Was there ever a time that you knew to yourself that your mind has just conceived a great product design, but you have no idea if it is going to be a hit or not?
Do you often find yourself struggling for words to say when trying to explain to your investors, business partners, or co-workers the concept or principle behind your product design or proposal?
Rapid type prototyping can help you do all that with ease!
This process is now dominating the center stage in the plastic parts manufacturing space and is taking it to the next level by making it possible for product designers and engineers to come up with top-caliber prototypes that have the look, the feel and vibe, and function of how a final product should be.
Before delving deeper here, we need to define what rapid prototyping is all about.
Defining Prototyping
All designing processes begin first with a bright idea or concept. This will be followed either by a hand or digital design. Then, the design and its overall integrity can be initially tested by a prototype. It is that this point that 3D printing will come into the picture, to help in the creation of a product prototype.
Rapid prototyping is simply the accelerated creation or development of a prototype. The purpose of which is to immediately help in demonstrating and showcasing distinct features and design of a product.
This relies on 3-dimensional CAD (computer-aided design data) for its layout aspect and makes use of a 3D printing machine for the production phase. Since prototype versions of a product offering are usually developed using materials, not of the same as the final product, it is not easy to determine if they are durable enough or whatnot.
Benefits of Prototyping a Product First
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Clear and helpful visualization of design concepts.
Rapid type of prototyping allows engineers and designers to demonstrate their design concepts and ideas with investors, business partners, developers, and potential clients. Simply put, to relevant people where their proposal matters the most.
The process makes it easier for them to explain their ideas visually. Hence, necessary tweaks or design adjustments can be immediately identified and these changes can be implemented soon enough.
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Efficiency can be improved even before a prototype could be developed.
The usual practice for engineers and designers before the rapid type of prototyping became a fad is they need to wait in line for their requested prototypes if they want theirs built. This goes to show that if you want your product offering to have a prototype first, it is going to be an arduous process and an expensive endeavor also.
Rapid prototyping concepts work to the advantage of everyone to whom they matter. It saves them valuable time, money, and effort. All of which are undeniably valuable resources for any business organization regardless of the industry they belong to.
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Designs are Customizable
Needless to say, this type of prototyping has our best interest in mind. Using this method, engineers and product designing teams can implement necessary modifications to a product design or feature before it comes into a full-fledged production. All with respect to a client’s specifications or needs.
Like for instance, if a proposed change requires the use of small parts, you can now easily produce it within the prototype designing phase.
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Expedites time to market.
In the rapid type of prototyping, organizations are empowered even more because they can now hasten up their time to market their product offerings through this enhanced technology.
And as indicated above, necessary design and feature revisions can be implemented easily and quickly following physical testing and garnered feedback.
In Summary
This prototyping concept makes it possible for product designers and engineers to continuously make necessary improvements to their offerings, even before they hit the market.
Enhanced prototyping is a revolutionary technique we have nowadays that is helping manufacturing bodies to sustain further improvement of their product offerings in a cost-effective manner.