Embodiment design is one of the main stages of the product design process. Its goal is to develop the best, at least at this stage, design layout that would become a starting point for further detailed design. In some sources the embodiment design is referred to as preliminary design or system-level design. During embodiment design stage, the product, starting from the selected concept, is developed further targeting adopted technical and economic criteria such that a clear check of function, durability, production, assembly, operation, and costs can be carried out.
The embodiment design consists of two major phases: design configuration and analysis of the design.
In design configuration, for all components of the selected concept their shapes and general dimensions are defined. In this stage you preliminary select components’ material and manufacturing process, create 3D CAD models, assign dimensions to the parts and so on.
Analysis of the design starts after preliminary embodiment design is accomplished, to verify that the proposed solution meets all requirements and specifications, or to identify the elements that should be modified or replaced.