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DESIGN & ENGINEERING
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Rapid prototyping (RP) can provide the edge in your industrial design project. Full-scale models provide valuable functional and ergonomic information early on in the design process. Prototypes are the most effective tools for communicating your ideas to clients and are the best means of evaluating the details of your final computer model before sending out for tooling.
RP can help solve many of the problems of today’s high pressure world, such as:
That doesn’t mean every project needs/warrants RP. We also can get more traditional CNC parts made in any number of materials for virtually any application. Not sure what is best, call us. We are happy to discuss your needs and applications, and will offer our experience to you to help make that decision.
Improve Manufacturing Process
RP is a versatile tool that aids in the manufacturing process in several ways. It can create models to assist in tooling, like jigs and fixtures, models to assist in testing functionality, and you can even use direct digital manufacturing (DDM) to create finished parts and products.
Made Of Real Engineering Materials
ABS plastic is the most commonly used plastic in manufacturing today, used in cell phones, television sets, and the majority of car interiors. It won't warp or shrink. ABS models can be drilled, tapped and sanded, too. But we don’t stop there, we also have:
Tough Enough for Working Parts
DDM produced models are tough enough to be used as working parts. The higher level of precision in today’s DDM prototypes means that pieces actually snap or fit together perfectly.
For example, ABS models are excellent masters for the vacuum forming process used extensively in the automotive, consumer product, aerospace and medical industries.
Form, Fit & Function
Rapid Prototyping Takes the Ambiguity out of Product Designs
Communication is critical in the successful development of new consumer products and electronics. CAD files, prints and renderings can be misinterpreted by everyone from design engineers to marketing executives. Changes due to poor communication become exponentially more expensive with each step in the design process.
Present Designs Accurately and Affordably
There's simply no substitute for the tactile and visual feedback a physical model can provide. RP & DDM also allow you to experiment with new ideas and numerous design iterations - without extensive time or tooling expense.
Functional Materials = Functional Testing
There's no substitute for actually testing form, fit and function with a thermo plastic model that has the durability and accuracy of a real product.
DDM models of ABS plastic are tough enough to be used as working parts. Durable thermo plastic models enable you to test form, fit and function — through as many design iterations as you need — right from your desk.
Models produced with real engineering thermo plastics provide a higher level of precision. Pieces actually snap or fit together. For example, ABS allows you to build durable and functional models that can withstand rigorous testing, holding their tolerances for years.
All our plastic models can be drilled, tapped, sanded and painted. ABS is the most commonly used thermoplastic in manufacturing today, used in cell phones, television sets, and the majority of car interiors.
From big automakers to modest after-market parts manufacturers, automotive engineers face a wide range of design challenges. DDM can help by building functional 3D models that engineers can install and test right on a vehicle. The intricate interior of an engine block or a gearbox can be built economically in a matter of hours, instead of spending a fortune to machine the model out of metal. In manufacturing, DDM can produce jigs, fixtures and specialized tools that make assembly more efficient. Custom motorcycle builders have embraced DDM as a high-quality yet economical way to fabricate their wildest designs for parts like instrument clusters, fenders and fairings.
RP & DDM create parts that actually snap or fit together. Catching flaws early in the design process can save you thousands, if not millions of dollars.
Want to know what is available as material options? Take a look.
Proof of Concept
No whiteboard sketch or CAD simulation can match the experience of holding a real 3D model in your hands. DDM is an incredible tool for bringing your ideas into the real world.
Explore multiple concepts quickly and affordably and achieve more effective collaboration with your design team.
As a tool for creating models early in the design process, DDM is a faster and more affordable alternative to traditional machining— whether you use a central in-house facility or an outsource service.
By using Protofacturing’s RP & DDM services, you can cut days and weeks off the design cycle. Protofacturing’s ability to produce quick, inexpensive models made of real engineering plastic materials allows designers to efficiently model multiple concepts right in their offices.
A central in-house machine shop facility can force you to wait behind large prototype fabrication and long production runs when all you want is a quick model build. Outsourcing a model takes only days not weeks, and can cost hundreds of dollars less than traditional machine shops.
Physical models allow everyone on the design team to review concepts. You get more quality feedback, resulting in a better product. RP & DDM allow companies to achieve real time collaboration on a global scale.
Product Mock-ups Made Easy
Product mock-ups allow you to see your product and catch design flaws before going into production, saving you both time and money.
With mock-ups made by Protofacturing, you can see your product before ever going into production. Models can be made within hours and then sanded, painted, tapped and drilled — even chrome plated — to give you a reliable representation of the actual manufactured product.
Mock-ups also allow you to uncover design flaws and make the appropriate adjustments early and often throughout the design process. A prototype model could pay back your initial investment just by catching a design flaw before a product goes into production, saving your company from costly retooling, reworking or (at worst) a product recall.
Product Cost Reduction
Working with a real, functional model helps manufacturing engineers and purchasing agents visualize more cost-efficient production.
Three Financial Reasons for Rapid Prototyping
There are dozens of costs involved in developing a new product. Poor communication, extensive changes and missed deadlines can increase those costs exponentially throughout each step of product design and development.
A Wohlers Industry Report notes that a modest engineering change costing $100 in the concept phase could escalate to a staggering $1,000,000 if the same change was made once the product is in the field.
RP can help your design team to reduce those costs with better communication, collaboration and design verification throughout the process. Using RP will bring you cost reductions on the very first project!
#1 - The High Cost Of Poor Communication
Changes due to poor communication become exponentially more costly with each step in the design and engineering processes. But RP enables everyone involved to review as many design iterations as necessary in the earliest stages when changes are less expensive.
The above chart illustrates the higher costs of changes in later stages of development.
A modest engineering change in the Proof of Concept phase can become 10,000 times more costly to fix when the product is in the field.
#2 - Changes Cost More over Time
Most critical product design and specification decisions are made during the first 10% of the design cycle or at the concept stage. These decisions can affect almost 80% of the product’s total cost by establishing material selection, manufacturing techniques, and longevity of the design.
RP enables management, engineering design teams, manufacturing, field service, marketing, purchasing, and vendors to offer firsthand input based on durable, functional concept models that can be produced quickly and efficiently.
#3 – Late Products Mean Less Profit
Speed to market is a significant competitive advantage. A recent McKinsey & Co. study suggests that if a product is late to market by six months, it will have lost up to 33% of its potential gross profit over its life cycle. With little time for error, the design process can be faster and more efficient through the use of RP.
Above is a chart depicting how entering a market 6 months late could cost a product up to 33% of its gross profit potential.
Real World Solutions
Design Studies
Building 3D models has become an essential working tool for innovative designers, engineers, architects and manufacturers. The affordability of 3D printing (3DP) helps the new generation of professionals utilize this powerful technology. RP technologies give students in technical colleges and universities — even middle and high schools — design experience that's truly hands-on. RP & DDM build functional 3D models in real engineering grade plastics like ABS, so students can actually test their designs. RP doesn't have the steep learning curve of CNC modeling, and it's a clean, safe process that reduces harmful waste.
Consumer Products
In consumer products, aesthetics and detail are more important than ever. 3D printing (3DP) lets designers and product engineers evaluate their ideas in the real world instead of on a workstation screen. How does a cell phone fit the hand? Are the controls intuitive or awkward? 3DP models help you arrive at the optimal design right on your desk. And 3DP models help eliminate design flaws for more efficient manufacturing. Literally thousands of consumer products, from kitchen faucets to toys to electronics packaging, can be modeled and validated with 3DP from Protofacturing.
Marketing Tools
Models made with a 3DP technology are great marketing tools. Impress your prospects and clients with full 24 bit colour models.
A full colour 3DP model can be sanded, gloss coated, metallic painted — even chrome-plated — to match the finished appearance of a new product. Imagine showing prospects a pre-launch model of a new product that's nearly identical to the real thing. They can see it, hold it, and examine it from every angle. And with 3DP, you can produce this kind of high-level product model in just a few days, not weeks — an impressive way to present your very latest concepts.
Vacuum Forming
Thermoforming is a collection of manufacturing methods that heat and form sheets of extruded plastic. Thermoforming processes include: drape, vacuum and pressure forming. Today, packaging is the leading application for vacuum forming. Excitingly, consumers see it everywhere from the plastic coffee lid on their morning cup of java to the clear plastic box their sandwich at lunch was delivered in. And, although thermoforming is most often used when manufacturing packaging items, the cost and time saving advantages are realized in a broad spectrum of products in an equally diverse range of industries.
Vacuum forming is used extensively in the automotive industry for trim pieces and a variety of interior components, aerospace, medical and packaging industries. DDM models can give shape to a wide variety of consumer products from plastic drinking glasses to food containers.
High quality prototype molds for custom thermoform packaging can now be made 60% faster.
Plastic models produced by DDM methods are excellent masters for the vacuum forming process. They're easy and inexpensive to produce, accurate and durable enough to withstand the rigors of production-level vacuum forming, saving you money on tooling costs.
Packaging
Companies designing and producing glass and plastic packaging for the healthcare, household and chemical, automotive, and beverage industries are using 3DP technology to speed and improve their design process.
The challenge:
A new packaging design has to be functional, economical and innovative. Clear and effective communication is necessary to satisfy customers and simplify the design process. The traditional method of using 3D screen renderings limits communication and forces compromises late in the design process or extensions in the design process.
The Solution:
Communicate Internally - 3DP is capable of creating appearance prototypes of any complexity in full colour or monochrome directly from digital data, quickly and inexpensively.
Communicate with Clients - Functional appearance prototypes are useful in solving problems and obtaining agreement on a design direction.
Generate New Business - Printed parts can be used to bid on new business by clearly communicating design ideas and establishing an advantage over the competition.
Output Finite Element Analysis Data (FEA)- The unique color capability of 3DP provides a way to visualize and communicate the results of finite element analysis and identify problem areas early in the process.
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