Whether you’re an engineer at a start-up developing your very first product or working for a Fortune 500 designing parts for mass production, rapid prototyping is a critical phase that helps save time and money by allowing mechanical engineers to optimize form, function, and manufacturability without incurring costly mistakes or requiring multiple revisions.
We help mechanical and design engineers get finished, production quality parts and assemblies in as little as 1 to 3 days. We’ve been specializing in quick turn, low-volume on-demand production for over 30 years, offering precision Sheet Metal Fabrication and CNC Machining as well as a full range of secondary processes such as welding, forming, laser engraving/cutting, powder coating, screen printing, hardware insertion, assembly and more.
Some of the main advantages of rapid manufacturing include:
1. Seeing is Believing – If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a part is worth a million. Whether you are courting investors or trying to engage internal corporate stakeholders, a finished part accomplishes more than a CAD model, a drawing, or an animation. According to this study, people are far more likely to buy in once they’ve touched the real thing. http://www.rnl.caltech.edu/publications/pdf/bushong2010.pdf
2. Product Improvement and Enhancement – Nobody can think of everything and hardly anyone gets it right on the first try. A physical prototype is like a cheat code that allows you to avoid all the time-consuming side quests. Once you have it in your hands, you can evaluate form, function, and design which helps improve aesthetics as well as technical aspects in addition to optimizing the design for manufacturability.
3. Minimize Design Flaws – Does this thing work? Are my tolerances too tight or too loose? Did I overlook a critical detail? Do these parts work together when assembled? Our manufacturing engineers evaluate your design once it is uploaded. Over our thirty years, thousands of customers, and millions of parts, we’ve seen it all. There is no substitute for experience. We work with you to get your design right and once it’s in your hands, you can evaluate the part more fully.
4. Minimum Up-Front Investment – Rapid prototyping means there are no large upfront costs such as molds, expensive tooling, minimum quantity buys, bulk materials, etc. You’re only paying for as many or as few as you need. This greatly reduces your up-front cost and eliminates many of the risks that go along with introducing new products and designs.
5. Speed – Plain and simple, rapid prototyping—whether it’s sheet metal fabrication, milling, laser cutting, or precision CNC— helps get you to market faster. Competition is the norm in every market and how quickly you can get your products there will make all the difference in whether you’re an innovator that lands customers or an “also ran” perpetually struggling to keep up.
Stay tuned for Part II of 10 Ways Rapid Prototyping Helps Engineers Cut Costs and Get to Market Faster and watch this space for more expert advice and tips on rapid sheet metal fabrication and precision CNC machining.
