Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus

A prototype is a model of something that is to be developed further. Rapid Prototyping refers to the creation quick representations from an initial idea and taking it through successive iterations until the final form is developed all without the cost and need for tooling or molds.

If you are designing or developing a product and would like to visualize and test your products and reduce time to market, then Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus are worth considering.

Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus are those companies, which are dedicated to providing help in quickly fabricating a scale model using a three-dimensional computer aided design (CAD) data and rapid prototyping technology.

Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus help in the following areas:

1) Help to visualize models better and thereby increase communication
2) Help you to test and verify your design for fit & function
3) Decrease development time and hence time to market
4) Help avoid costly manufacturing mistakes

Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus help to decrease development time by verifying designs and/or detecting error, allowing corrections to be made to a product early in the process. When mistakes are identified and corrections are made so early in the development process the costs are greatly reduced. By making the process available to all the stakeholders (research, purchasing, design, manufacturing, sales & marketing departments, customers, etc.), the end product that hits the market shall be one that meets everyone’s expectations.

Manufacturing Industries continue to lay emphasis on increasing product features and increased complexity along with an increase in the number of product variants and decreased development time. Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus address exactly these needs of manufacturing industries. The basic methodology adopted by Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus can be summarized as:

Step 1: A computer-aided (CAD) model is constructed and then converted to STL (Standard Tessellation Language which is native to CAD software) file format. The STL file is the standard interface between the CAD software and the Rapid Prototyping machine.

Step 2: The Rapid Prototyping machine reads the STL file and creates cross-section layers of the model.

Step 3: The first layer of the model is created. The next layer is added at the thickness determined by the Rapid Prototyping machine and the process is iterated until the complete model is built.

Step 4: Selected users from the stakeholder groups participate in a brainstorming session to test the prototype.

Step 5: User observations are summarized and evaluated.

Step 6: The prototype is refined where necessary and the above processes are repeated.

Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus advocate using rapid prototype models as an opportunity to physically show concepts to all parties involved with the development process as well as to verify designs.

Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus thus help in ensuring accuracy in design, reducing costs and time to market.

Annette Kalbhenn is Business Development Manager at a Rapid Prototyping service bureau. For more info on how you can benefit from Rapid Prototyping check out http://www.3dPrototype.com