Insight into the design of the herman Miller Sayl chair

Tools of the Trade – What are Vernier Calipers?

The tools of the trade is a series of blogs that look into the tools which are used by designers, engineers & manufacturers. Just like a carpenter needs a Chisel to make a square hole, a Designer needs a Marker Pen to sketch down a design. In this series we are going to show you what tools we use to design, test & manufacture quality products.

Episode 1: Vernier Calipers

Is an instrument commonly found in the tool box of a designer, engineer and manufacturer. They are designed to allow the user to take a variety of measurements from an object with extreme precision.

There are two main types of calipers, there are manual and digital. Digital calipers display the measurement on an LCD screen whilst manual calipers are read like a ruler. Both types display the figure in metric and imperial scale.

• The calipers can take internal measurements using the internal jaws found on the back edge of the calipers. For example this could be the inside diameter (ID) of a hole, which you might need to decide which size bolt to use.

• External measurements can also be taken using the external jaws. This feature is particularly useful when measuring the overall diameter (OD) of the bolt.

• The Depth blade takes measurements from internal holes using it as a more accurate ruler. This is useful if you are measuring the length of the bolt or the depth of the bolt hole.

My Carry Potty wins a prestigious Mother and Baby Award!

My Carry Potty, a product designed and manufactured by MotionTouch wins aprestigious Mother and Baby Award

MotionTouch had a great night out at the Mother and Baby Awards last night. The nursery industry recognises these as the premier awards in the UK. The event was packed with all of the usual suspects (except for Lego who chose not to turn up and accept their Gold Award!).  MotionTouch shared a table with My Carry Potty, Cheeky Rascals, The Walker Agency, Kiddy and Hippy Chick. All of them were up for awards. The table picked up five in total which I thought was pretty exceptional.

Most of the categories are dominated by the really big brands so for the smaller innovative companies to come through was brilliant. There is a lot of room for UK companies to drive exports with design innovation that they are delivering (OK, I know that Kiddy are German). As ever the smaller companies are producing the most innovation. It was also great to see Bubble Bum pick up and award (http://www.bubblebum.co.uk/).

Darren and Amanda at My Carry Potty only launched in John Lewis a year ago. They have come a long way very quickly. They received a silver award in the best travel category. For a start up to beat out competition like Britax is amazing. They owe it to the vision and execution that they have brought to their business. In the nursery industry, as elsewhere, solving everyday problems with new affordable products is driving the market.

My Carry Potty is the perfect example of that.

MotionTouch new blog!

MotionTouch now have a blog up and running for anyone to discuss anything about Products, Design, Inventions, Manufacture and more.

MotionTouch hopes this will encourage all those who are interested or wanting a quick question answered to start talking and get involved.

This blog may also turn out to be a useful way of sharing experiences of MotionTouch and the real world of getting a product from an idea to a finished article in your hands!