A custom program does not begin with tooling. It begins with a commercial brief.
1. Convert the opportunity into a brief
Reference images are useful, but label what you want to copy, change or avoid.
2. Build the specification
Translate the brief into material direction, dimensions, weight, geometry, surface treatment, decoration, marking and packaging.
3. Engineer and sample
The sample is both a design object and a production reference.
4. Freeze the approval baseline
Use a signed specification plus an approved physical sample.
5. Produce, pack and document
Production follows the approved baseline.
The fastest projects are not those that skip decisions. They are those that make decisions in the right order.