Audiences · who we work with
Founders, manufacturers, and crowdfunding creators building real products.
Each segment arrives with different pressures and different timelines. Our engagement model adapts; the engineering doesn't compromise.
For founders.
Funded SMEs · startups · idea-validatedFunded SME founders, post-seed or grant-backed (Innovate UK / SEIS / regional accelerator) or self-funded with conviction. Capital to spend, no in-house engineering, deadline pressure from investors and runway. Our strongest founder engagements are with clients who’ve done the validation work upstream. If it’s incomplete, we route you to Innovate Engineer first (free framework, or paid review tiers), then bring the output back. Honest qualification, not gatekeeping.
Are you big enough to deliver a serious project?
Yes. 280+ products over 15 years. Dave Lock leads every engagement; the named extended team brings specialist depth (electronics, firmware, ID/UX, regulatory) when the project needs it. Capacity-honest: we scope 4 to 6 new engagements per quarter.
Why pay an engineering team when I have a freelance CAD designer?
The Product Design pillar overlaps with a freelance designer, and we offer that pillar where it fits. The Engineering pillar is different: CAD that survives DFM, materials selection, prototypes that work, drawings a factory can build from. Most product failures come from designs that ignored manufacture; the Engineering pillar removes that risk, and Manufacture brokers the supply chain.
For crowdfunding creators.
Kickstarter · Indiegogo · pre-launchPre-launch creators arrive with backers waiting and a campaign date set. The product has to be made, manufacturable at backed quantities, and delivered to spec. Many arrive after running the Innovate Engineer framework, bringing a documented specification into the scoping conversation. Coming from Innovate Engineer? See the handover
Can you hit my campaign date?
Honest answer: it depends where you are on the journey when you arrive, and on complexity. AI-augmented delivery has compressed routine engineering timelines. We size timelines at the scoping conversation against your campaign milestones and confirm at each stage gate.
Will backers receive the product I promised?
That’s the entire point of the Manufacture pillar, the part of the work Cast Iron CAD is built around: production drawings, supplier engagement, FAI, tooling, CE/UKCA, MRP routing. We stay in the loop through pilot run; we don’t ship a CAD package and walk away.
Do I keep the IP if it doesn't work out?
Yes. All IP transfers to you at handover: CAD, drawings, BoM, supplier lists, test reports. Stage gates are pre-agreed exit points. Full IP and trust framing
For Sussex & South East manufacturers diversifying.
Own-brand product from a production baseEstablished manufacturers moving into their own-brand product, using existing production capability but needing the design and engineering to get there. The recurring concern is confidentiality: if you work with us and a competitor, do our designs leak? The answer is no, by structural partition discipline, not trust alone. Project files don’t cross-reference; supplier choices are isolated; if a project is too sensitive for even partitioned co-existence, we decline the second engagement. See the trust framework
Start a project
Whichever segment fits, talk to us.
A scoping conversation places your project on the ten stages, agrees the scope, and produces a written agreement.