Rapid prototyping is revolutionizing the product development process, but few appreciate all the ways it is altering how products are developed. Even fewer understand how rapid prototyping is creating opportunities for small businesses and individuals worldwide. Here are six ways rapid prototyping benefits the product development process.
Faster Development Time
Product development is far more involved than creating drawings and taking them to a production line for mass production. Businesses have to create initial prototypes to test per industry standards, run user experience tests, and ensure that the product works as expected. It is very common to find flaws in the design that you want to fix before you start mass production.
3D printing and similar technologies enable rapid prototyping; you can create one or a dozen prototypes for testing almost as soon as you have a final version of the design. There’s no need to set up tooling and new equipment to create the first lot of 100.
Suppose an issue is found with the design. Traditional prototyping required changing the production tooling to create the new design, and that could take anywhere from hours to days. With rapid prototyping, you could have a new prototype in a matter of minutes or hours. If you need to make more changes, change the file and reprint. The iterative improvements of the design are completed in days, not months, at a fraction of the cost.
Cheaper Prototypes
Saving engineering time and equipment set up time for one-off prototype runs saves money since all of these labor costs are overhead costs you hope you can offset in the profits from the production run. Another issue is the cost of making each prototype. You’ll probably go through multiple trial runs getting the molds just right, tweaking the tooling settings, or even creating unique tools for making that particular facet of the new design.
A major benefit of rapid prototyping is that you can create almost any type of design with the printer, given that it is large enough. You don’t waste pounds of material in a lot made incorrectly or hours of production time on equipment plus engineer’s time making something that comes out wrong. All of this adds up to a much lower cost per prototype made.
CNC machining is tried and true. It is accurate and can be done with almost any material. However, there is always material wastage when you start with a piece and cut away material to get the desired end result. Injection molding is established affordable technology when you’re producing large lots. However, the setup and tear down processes take up time you may not have. For small lots, injection molding may be cost-prohibitive. If there’s an issue with the mold, the whole lot may be ruined. So, this is why you should consider working with rapid prototyping services who can offer different options depending on your needs.
Rapid prototyping companies like 3ERP have your design completed in just a few hours and create multiple prototypes yet still remain within budget (you can have a look at their website at some case studies to see the high level of quality of each prototype). This can significantly speed up the testing process. You could get feedback from the client trying out one model and send another to a product testing lab, and you aren’t worried about destroying one of the only prototypes you have available to prove to a client that it can withstand heavy abuse.
Faster Product Evolution
One major benefit of additive manufacturing is the ability to change the design almost immediately. If you discover design flaws or technical problems after you’ve sold the first hundred, you can alter the design as soon as you find a solution and print a new prototype for evaluation. If it is proven out, you can have a new version in distribution almost immediately.
There’s no need to wait days for the production line to be adjusted to make the new product version or fighting with scheduling of production equipment. The end result is a much faster turnaround time for each new model. Your version B is getting shipped almost as soon as you realize the need for it; this is better for your bottom line.
Supporting Niche Markets
The low cost of rapid prototyping also makes unique items affordable. Whether you’re making a one-of-a-kind artistic work or customizing accessories sold en masse, the generally lower cost per item makes both possible within almost anyone’s budget. You can change the material fed to the printers to create custom colors or patterns at relatively little cost and without waste. Businesses may allow customers to request variations of the product that they make themselves while letting customers see the designs gives them a sense of connection to the product before they see it in real life.
For small and medium business owners, the low cost per prototype allows you to create custom models per customer niche while still competing in terms of price with larger businesses.
Greater Quality
The rapid prototyping and iterative design process help to ensure that most design flaws are corrected before you go into mass production, and you’re able to fix things far sooner if something new is discovered. However, the manufacturing process itself can improve overall quality. You can make and test many prototypes in the next level assembly or in the field. You can run usability tests and destructive tests to ensure that the design meets all expectations.
And because you can make the prototypes far sooner in the design process, you can make changes to the design far sooner (and at lower cost) than if you followed the traditional manufacturing process. In every case, the final design is far better and a guaranteed fit with the customers’ needs before you go into mass production – and that is the definition of high quality.
Conclusion
Rapid prototyping allows businesses of all sizes to save time, money, material and resources. It enables rapid and thorough testing of products whether they are to be mass produced or made for only a small group. And the end result for everyone is higher quality products.
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