Design optimization of stand mixer bowl + tools (dough hook, beater, whisk)

Hello there, In late November, we started selling a stand mixer, but are still working on optimizing it. We have spotted some flaws about our mixing tools not being as optimal as they can be, and this is something we'd like to fix. General situation: The mixer is ODM. Our factory can do a lot of R&D and testing on site, but we'd first like to work with someone outside of the factory, to first experiment on our own, and better communicate to them what we want. Your skillset: Other than having experience with geometry, you're likely to be a good match if you are a mechanical engineer with experience in doing CFD analysises with non-newtonian viscoelastic fluids and you also have experience with rheology. An even bigger bonus if you have worked with stand mixers and consumer products before, but I understand that this may be too specific. If you have any industrial design experience, this can also be helpful for the job. Deliverables: Before going into the current issues we'd like to solve, I'll first say that the deliverables we're looking for is #1 a redesign, probably in a STEP-file (I have the original STEP of the machine), or at least drawings that are easily understood by other engineers (so we can show the factory), and #2, trying to do a realistic simulation of the new bowl and tools actually working together, and performing correctly. This is also useful to show to the factory. And the delivered result doesn't have to be fully ready design, but enough to show the factory what we're looking for. That said, the more tested and detailed the work is, the better. We can discuss the expectations around this closer, of course. Our internal team don't have too much experience within engineering and industrial design, so you'll have to take the lead on the work, technically. If you can teach us a little about what is happening along the way, we’ll also value that a lot, as we’re eager to learn. You’ll just talk to me, but I’ll pass on any learnings. Now to the actual issues: Bowl/general: We have 3 main tools that are included with every stand mixer. A dough hook, a beater and a balloon whisk. 1: None of them go close enough to the edge of the bowl. The factory have blamed this issue on the bowl, because upon raising the tool (since the machine is tilt-head), the tool will at some point touch the bowl. So we believe that by making the bowl a little convex, instead of just going flat up, we think we could solve this problem. What we’d like to do is study the envelope of the tools, both when mixing (planet-swept tool envelope), but also when raising them (tilt-head swing envelope), to optimize this more. 2: Maybe they could’ve been closer to the bottom too, but the machine head moves up and down about 1 cm while mixing (mainly dough hook and heavier doughs), so being too close isn’t a good idea either. That said, the factory is working on fixing this by improving the machine's locking mechanism. I have some photos if you want to share your input. 3: If we could make the bowl stackable, that would be very useful. 4: We've been looking at making liners like these for our own brand: https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Liners-KitchenAid-Quart-Stand/dp/B0FGCYGKPY However, we also want the tools to be as close to the edge of the bowl as they can, so idk if we could both have them close, and also have enough space for a liner (as this will be an optional upsell, not standard). If it’s not doable though, please let me know. Dough hook: 1: Dough climbs up the dough hook. I know this is a natural effect, but is there a way we could make it go down again/reduce this effect? Also, bonus if you mention the name of this effect in the job appeal. 2: The dough hook works fine okay on not-so wet doughs, but it’s not good at making wetter doughs like foccacia or pizza dough. It catches some ingredients, leaves others at the bottom/edges, and well, and it doesn’t always make a good dough, even if the recipe is good. 3: The dough hook often just makes a crater in the middle of a dough, when it should catch all of it. For this tool especially, we’d need to figure out what is the optimal shape for the dough hook, and if there are anything else we can do to improve it. This is probably the most advanced part of the job. Changing the shape of this tool can also affect the longevity and energy consumption of the machine, so this is also something we should pay attention to, although we can collaborate with the factory on this part. Beater/whisk: 1: Won’t do a good job at basic things like mixing butter and sugar (see videos from customers). We have temporarily fixed this by including a beater with rubber edges that scrapes the edges of the bowl, but we would like to sell this as an additional accessory, and not include it as a standard tool like we do now. Hence why the beater and whisk should also be much closer to the edges. -- Our goal is for the tools to be as precise as they *practically* can, so our customers will experience genuine joy (and no frustration) while baking. While not shared here, I also have 1: Videos displaying multiple of the issues mentioned in a Drive. 2: A full STEP file of the stand mixer, bowl and tools. At this point we're still not sure if the optimal route is to do a simulation or also test with actual batters and doughs, as we feel that doughs can be pretty complicated to simulate. We assume this might take 2-3 months, before we make any new production molds. After this though, we're also interested in continuing R&D to hopefully find even more efficient designs. I'll also mention that we're interested in improving the noise reduction of the machine if you know someone who might be talented at this. Best regards, Anders (Other job post keywords: kinetics and tool geometry)