Zahner Labs employs a spiral development method for producing products, tools and services. We take ideas through a series of Design > Build > Test > Analyze loops, which allow for stress-testing concepts and integrating feedback. We’ve employed this process in previous product concept “splashes,” including Zinc Concepts, SurveyLink, and Precision Patina.
At Zahner, we’re constantly exploring new ways to add visual excitement, dimension, and durability to our growing line of architectural metal products. We experiment, design, prototype, and iterate until we achieve the right balance of beauty and function. And we know product design, development, and commercialization work best when market inputs are collected and considered.
As projects increase in complexity, collaboration between design and construction teams is critical to success. Early in the design process many tools of collaboration and coordination exist, like collaborative redlining in Bluebeam Studio or cloud-based modeling platforms, but on the job site teams are fragmented.
Precision Patina combines Zahner’s expertise in patination with the precise control of robotics.
Design is hard… especially when it isn’t clear what fabrication methods are possible, which materials are available, and what things cost. During the concept phase of a project sub-contractors, and fabricators aren’t present to provide feasibility critiques and design recommendations. You can either pursue something known/trusted or roll the dice on something new. At this point decisions can lead to design proposals which run counter to manufacturing best practices- blowing budgets and frustrating project teams.