CAD Solution That Manages Everything from Concept to Production

How a Small Business Thrives with a CAD Solution That Manages Everything from Concept to Production

With more than 20 years of design and manufacturing expertise, Silicon Valley–based SmartTribes provides services from proof-of-concept, prototype, and production ID designs to prototyping and manufacturing in Asia (soup to nuts). Most of SmartTribes’s clients come from the consumer electronics, IoT, medical, and sporting goods industries.

How SmartTribes Uses IronCAD

Rendered GoGolf Designed in IronCADSmartTribes is one of the longest-standing users of IronCAD, having adopted the platform over 20 years ago when when IronCAD was a little program called TriSpectives. Ever since then, SmartTribes has used the power of IronCAD for all aspects of the design and manufacturing process.

IronCAD has helped SmartTribes grow a large portfolio of design and manufacturing clients across various industries, including global brands that distribute products designed by SmartTribes using IronCAD around the world. A perfect example of this — and of what a small business can accomplish with IronCAD — is the GoGOLF device you see a picture of above. A top of the line range finder for the golf enthusiast that snaps-on to any existing eye or sun glasses, GoGOLF  is sold by The Sharper Image and online retailers such as Amazon.com.

For this particular project, SmartTribes used IronCAD, along with a graphics program for decals, to:

  • Work with the inventor/client from hand sketches to create the design
  • Design the retail packaging and all shipping cartons
  • Create final renders with IronCAD’s Keyshot integration.
  • Manage all tooling and production bring-up at the ODM factory in China
  • Continue to manage the supply of goods and logistics from factory to the channel

How IronCAD Contributes to SmartTribes’s Success

GoGolf Designed in IronCADSmartTribes has benefited tremendously from the flexibility of IronCAD as they are able to use IronCAD during so many stages of the design process. Product design, product marketing, 3D modeling for designing tooling and processes, developing packaging and shipping containers — all of these can be done in 3D in IronCAD. Being a small company, it’s incredibly beneficial to have the ability to do so much with a CAD application.

“IronCAD has proven to be a powerfully versatile, but easy to use design tool for our product development,” says Bob Fullerton, founder and owner of SmartTribes. “And with the Keyshot add-in, we can create photorealistic renderings to help our clients visualize the final product appearance before the first prototype investment is made.”

For more information contact info@smarttribes.com.