About Wideblue

The Team

The Wideblue team have worked together for over 15 years designing a broad range of technology based products for consumer, commercial, medical and scientific applications. Our skills cover product design, mechanical, electronics and software design, physics and optics, with a particular expertise in photonics and the system engineering required to integrate novel technologies into practical market ready products. Our in-house model maker allows us to prototype design ideas quickly, giving an efficient process for optimising technical aspects of the design.

Having successfully delivered a range of projects from one-off scientific instruments to high volume consumer products manufactured in millions of units per year, our team have all the skills and experience to design for efficient manufacture either in the UK or in a variety of low cost locations around the world. Our experience in supply chain development and manufacturing inception has enabled a number of clients to achieve a smooth transition from design to commercialisation plus our links to the investment community have assisted them with early stage mentoring and the transition from grant to investment funding.

From our early days as Polaroid Corporation's European Design Centre to our current embodiment as Wideblue, we have specialised in turning technology into commercial products, successfully delivering hundreds of projects for a variety of clients ranging from lone inventors, start up companies and University spin-outs through to multinational organisations.

History

In the mid 90's Polaroid Corporation created a European Design Centre at their Scottish location just outside Glasgow. Over the next ten years the European Design Centre grew to the point where it employed just over 50 designers, engineers, physicists and manufacturing development specialists and was delivering all of Polaroid's technical and commercial products. In 2001 Wideblue was created as a division within the Design Centre and started to create products for external clients. Five years later at the beginning of 2006 Wideblue was part of a management buy out and since then has been an independent company delivering hundreds of projects for a variety of clients that range from lone inventors, start up companies and University spin-outs through to multinational organisations. The unique skills that were developed designing and creating technology based products for Polaroid Corporation are now employed in creating award winning products for our clients.

Start-up companies value Wideblue's first-hand experience of the technical, commercial and funding requirements for emerging technology businesses. We act as a "virtual" product design and development team, allowing companies to develop products without the fixed costs of an in-house engineering group.

Established companies use Wideblue to complement in-house resources. For example, we work with life-science departments to design products which can commercialise their discoveries. We also apply our specialist photonics expertise to fill skills gaps in established engineering teams.

How to work with us

There is no fee or commitment until an order is placed.

1. Both parties sign a suitable non-disclosure agreement (if required).
2. Initial discussion(s), to allow Wideblue to understand your product idea and the aims of the project.
3. Following the initial discussion, we respond with an outline of recommended next steps in the project, and a budgetary estimate for the work.
4. If required, further discussion to refine the outline.
5. We provide a formal quotation for the work, detailing activities, costs, timescales, deliverables and contractual terms.
6. You place an order against our quotation.
7. We carry out the work defined in the quotation and invoice according to a defined schedule.

Facilities

Our site in Dumbarton, just outside Glasgow includes the following facilities essential to the design and development of technology based products:

• Software tools for 3D CAD, CFD and FEA analysis, CGI visualisation and animation, PCB design, optical simulation
• Large development lab with a broad range of test and measurement equipment
• A mechanical workshop and tool room capable of creating a broad range of prototype parts
• An optical lab where we can test complex illumination and imaging systems
• Electronics assembly and test stations where we can build and debug prototype and production assemblies
• A number of software development environments for a range of microprocessors and DSPs as well as PC applications
• A manufacturing startup area where we can carry out product inceptions and low volume manufacturing of client products
• Flexible office space where clients can co-locate during a company start up or other critical development phase