What are the most effective ways to reduce the cost and time of product prototyping? (2024)

FAQs

How does prototyping reduce costs? ›

A prototype can also expose ways to simplify the design so that the number of parts required can be reduced. Fewer parts make it easier to assemble the device and decrease the likelihood of a defective part holding up the production process.

Another way 3D printing lowers the costs of product development is by reducing the amount of labour required. Before now, models, tooling and prototype parts all had to be made manually or by operating a machine. This could be very expensive and labour-intensive, especially in applications using metals.

Rapid prototyping allows for quicker iterations and faster product development cycles that facilitate early-stage testing, enabling identification and rectification of design flaws, thereby reducing potential manufacturing issues.

Rapid prototyping not only accelerates the product development cycle but also markedly reduces expenses and speeds up the time to market.

Prototyping is a crucial stage in product design, as it allows you to test your ideas, validate your assumptions, and gather feedback from users. However, prototyping can also be expensive and time-consuming, especially if you need to produce multiple iterations at scale.

Reduce Cost Through Design

The hollowing removes the inner material of a part leaving a shell. It is also a good way to get a lightweight part. If you are planning to create your 3D printed object using Selective Laser Sintering or Multi Jet Fusion that uses powdered material, you should start to consider hollowing.

To start 3D printing faster, it helps to have a look at the nozzle on your 3D printer. The larger the nozzle, the lower the print time, as more material can be extruded through it at once. Smaller nozzles, meanwhile, can print with higher degrees of precision.

While the price of a 3D printer may sound steep, it is the money you are saving by eliminating “routine” product manufacturing costs like work-holding, prototyping, and tooling costs that can make the printer worth the investment.

Low cost of change

The prototyping phase has the lowest cost of change compared to the development and implementation phase. Implementing a change to a prototype versus a viable project can be a 10x difference.

Rapid prototyping costs far less than the price of avoidable mistakes. Creating three-dimensional representations of various products helps designers catch problems before manufacturing. This step helps reduce waste and shorten lead times, streamlining development and eliminating unnecessary spending.

Why should we make prototypes quickly and cheaply? ›

Low fidelity prototypes

They can help identify usability issues early. Low cost: Usually created with only pen and paper and designed to be developed rapidly, low fidelity prototypes are inexpensive in both labor and materials. Fast: Paper prototypes are created quickly, making them great for brainstorming.

Rapid prototyping elevates initial ideas to low-risk concept explorations that look like real products in no time. It allows designers to go beyond virtual visualization, making it easier to understand the look and feel of the design, and compare concepts side by side.

A good example of rapid prototyping could be a 24-hour design cycle in which designers work on a 3D CAD model during the workday, 3D print the prototype parts overnight, and clean and test the prototype the next day. The designers can tweak the CAD model as needed and repeat the cycle.

Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design (CAD) data.

3D printing with advanced plastics is also a faster and cheaper way to produce prototypes for parts that ultimately need to be made with metal. PLA (Polylactic acid) is a common and low-cost prototyping material, a low-temperature thermoplastic that is one of the easiest materials to 3D print successfully.

Instead of measuring, drafting, drawing, and modeling a part, you can do it in two steps: 3D scan it, then 3D print it. This operation takes a few minutes to complete, then the 3D-printed part will be ready in a few hours. Compared to the days or weeks of effort doing the traditional method, this is a no-brainer.

As a single step manufacturing process, 3D printing saves time and therefore costs associated with using different machines for manufacture. 3D printers can also be set up and left to get on with the job, meaning that there is no need for operators to be present the entire time.

Prototyping Costs

In conventional manufacturing, prototyping is associated with high costs and time commitments. With 3D printing, this phase becomes faster, cheaper, and more precise. Engineers can design, print, test prototypes, and repeat this process as often as necessary without significant financial impact.