Product & prototype design · SolidWorks
We design the part, build the model, and hand you the files a shop or printer can run today. No CAD seat, no design staff, no guesswork.
What we do
Most people come to us with a sketch on paper, a part in a drawer, or a model that almost works. Each one has a clear path forward.
A · FROM AN IDEA
You describe what it needs to do. We turn it into shapes, proportions, and options you can hold up and compare before anything gets built.
B · FROM A PART
Bring us a physical part with no drawings — the process usually called reverse engineering. We measure it, rebuild it as a clean parametric SolidWorks model, and change what you want changed.
C · TO A PROTOTYPE
The design gets built so it can actually be made — wall thickness, draft, clearances, fasteners, tolerances — then packaged for 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal, or injection molding.
If your part is safety-critical, load-bearing, pressure-rated, or needs a stamped analysis, we'll say so up front and work alongside a licensed professional you hire — or one we can point you to. We design and model. We don't certify.
Process
Every project runs as an ordered set of features, same as the design tree inside SolidWorks. Pick a step to see what happens and what you get.
A call to pin down what the part has to do, what it mounts to, how many you need, and how it will be made. Constraints first — they decide most of the design.
You get: A written scope, fixed price, and schedule
Who this is for
You have a working breadboard and need an enclosure, bracket, or mechanism that a contract manufacturer will actually quote.
A customer hands you a napkin sketch or a worn-out part. You need clean models and drawings before you can cut anything.
One good idea, no CAD skills, and a printer or shop waiting on files. We take it from sketch to prototype.
Your designer left or the backlog got ahead of you. We pick up the modeling for a few weeks and hand it back documented.
Files you get
No locked files, no subscription to see your own design. Delivered on the last day of the project.
Fixed price per project, agreed before work starts. Small parts and single-part jobs are quoted flat. Larger assemblies are quoted in phases so you can stop after any one of them and still own everything produced.
Common questions
Every project is quoted at a fixed price before any work starts — no hourly billing and no open-ended invoices. Cost depends on part complexity, how many parts are in the assembly, whether drawings are needed, and how the part will be manufactured. Send a sketch, a photo, or a description and you'll have a written number and a schedule, usually within one business day.
Yes. Send the physical part or detailed photos with measurements and we'll rebuild it as a clean parametric SolidWorks model with editable feature history. This is common for legacy parts with no drawings, obsolete components you need to reproduce, and parts you want to modify but can't because the original files are gone.
Native SolidWorks parts and assemblies (SLDPRT, SLDASM), neutral solids (STEP, IGES), print-ready meshes (STL, 3MF), dimensioned drawings (PDF, DXF), and a bill of materials. Everything is yours to keep and reuse. There is no subscription required to open your own design.
Most single-part projects run two to four weeks from first sketch to a prototype-ready file package. Assemblies take longer and are quoted in phases. Rush delivery is available when the schedule allows — ask when you send the project.
No. 3D-Vision provides product design, 3D modeling, and prototype design. We are not a licensed professional engineering firm. If your part is safety-critical, load-bearing, pressure-rated, or needs a stamped analysis, we'll tell you up front and work alongside a licensed professional you hire.
Yes, we sign NDAs before receiving any confidential material. Files move through access-controlled, encrypted exchange rather than email attachments, access is logged, and project data is retained only as long as your project requires. Ownership of all work product transfers to you on final payment.
Yes, and the manufacturing process is one of the first questions we ask. Wall thickness, draft angles, radii, tolerances, and fastener choices all change depending on whether a part is printed, machined, formed from sheet metal, or molded. Designing for the wrong process is where most prototype cost gets wasted.
We're based in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area and serve clients across Minnesota and nationwide. Most projects run entirely remotely — sketches, photos, and files move electronically. For local clients, in-person part handoff and measurement can be arranged.
Send a sketch, a photo of the part, or a paragraph describing it. You'll get a straight answer on whether we're the right fit, a fixed price, and a date — usually within one business day.
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