Facilitating Rapid Product Development With Rapid Prototyping - By: Pete Holloway

When WelTec Connect first started facilitating rapid product development, the year was 2003 and the company was known as Rapid Prototyping New Zealand. The technological advances have been astounding since those days when the Z Corp 3D printer was the best the company had to work with.

Since then, the experts at WelTec have developed a range of services dedicated to decreasing the time required to produce prototypes.

- Fused deposition modelling - FDM is technology that involves 3D printing. This process takes computer aided designs and animation modelling data and reduces them to a series of ultra thin cross-sections. The model is built out of ABS plastic or polycarbonate by fusing the cross-sections together layer by layer.

- Computer Numerically Controlled Machining - CNC technology involves translating a design into computations based on four axes. A CNC machine carves a block of material into the finished model. This method of prototyping is effective with materials of all kinds from hardened steel to soft foam. A prototype built with the identical material to be used for mass production can be tested for functionality.

- Vacuum Casting - High density waxes, silicon moulds and polyurethane parts are produced using a method called vacuum casting. A prototype made from a silicon mould will mimic the final product close enough for function testing and test marketing purposes.

- Vacuum Forming - The process of vacuum forming creates a vacuum between a mould and a sheet of heated plastic to build the model.

- Laser cutting and etching

The Centre for Smart Product also carries out production and testing of prototype circuit boards, pre-production runs of products, and performance testing.

As the Director of Technology Development for the Centre, Paul Mather knows how important rapid prototyping is in a competitive business climate. Reducing the time required to go from development to testing is something that will help any company get their product on the market faster. A higher level of efficiency gives the company a competitive edge and that translates into a positive effect on the bottom line.

Qualified WelTec Connect technicians are ready to assist clients through the entire process from concept design to product prototyping. Business owners from many different industries rely on these services to develop their products.

The WelTec experts can be as involved in the process as the client needs them to be. Assistance is available from the design process all the way through prototype testing or at any point along the way. The team can even work from SDL files provided by the client to build a product prototype.

Staff members and students who teach and study at WelTec's Schools of Creative Technologies, IT and Engineering are available to lend knowledge and expertise to any project at the client's request. These resources have proven to be invaluable to the development and testing of prototypes for many new products. The strong emphasis on engineering is particularly attractive to companies involved in manufacturing.

The rapid prototyping technologies at WelTec Connect are available on a user pays basis but could possibly be part of a Research and Development funding package too. Talk to Paul Mather at WelTec Connect for more information.

View more articles on rapid product development: fast product development, fast product development, rapid prototyping

About the Author

Sheldon Small has for many years been writing articles regarding rapid product development. He is a comprehensive publisher who many regard highly.

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