Your "one stop shop" for product design.
  • Consumer products
  • Industrial products
  • Medical devices
  • Point of sale terminals
  • Hi-tech products
  • Healthcare products
  • Product packaging
  • Products for rugged environments
  • Cabinets and enclosures
  • Custom Components
SAGE designs products of all types, from concept right through to manufacture.

Our services include concept design, industrial design, mechanical design, and a
host of related engineering ​disciplines necessary for product success.

​We use our many Asian contacts and suppliers to provide low-cost prototyping,
tooling and manufacturing.

Call us anytime for a chat as to how we can work together to create a world-beating product.

Total Product design ​- from concept to production

​
​SAGE can take you from concept right through to production. We can write the product specification, do the industrial design, the detailed mechanical design, the 3D modeling of each component, arrange prototyping, write the test plan, test the product, liaise with Asian toolmakers to get it tooled, create the manufacturing package and get it into production and out the door to your markets
​
We can also help with “engineering” functions such as designing heat-sink or optical components, calculating air flow and heat rise, design for EMC compatibility, connector selection or design, wiring harness design, specification sourcing and testing of key third party components such as pumps and motors, design of control algorithms, user interface design, specifying and designing in specific points of IP for sustained competitive advantage, consider industry specific abuse, consider regulatory compliance issues, define test criteria and procedures, write work instructions, design assembly jigs – to name a few.
A good example of SAGE total design - hi-tech electronics integrated with bomb-proof mechanical packaging. Standard sheet metal parts, precision tooled metal parts and plastic injection moldings. Distribution of hundreds of amps combined with micro-power electronics. Connector selection. Busbar design. Thermal management. Design for manufacture. Asian sourcing. ​

     Additional "added value" activities SAGE can help with...
  • ​​Lowest cost integration of electronics and PCB.
  • User Interface design and selection of UI devices
  • Keypads, displays, switches, etc.​
  • Heat-sink design and thermal management.
  • Design of custom silicone keypads.
  • Light-pipe design.
  • Connector selection and custom connector design.
  • Design of electrical bus-bars.
  • Design for demanding environmental conditions.
  • Design for compliance with international regulatory requirements.
  • Design for manufacture (DFM).​
  • Design for reliability under extreme conditions. 
​

Design for all ​manufacturing processes.

  • Plastic injection moldings.
  • High pressure die-castings
  • Sand Castings
  • Gravity castings
  • Sheet metal parts
  • Tooled sheet-metal (stampings)
  • Machined (turned, milled, etc)
  • Extrusions  
  • Light welded structures and tube based designs.
  • Roto-Moldings  
  • Thermoformed/Vacuum form 
  • Pressure Form  
  • Blow molding
Example of injection molding
​tools manufactured in Asia

Experience, experience
​and more experience.

There is no substitute for experience and SAGE has 30 years of it. 

Not only do we have experience we have the right kind of experience, the kind you can only get from the tough commercial reality of working in private industry. We have paid our dues on the factory floor and seen first hand the effects of quality issues and the field failures.

​We understand the commercial implications of the design choices we make,  how products are manufactured, how assembly processes work, what assemblers can and cannot do, what affects quality and repeat-ability, when assembly jigs are needed, the effects of tolerances. We know the effects of UV, the problems with sealing, shock and vibration, impact resistance, user abuse, EMC, regulatory requirements – the list goes on...
        An Emergency Wrist Alarm
         ​designed for a Sydney customer

SAGE provides design
services in both New Zealand
​and Australia.


​SAGE is based in Christchurch New Zealand but routinely works with customers in Australia.

These days working remotely is not only all in a day's work but exceptionally efficient. 

​So no matter where you are, from Auckland to Invercargill, from Sydney to Perth, do not let perceived "distance" deter you from benefiting from the wealth of experience SAGE can offer - just give us a call and see how we can help.
SAGE provides design services
throughout Australasia.

From the simplest bracket
​to complex tooled parts.


​Industrial design, mechanical design, product design - SAGE does it all.

We are just as happy designing a piece of bent metal as designing a beautiful, fully-tooled product full of hi-tech electronics.

Glamorous or just plain utilitarian, whatever fulfills your need is fine with us.

We will not blow your budget by designing a Rolls Royce solution when a Mini solution will do and we will always respect your budget and design the solution that is most appropriate to your needs, not the one that satisfies our artistic egos.
Brackets, widgets and more brackets. No glossy plastic, fancy
curves or design awards for these parts, but this ​is exactly
​what this ​Sydney customer needed. ​Designed in New Zealand by SAGE, manufactured in China, shipped to the customer in Sydney.

Design of hi-tech electronic 
products is a SAGE specialty.


​These days there are not many products that do not have some level of electronic or electrical content - more often than not they are chock full of microprocessors and various user interfaces.

This is where SAGE's electronic  background can really help the design process and we can hit the ground running without wasting your time explaining things to us. PCBs, connectors, heatsinks, User Interfaces, wiring harnesses, protection devices - the list goes on - you name it, we know about it and how to integrate it into the design in an accessible, reliable, serviceable and cost effective way.

Connectors are often an issue and we can either select them, or, if there is no off-the-shelf solution, we can custom design one for you. For products that handle high currents or power we can design the current distribution system and any heat sinking required.

We also specify and design of user interfaces of all types, and have been involved in the supervision of electrical compliance and EMC testing at test houses in Auckland, Melbourne, Taiwan and the Netherlands.​
An example of the low-cost integration of many electronic components using an injection molded cover clipped onto a die-cast case half/heatsink. Note the smaller details such as custom designed light-pipes and FET clamps which make this design possible.

Medical device design and Healthcare Product design.

With over 10 years experience in the design of rehab, mobility and healthcare products for the international market we are well versed in the procedural, regulatory and functional requirements peculiar to the medical device sector.

We understand the different aesthetic and UI preferences that prevail in particular parts of the World, the worlds of regulatory bodies such as FDA and TUV, the needs of distributors, dealers, health professionals and end-users, the absolute need for safety and reliability, the special needs of those with limited physical and cognitive skills and the techniques and interfaces required to overcome them. ​​

Design of connectors
and ​electrical contacts.

Connector selection is one of the most challenging and critical areas in hi-tech product design, particularly for products that must handle high currents.

Not only are connectors a major potential source of unreliability but they also make up a good proportion of product cost, both directly for the parts themselves and indirectly in the compromises that have to be made to integrate them into the mechanical package.

Connectors are frequently the limitation in product miniaturization and often force a compromise in the shape and look of a product. We can identify a short list of off-the-shelf connectors and do any testing that may be required for validation. Alternatively, if you want the world’s smallest connector with 3 power contacts, 13 digital contacts, an integrated green LED, built-in connector labeling, coloured pink and styled to integrate perfectly with the aesthetic design of your product, we can manage the design of a custom connector system and organize its manufacture at low cost in Asia. ​
A few examples of custom electrical contacts designed by SAGE.

Heat-sink design and
​thermal management.

Industrial hi-tech electro-mechanical products that are required to distribute and control high currents present special challenges.

High current implies not only localized hot spots in the power dissipating components themselves, potentially causing early catastrophic failure with side-effects such as fire, but also creates an elevated ambient temperature within the product that shortens the life of every component. Management of these temperatures to safe levels is absolutely critical to the reliability of your product.

In products such as this the "heatsink" design often becomes an integral part of the overall product package design that may also include integration of connectors, user interfaces, product mounting points and sealing systems.

Potentially the combinations and permutations of fining options, fin and wall thicknesses and spacings, device placements, etc, can be overwhelming and make design optimisation a difficult, lengthy and expensive process. Furthermore, since layout of PCBs  is only possible once the mechanical design is set in stone, the mechanical design process is often the critical path to moving the project forward.

​SAGE can streamline this process by analyzing the various thermal options and iteratively optimizing the chosen design scenario with a very high level of confidence, removing that critical path and meaning that your first mechanical prototype is also your last, rather than the first of many long and expensive phases of iterations.
Computer simulation of thermal issues can
save you a lot of money, a power of heartache,
and get your product to market a lot faster.
An example of a "heatsink" that is much
more than a heatsink - when combined
with an ​ injection molded ​plastic cover
it forms the entire product enclosure.

User Interface design
​(both "mechanical" and GUI).

User Interface, UI, User Experience, UX, Human Interface, HI. Ergonomics.

Call it what you will, the business of interfacing the
end-user to your product is probably the greatest factor
to determining its success in the marketplace.

Ironically, although "User Interface" is now recognised as a specialist area, it is surprising how little positive effect this has had on product design.

We are still surrounded by products in which form or fashion dominates design at the expense of function, user interface clarity and intuition. ​
SAGE User interface design for a thermostat
Look around and you will find any number of examples of physical user interfaces that you are lucky to be able to find let alone use.

You will find switches and buttons that require motor skills and targeting beyond the capabilities of many of the intended users, faucets that can only be operated by the left hand, cars whose dashboards look like they were created in a drug induced haze, car gear shifts with so little movement the driver has to look at the gear shift while they change gear, car door handles in the wrong place for best mechanical advantage, refrigerator doors whose handles can only be used by midgets, Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) covered with arcane icons that are too small to target, hidden roll-over options, meaningless and inconsistent labels, poor contrast lettering...regrettably the list goes on and on.
​
Here are some UI areas SAGE can help with... 
  • UI Specification to define what is required to be controlled or adjusted, when, to what extent and by who.
  • Selection of appropriate I/O technology (touch screen, soft keys, silicone keypads, mylar keypads, individual keys, etc)
  • Selection of appropriate physical user interface devices (switches, buttons, soft keys, etc).
  • Selection of appropriate actuators for these devices (push, toggle, rocker, slide, momentary, latched, etc).
  • Selection of appropriate and consistent terminology for the UI devices.
  • Design of sensible and intuitive control layouts and appropriate use of colors and contrasts for readability.
  • Selection of the most appropriate control sequences and control options.
  • Design of Menu Tree structures
  • Design of structures to support different access levels 
  • Design of GUIs for intuitive usability and clarity 
  • Writing Help messages that are actually understandable to the user.
  • Design of UIs for users with limited motor skills and/or cognitive skills.
  • Simplification/Minimization of UIs to provide maximum functionality with minimum user I/O.
  • Selection of sensible default values and adjustability ranges.

 Design Troubleshooting 
​and Failure Analysis.

When things go wrong - either during the design process or out in the field - we can also provide trouble shooting assistance to help get you quickly back on path without disrupting your normal design program- click here for more details.
This keypad is "sweating" causing​
​unreliability in its contacts.

​​Prototypes and
​concept mock-ups

A great idea is nothing if you can’t get it across to the people who matter and nothing gets your point across better and faster than a beautifully made mock-up people can hold in their hands.
 
And of course once the project is approved and underway, prototypes will be a crucial part of the development process.
 
SAGE has many Asian contacts who specialize in making both conceptual and functional prototypes as well as limited production runs for testing and trials prior to tooling. Even the most complex products and shapes can be made in a wide range of materials and processes, and beautifully finished to yield “products” that look like a million dollars.
An example of the level of quality of prototyping that can
be achieved - it can be very difficult to distinguish them
from the real thing. Prototypes at a number of stages
throughout the ​ project are an absolute essential.

     Product Packaging

Packaging design is a key part of any design project which because it does not fall neatly under the jurisdiction of common engineering disciplines often slips under the radar and becomes a crisis job at the end of the project. A product's shipping and packaging requirements need to be considered up front and assigned specialist attention so that the packaging is no less a product than the product itself. SAGE has wide experience in the design of packaging for both bulk distribution and retail display purposes.
An example both of design of a product specifically to make it
possible to be economically shipped from the manufacturer in
​China to the customer in Australia, and of the packaging design itself.
Example of a custom designed tray to enable PCBs
to be economically shipped from the PCB house
in China to the customer in America where they
​would be assembled into the final product.
Showing the level of detailed design required for more
elaborate packaging. This packaging is specially
designed to be used to package a number of
different shaped products, allowing a reduction
​ in packaging inventory.

Manufacturing and
testing ​jigs and fixtures

Generally the product design process is just the start of the project.

​In real life product design proceeds in parallel with the specification, design and construction of peripheral assemblies and processes that are required for mass production and product testing.
​
This process can be as involved and complex as that of the product design itself and is just as critical to a product's success. Often the manufacturing and testing regimes play a greater role in achieving product cost targets than the product design itself.
 A production jig to hold plastic moldings 
to facilitate potting of electronics
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