Rapid Prototyping Service: How to Use 3D Print for Your Rapid Prototyping Services
Whether you’re designing a new product or looking to enhance an existing one, a rapid prototyping service can help you save time and money. Although there are many services available, some methods like 3D printing tend to stand out for many good reasons, such as flexibility in producing designs, reduced waste, ease of access, and the creation of lightweight and robust parts. That makes it a good choice for your next rapid prototyping needs.
Rapid prototyping fastly makes prototypes of your product design, so you can effectively test your idea and verify it. It’s also helpful to improve your current product, especially if you want to keep up with market demands. 3D printing meets those requirements. But how can you use it in your rapid prototyping service? Mentioned below are some tips to help you:
Proof of concept prototyping
Concept models or proof-of-concept prototypes are typically the earliest versions of a prototype. The goal is to let you test basic assumptions about your product and reduce risk as much as possible. They often don’t consider the product’s function or aesthetics, but they can benefit from the low cost and speed that 3D printing can offer.
Functional prototypes
Working or functional prototypes should validate and demonstrate your product’s functions. You can include 3D printing in rapid prototyping services to help you identify essential and impractical features.
Visual prototype
This type of prototype lets you validate and show how your product will look. That way, designers can decide on matters, such as how to market it and which materials will be used in final production. 3D printing lets you create visual prototypes and test various visual factors, including texture, shape, color, and size.
Pre-production or engineering prototypes
These are final prototypes that represent near-finished products, so they’re typically used to show the product to potential resellers, customers, investors, or manufacturers. Rapid prototyping services with 3D printing can create your product as accurately as possible to the end-use version.