Product Design & Engineering Services
Innovative Solutions Tailored To Your Needs
Coltraco offers a comprehensive Product Design & Engineering Service, helping businesses develop cutting-edge solutions that meet their specific needs. With decades of experience in precision engineering and ultrasonic technology, we combine technical expertise, customer collaboration, and advanced simulation tools to create high-quality, market-ready products.
Our Approach To Product Development
Our product development follows a structured, staged innovation process, ensuring that each phase of the design and engineering journey is aligned with customer needs and industry standards. We employ selective Agile Project Management (APM) methodology, enabling a flexible, iterative, and customer-driven approach to product innovation.
The Benefits Of Our Selective APM Approach
Our adoption of selective APM practices streamlines product development while maintaining efficiency and adaptability. Key advantages include:
Dedicated But Flexible Project Teams
While team members work across multiple projects, each project has a designated lead to maintain focus and accountability.
Frequent Collaboration And Rapid Iteration
We conduct short, daily team meetings and maintain weekly customer interactions to ensure active participation and responsiveness.
Adaptive Planning
Our approach balances long-term strategic planning with weekly iterative goals, ensuring rapid progress without sacrificing quality.
Continuous Improvement
Regular customer feedback is integrated early and often, reducing the risk of late-stage design revisions and costly delays.
Supplier And Manufacturing Collaboration
We work closely with contract manufacturers to ensure seamless design-to-production transitions.
Example Products & Solutions
Coltraco has the capability to design and develop a wide range of bespoke monitoring, sensing, and inspection solutions for various industries. Examples include:
- Non-Invasive Ultrasonic Monitoring Systems – Custom-built liquid level monitoring solutions tailored for maritime and industrial environments
- Automated Inspection & Data Capture Devices – Smart handheld or fixed monitoring solutions that integrate IoT connectivity for real-time data transmission and analytics.
- Structural Integrity Assessment Tools – Ultrasonic thickness gauging and leak detection systems designed to improve safety and maintenance processes.
- Fire Suppression System Monitoring – Innovative solutions for real-time, remote monitoring of gaseous fire suppression systems, ensuring regulatory compliance and safety assurance.
- Custom Industrial Sensors & Instrumentation – Precision-engineered sensors and instrumentation for specific applications, tailored for any integration into existing systems.
Comprehensive Design & Engineering Capabilities
We offer an end-to-end service, covering:
1. Concept Development & Feasibility Analysis
We work closely with you to understand your vision, conducting feasibility studies and market research to ensure product viability.
2. Prototyping & Testing
We develop proof-of-concept prototypes for initial testing and refinement using state-of-the-art simulation tools, 3D printing, and CAD modelling. Our iterative design process ensures the final product is both functional and manufacturable.
3. Standards Compliance & Certification Support
We integrate regulatory compliance early in the design process, leveraging our extensive experience in securing approvals from major certification bodies such as UL, FM Global, ABS, ATEX, and IECEx. Our deep understanding of certification requirements helps us design products that meet stringent regulatory frameworks, ensuring faster approvals and minimizing costly certification delays.
4. Engineering Optimisation & Cost Efficiency
We reduce development costs and enhance scalability by focusing on standardisation, modularity, and commonality across product designs. Our ability to rapidly introduce new products into the market ensures that clients receive solutions that are both innovative and commercially viable.
5. University Collaboration for Cutting-Edge Innovation
Through our Durham Institute of Research, Development & Invention (DIRDI), we have access to a network of 400+ university academics across disciplines like physics, engineering, and computer science. This allows us to rapidly solve complex technical challenges and integrate the latest scientific advancements into product designs.
6. Broad Market Knowledge & Industry Expertise
With experience spanning multiple industries in 120+ countries, we have the insight and expertise to develop products tailored to diverse market demands. Our team understands the regulatory, operational, and commercial needs of various sectors, ensuring that products are technically sound and strategically positioned for market success.
Some of the industries we serve include:
Naval
Our instruments are utilised aboard 17% of the world’s commercial shipping fleet, including the Royal Navy and most allied Navies, and on offshore energy platforms in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
Wind Renewable Energy
Recognised as a Top 35 Global supplier to one of the largest wind renewable energy companies, we operate in 120 countries with distributors in 80 of them.
Built Environment
Our innovative RDDE team applied the principles of fluid dynamics to airflow and created the Portascanner™ AIRTIGHT, the first portable instrument for detecting and quantifying air leaks and monitoring building airtightness. This earned us our second Innovate UK grant as part of the Net Zero Heat programme.
Fire Safety
Portagas® represents a groundbreaking advancement in the noninvasive, nondestructive monitoring of pressurised inert gas systems. In the UK, all fire impression systems must be tested to be legal, with Coltraco and our Portagas® we can keep you safe.
Why Choose Coltraco?
- Proven expertise in ultrasonic technology and industrial product development
- Ability to rapidly introduce new products into markets, ensuring first-mover advantage
- Strong university collaborations through DIRDI for cutting-edge research integration
- Extensive certification experience, ensuring regulatory compliance from the outset
- Broad market knowledge, having designed products for multiple sectors in 150+ countries
- Deep understanding of industry certification standards, reducing approval risks and accelerating time to market
- Adaptive, Agile-based methodology for efficient and responsive design
- Customer-driven approach that ensures alignment with market needs
- Strong manufacturing partnerships for seamless production scaling
- Commitment to quality, compliance, and innovation
