Success – NutraLife

New Product & Market Development

Nutra­Life

Boise, ID

TechHelp Created Initial Product Conceptualization, Sketches, and 3D Computer Models

Nutra-­Life Inc. is an enhanced beverage business that was founded in 2008. Its goal is to provide healthy supplement alternatives by using water hydration as a delivery source  After coming up with their idea for delivering supplements through a bottle cap, the company contacted TechHelp, a member of the MEP National Network™, to see if their idea was doable. The TechHelp Team was impressed with the idea and worked with Nutra-­Life to address some key and interrelated issues:

• Design & create a functional and food-­safe cap that would hold the tabs and provide just the right flow to slowly dissolve the tablets.

• Design & create nutritious supplement tabs that would taste good and dissolve properly in the cap.

• Address any changes made to the tabs that could impact the design of the NutraCap delivery system and vice versa.

Solution

TechHelp worked with Nutra­-Life to develop initial SLA prototypes that acted as proof of design but were not food­-safe. They then followed up with a new CAD design and produced food­-safe caps on their mini molding machine. TechHelp also worked with Nutra-­Life to secure a grant from the Idaho Department of Commerce PTAC group that helps fund ongoing design work for additional uses of the product.

Results

• The Nutra-­Life/TechHelp team progressed from initial concept to product launch in one year.
• Nutra-­Life used quality designs and prototypes to test cap/tablet function and to present the product to a major manufacturer.
• Nutra-­Life invested $100,000 in product design and prototypes and saved $50,000 in design/development costs by using TechHelp’s NPD services.
• TechHelp continues to work with Nutra­-Life to design related products that have great potential for consumer and other applications.