Home › Integrated Engineering Solutions › Research And Development
Concept, prototype, and test for new products, with builds through partners
Solve the problem at its source. Free assessment and roadmap.
Your team has a problem it can't explain, or an idea it can't prove. A part keeps failing, and each fix only moves the failure. A new concept looks good on paper, but nobody has time to test it. Day-to-day work always wins over the hard problems. If nothing changes, the problem stays and the idea dies. Failures keep costing warranty and downtime, and the next product carries the same weakness. Research and development gives those problems focused engineering time: find the root cause, develop concepts, and prove what works.
If nothing changes, the problem stays and the idea dies. Failures keep costing warranty and downtime, patches pile up, and the next product carries the same weakness. Competitors who solve the hard problems set the new standard.
As an R&D engineering partner for manufacturers, PPS uses FEA, CFD, prototyping, and testing to find causes and prove solutions. A senior R&D engineer leads each project. You approve the evidence at each gate before the next step.
✓
The same failure keeps coming back
Each fix moves the problem instead of removing it.
✓
Nobody knows the root cause
Theories compete, but no one has the data.
✓
Good ideas never get tested
Daily work always wins over new concepts.
✓
Your team lacks a specialty
The problem needs skills you don't have in-house.
✓
Patches keep piling up
Workarounds add cost to every unit.
✓
Competitors are moving ahead
They solved the problem you're still living with.
Theories without data
Cost added to every unit
It returns in a new place
No time to prove them
Analysis and test data, not guesses
Options ranked by cost and risk
FEA, CFD, and prototypes
Every step checked first
The 34% less rework, 51% fewer prototypes, and 37% shorter test phase figures are from the PPS Innovation Edge white paper.
Public benchmark
4.8%
R&D cost growth when tech was proven first
Precedent
Programs that proved their tech first saw 4.8% R&D cost growth, not 34.9% (GAO, 52 programs, 2006).
What it means
Testing the risky technology first brings unknowns out while they are cheap. Our research and development work takes your concept through prototype and test before you commit.
Lever
Decision it lets you make
Result
Root cause
Fixes that don't last
Decision
Failures are traced to their cause with analysis and test data.
→
Result
Problems solved once. FEA services →
Concepts
Ideas never tested
Decision
New concepts are developed and ranked by cost, risk, and value.
→
Result
The best idea moves forward. Prototype development →
Analysis
Costly build-and-test loops
Decision
FEA and CFD screen concepts before anything is built.
→
Result
Fewer prototypes to prove it. CFD consulting services →
Planning
Projects that drift
Decision
Each experiment has a goal, a gate, and a decision.
→
Result
R&D that reaches an answer. Engineering project management →
01
A proven answer: the root cause found, a solution designed and tested, and CAD and drawings ready to build.
02
Analysis and test results you review and approve at each gate, before the next experiment is run.
03
You own the IP by default. When an OEM or partner manufacturer is involved, the contract spells out who owns what.
04
If we missed it in our QC, we fix it. If your supplier can't make the part within three years, or supply dries up, we fix that too.
You send
What we need to start
The problem: what fails, when, and how often
Data: failed parts, photos, and test results
CAD and drawings for the current design
What you've tried and what happened
Targets: cost, life, or performance
→
You get
What you hold at the end
A root cause backed by analysis and test data
Concepts ranked by cost, risk, and value
Proof: FEA, CFD, and test results you approved
CAD and drawings for the chosen solution, ready for new product development when you scale up
A roadmap to production, and a team that stays
We price to the value we deliver, not the hours we log. If the value isn't there for you, we'll say so in the assessment.
Bring your own manufacturer or lab, or work with our partner network. See how we partner by industry.
You approve every experiment, design change, and its cost at every gate, so nothing that affects function surprises you. If we missed something in our QC, we fix it. If a supplier can’t make the part within three years, we fix that for you too.
Every month a problem stays costs you. Get a free roadmap.
Get Your Free RoadmapHard structural, thermal, and vibration problems traced to their cause and solved with tested designs.
Solve it at the source.
Applications
Structures
Thermal
Vibration
Process equipment problems such as mixing, heat transfer, and cleaning solved with analysis and testing.
Fix the process, once.
Applications
Mixing
Heat
Cleaning
Recurring failures in rotating and thermal equipment traced to root cause and designed out for good.
Fewer forced outages.
Applications
Rotating
Thermal
Fatigue
Wear, impact, and fatigue failures studied and solved so machines last longer between costly repairs.
Stop costly downtime.
Applications
Wear
Impact
Fatigue
We design the prototype, manage the build through partner shops, and test it before you commit to tooling.
Design, build and test.
Applications
Design
Partner Builds
Testing
Run the engineering programs we design as one loop, with partners, builds, and tests on one schedule.
Hold the launch date.
Applications
Stage-Gate
Partners
Testing
Prototyping, HALT, R&D, reverse engineering, and more. See every problem our engineering team solves.
Find your problem here.
Solutions
Prototyping
HALT
R&D
FEA, CFD, CAD, DFMA, and testing under one roof. Engineering is a team sport, and you get the whole team.
One team, every skill.
Under One Roof
FEA
CFD
CAD
DFMA
Testing
Veteran-owned SDVOSB status gives defense and federal buyers a set-aside path to proven engineering.
Verify our SDVOSB status.
Credentials
SDVOSB
VOSB
CAGE 8ZK73
NAICS 541330
Missed something in our QC? We fix it. Supplier can't make the part within three years? We fix that too.
Support for the long run.
We Fix
Our QC Misses
Supplier Gaps
Supply Chain
We price to the value we deliver, not hours logged. You buy a design that works, not more iterations.
Pay for the result only.
Collections
Gold
Platinum
Diamond
What kinds of problems does your R&D work solve?
Our research and development work usually starts with one of three problems. A failure keeps coming back, and each fix only moves it. An idea looks good, but nobody has had time to prove it. Or the problem needs a skill your team lacks, such as advanced FEA or CFD. Each of these needs focused time that daily work rarely allows, so they wait. Meanwhile, failures cost warranty and downtime, and untested ideas carry hidden risk into full development. A GAO review of major defense programs found that programs that start with mature technologies do better. Unproven ideas tend to grow costs once a program is under way.
For failures, we find the root cause with analysis, test data and a close look at the failed parts. For ideas, we develop concepts, rank them by cost and risk, and prove the best one. For skill gaps, a senior R&D engineer works alongside your team. In every case, you get evidence, not opinions, and you approve each step. The free assessment shows which path fits.
Who does the research and development work?
Senior engineers lead our research and development work. Their background includes aerospace stress engineering on flight-critical aerospace and defense programs. That work demands evidence for every decision, because the cost of being wrong is high. We bring that same standard of proof to your problem, whatever it is. When knowledge passes through handoffs, it gets lost. A new engineer repeats old tests, and the reasoning behind each design choice slowly disappears. Flight programs track how proven each technology is, using scales like NASA's Technology Readiness Levels. Without that discipline, a team can't tell a tested answer from a hopeful guess.
Each project has one R&D engineer who leads it from first review to final answer, so nothing is lost in handoffs. Specialists in FEA, CFD, testing and design join as your problem needs them. You talk to the engineers doing the work, not a sales layer. Every step is documented, so your team can follow the reasoning and reuse it. You own the IP by default, set in your contract.
Can PPS work with our manufacturer or test lab?
Yes. Research and development at PPS works with the shops and labs you already trust, or with our partner network. Many projects use both. What matters is that one engineering team coordinates them, so the builder and the lab always work from the latest released design and data.
When every vendor reports to you separately, you become the integrator. Design changes travel by email, parts get cut to old drawings, and test results arrive without anyone tasked to act on them. The Department of Defense's IPPD Handbook organizes programs around integrated product teams for this reason, with design, manufacturing and test under one shared plan.
PPS manages your builders and test labs inside one engineering loop. We release the design, track every build and test, read the results and make the fix ourselves. Data and NDAs are set up between all parties at the start. You decide how far we take the design, up to the start of production. The IP is yours by default, as set in your contract.
What do you need from us to start?
To start a project with our research and development, send what you have, in any format. That usually means a clear statement of the problem, failed parts or photos, and any test results. Add CAD and drawings for the current design, what you've already tried, and your targets for cost, life, or performance. Photos help too. Missing data is the most common reason engineering projects stall, because a model built on guessed inputs gives a guessed answer. That is why we don't start the work until every data set is in.
Once it is, the first step is a free assessment of your project scope. We confirm what the work can and can't answer, and tell you what is still missing. Then we send a roadmap proposal with scope, targets, and approval gates. Every project is scoped on its own, so the roadmap sets the schedule, not a stock promise. NDAs are available before you share any files. For gaps in material data, NIST material measurement data is a good first stop.
Who owns the design and the models?
You own the design, the drawings, and the models from your research and development project by default, as set in the contract. When an OEM or partner manufacturer is involved, the contract spells out who owns what. Some firms keep the models, or license them back to you, so every later change sends you back to them. That locks your product to one vendor and makes design reviews harder, because your team can't open the evidence behind the decisions. You receive the native CAD, the drawings, the simulation model files, and the documented results. Your engineers can then check the work, rerun a load case, or hand the package to a supplier or customer.
We sign mutual NDAs before any of your data is shared, and your files stay in our controlled project folders while we work. If your program has export-control or customer data rules, tell us at the start and we will set up the data handling to match them. For defense programs, the State Department ITAR guidance sets the rules we follow.
What happens if a prototype fails in test?
If a prototype fails in test, we find out why and fix the design. Hard engineering carries unknowns on any project: real loads, material lots, and assembly effects never match a model perfectly. With research and development from PPS, you approve the data at each gate. A test result is then checked against predictions you have already seen, not a black box. A failure in test is data. It shows which assumption was wrong: a load, a material property, or a boundary condition. That data improves the model and the design.
When testing is in scope, we plan the test to confirm the margins that matter most. Then we correlate the model to the results, following ASME verification and validation practice. If the miss was ours, because something slipped through our QC review, we fix it. If the test uncovers a condition nobody knew about, we scope the change with you and update the roadmap. Either way, you get a clear answer and a path to a design that holds.
How is research and development priced?
We price research and development to the value it delivers, not the hours we log. Hourly billing rewards extra iterations, so the cheapest quote often becomes the most expensive project once tooling, rework, and field failures show up. Our incentive is to get the design right the first time. We engage by fit, not as a ladder. Gold (from $35K): you have one project and need help with it. Platinum (from $15K/mo): you have recurring work at a steady rhythm. Diamond (from $800K/yr): you have a long development program, often multi-year.
Gold is never required, and some clients start at Platinum or Diamond. These are starting points, not quotes; your roadmap sets the price. We price to the value we deliver, not the hours we log. If the value isn't there for you, we'll say so in the assessment. Our engineering consultant pricing page explains how each collection works in more detail.
A problem nobody can solve? Send what you have. Free roadmap.
Send your problem, data, and what you've tried. We review your project scope in a free assessment and reply within one business day with next steps.
On-site assessments that require travel are quoted separately.
