Traditional prototyping has been a painful process for designers as well as manufacturers. It is a time-consuming and expensive method that results in significantly higher costs and time overruns because of errors in design and execution. But fortunately, that is history now. With the increased popularity of manufacturing techniques like 3D printing and stereolithography, prototyping has revolutionized significantly. It allows great precision with faster times and reduced cost. This process is known as rapid prototyping.
It is a process of rapid fabrication of a physical part, model, or assembly using 3D aided design. The creation completes using additive manufacturing which is commonly known as 3D printing. Further in this blog, we will be discussing why designers and manufacturers are more attracted to rapid prototyping so make sure to read till the end.
It saves time
Rapid prototyping doesn’t require producing specialized molds and tools for every new product which significantly reduces the time taken from product design to prototype analysis. Learnings of this process can be implemented quickly in the development process.
It saves money
Apart from being time-consuming, the creation of molds and tools is also an expensive process. Any changes to product design in the development process result in additional costs due to redesigning these manufacturing tools. Rapid prototyping completely eliminates the need for this process and its inherent cost. Furthermore, traditional prototyping is a subtractive process where material requires to be cut away from a solid block. It also results in losses but it is not the case with additive manufacturing.
It allows better visualization
It is often difficult for the designers to translate the final look and feel of the product only based on digital models. So the speed and convenience of rapid prototyping allow reach this proof-of-concept stage and it has streamlined the design feedback process for designers worldwide.
It reduces manufacturing risk
Mass manufacturing requires rigorous quality control as any tiny error can result in an entire batch of defective products. The key to ensuring the quality here is a 100% accurate prototype. Rapid prototyping allows for detailed physical analysis at an early stage that helps designers to check for any defects and make modifications before any major issue in manufacturing.
It facilitates the potential of design thinking
Design thinking is the process through which designers try to solve complex problems as well as find desirable solutions. It is a process that places a premium on the power of iterative development along with repeated prototyping and testing. This method has gained popularity beyond its roots in the creative disciplines and has also been accepted in various fields such as tech, entertainment, and government policy.
In a nutshell
Rapid prototyping has removed the technical hurdles from design thinking for manufacturing companies. Furthermore, it has empowered product designers to freely design as well as test new ideas without worrying about wastage of time and money. If you want to know more about rapid prototyping in China, feel free to get in touch with the experts.