subject: Why Prototyping Is An Important And Often Outsourced Business Process [print this page] In todays extremely competitive business landscape, it is important for business owners and manufacturers to quickly translate ideas into marketable products and services. In order to remain n top of the competition, business owners in the production and manufacturing industry use prototypes in order to seamlessly introduce their product to the market.
Prototypes allow manufacturers to see and feel their product before it goes to mass production. Often created during the design stages, physical product prototypes allow manufacturers to have a feel of the actual product, unlike computer aided software that only shows a virtual image of the final design.
A prototype design will allow manufacturers to create a one-off product that can be further fine tuned in order to create the final design. Prototypes can be made repeatedly until the results become satisfactory. The repetition allows manufacturers to see potential problems with the design and correct them before the final design is sent to mass production.
Similar to other business functions, prototyping is also becoming one that is frequently outsourced. Companies would often conceptualize a product design, and then have the design sent to a prototyping manufacturer. After the manufacturer creates the initial prototype it is sent back to the company for further evaluation. This process can go on repeatedly as many times as necessary until the company is satisfied with the design.
Many custom manufacturing companies moonlight as prototyping manufacturers whenever the product involves specialize components that would otherwise be impossible to manufacture. Custom manufacturing deals with the fabrication of specific parts or products that cannot be bought or produced elsewhere. Custom manufacturers can not only design the prototype but also produce it in the material chosen by the manufacturer.
A typical prototyping manufacturer uses highly specialized equipment in order to produce the unique, one of a kind prototype that they create. They use processes such as vacuum casting, metal casting, selected laser sintering, stereo lithography, fused deposition sintering, reaction injection molding, and the latest in prototyping technology, three dimensional machining. Not only does prototyping help identify potential flaws, it also helps reduce the amount of time and money spent before the final design is locked on and sent to mass production.
