanical limits of the knife before going to production.
If the knife does not match the requirements it goes back to the design step to fix the issues or to the R&D lab to modify the construction processes identified as reason of the failure.
Production
Prototypes that result as market ready step into the production process that by our standard will be a first small lot that will be shipped as samples to the operator's acceptance, in case of a military or LE project.
In case of internal project the first batch goes to customer's buying office, bloggers and press for their preview and feedback before starting production.