The manufacturing sector in the 21^st century has significantly shifted as there is more demand for the creation of high-quality products within the shortest time possible.

This need and burden do not exclusively fall on the manufacturing departments, designers must also shoulder this burden. The design phase must be swift, and at the same time, inexpensive. At this point, this is where rapid prototyping comes in.

Rapid prototyping typically involves the fast production of test product or sample within the shortest time possible. This allows both engineers and designers to have a working prototype at hand and determine the viability of mass production.

By the mere of the word rapid, gives you a rough idea of how the whole production will be. It's cheap, fast and basic. Rapid prototyping is an economical way of validating your idea within the shortest time possible.

Key lessons from rapid prototyping

To make your part and product within the shortest time possible and inexpensively, the prototyping process, as well as the design, requires to be at the minimum. In the past, traditional prototyping methods would take weeks or even months in some cases to complete the entire prototyping process.

But thanks to rapid prototyping, the period taken has now been significantly reduced which has resulted in cost-effective mechanisms. One of the key takeaways from this production technique is the fact that designers now can have a real prototype at hand for validation, this will steer the project in the right direction and also allows for changes and design flaws to be factored in and fixed.

How does the production technique work?

Rapid prototyping begins with the simple step of the creation of samples of workflows as well as the identification additive process to use. The raw materials used in the additive process comprise thermoplastic, photopolymer, and adhesives.

In comparison with the compressive and subtractive methods normally used in the conventional prototyping process. Rapid prototyping creates parts and products by combining or layering particles of materials together to form a finished part.

Typically, the rapid prototyping process involves three major steps: prototype, review, and refine. In prototyping, the design is fully transformed into mockups while still maintaining the standards, user experience, while still having the best practices in mind.

This type of prototype is normally shared with the users in evaluating whether it meets their expectations and needs. Basing on the whole feedback, the designer will identify the areas for the whole repeat process and improvement.

When there's a stark contrast between the stakeholder's review and user's test feedback, the designers must return to the drawing board and guide the whole product development heading into right direction till the product that meets the needs business objectives as well as both clients needs as well as that of the manufacturer.