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Making errors in manufacturing process can be a disaster to a
factory. Substantial re-work will increase the cost and that can
kill your factory, especially for small factory. To avoid making
fatal errors, manufacturers should construct a conceptual
design. The most effective way to construct a conceptual design
is rapid prototyping (RP). This method allows you to build a
prototype with minimal cost in a short time period. Unluckily,
there is only 10% small companies have adopted rapid prototyping
(RP). The following presents advantages of adoption of RP in
depth.
What is RP?
RP makes virtual designs from CAD software, processes them by
transforming them into cross sections, still virtual, and then
forms or manufactures each cross section in physical space, one
after the next until the model is finished. The appearance of
prototypes is almost identical to the actual product.
Stereolithography is one of the more commonly used RP
technologies. It is considered to provide high accuracy and good
surface finish. It involves building plastic parts a layer at a
time by tracing a laser beam on the surface of a vat of liquid
photo-polymer. The photopolymer is solidified by the laser
light. Once one layer is completely traced, it is lowered a
small distance into the liquid and a subsequent layer is traced,
adhering to the previous layer.
Benefits of RP
1. Time Reduction
In most cases, firms using RP technologies have gained time
reductions in the production of prototype tooling and parts.
The figures for time reductions on prototyping vary greatly,
ranging from 60 to 90%. On the whole this range is likely to be
realistic given that the estimation of time savings, when
compared to the conventional methods of prototyping, is a fairly
straightforward matter.
2. Cost Reduction RP allows firms to identify mistakes before
commitments are made to expensive tooling, machines, and large
scale manufacturing process. It is widely known that correcting
errors at initial stage is much cost effective than correcting
errors at later stages.
3. Innovation For the reasons of short production cycle and
relatively low cost, some firms are using RP in more innovative
ways. Some examples include:
- Development of new analysis and testing procedures -
Manufacturing conceptual design of production tooling -
Improving communications across product divisions - Supporting
customised manufacturing
Conclusion: RP provides designers, model makers, manufacturers
and others with highly accurate prototype parts. Rapid prototype
turnaround time is a proven way to reduce time to market. It can
even reduce direct development costs.
The only drawback is the initial high capital investment for RP
machines. One of the ways to eliminate this disadvantage is to
employ a RP manufacturing service provider.
About the author:
Written by: Star Prototype China Limited, a rapid prototyping
service provider offers high quality but low cost rapid
prototype production. It provides a SLA
prototyping and learn more about our rapid prototyping
services here.
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