this entry is reproduced from a white paper from Objet Geometries:
Top Five Reasons
to integrate 3D Printing into Your Product Development Lifecycle
Rapid prototyping was a game-changing innovation for industrial
designers when it was introduced two decades ago. Previously,
prototypes would be constructed from wood or metal in woodwork or
machine shops. The process took weeks or months and the cost was
often so prohibitive that designers skipped prototypes entirely and went
directly from CAD to tooling. Often this meant that design flaws were
not identified until manufacturing began, leading to expensive re-work
and lost time.
Rapid prototyping technology has progressed significantly over the
years improving on both the cost and quality fronts. Circa 2000, Objet
Geometries introduced the PloyJet™ and PolyJet Matrix™ technology
to the market, a jetting process of photopolymer resin in ultra-thin
individual layers that builds models. The resin is simultaneously cured
with a UV light during the layering process; an approach that allows
for printing of several materials including flexible, rubber-like material
and composite Digital Materials™. The result is a much higher-quality
surface finish and highly accurate geometries. Unlike many competing
technologies, Objet’s PolyJet and PolyJet Matrix are clean processes
suitable for office environments.
So why should you consider using 3D printing technology as
part of your product development process?
Objet surveyed its’ base of users from various markets including consumer
goods, consumer electronics, medical device, education, research,
entertainment and others, why they made the investment, and based on their
responses crafted these Top Five Reasons to Integrate 3D Printing into Your
Product Development Lifecycle.
1. Designers can prototype more iterations without blowing the timeline or budget
3D printing – particularly when done in-house – enables
design teams to quickly produce a high-quality, realistic prototype with
moving parts, at relatively low cost when compared to other methods
such as machining or outsourcing. This means teams can use prototyping
on projects where it wasn’t feasible in the past due to time or cost
considerations.
“We needed a faster, more streamlined system: one that would let us do
the engineering, development and production of clinical trial-ready devices
in-house. We had heard about rapid prototyping and were very excited
about seeing how it could help us.” Andre’ A. DiMino, Vice Chairman
of the Board, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, Ivivi
Technologies. The integration of the Eden350 into the product development
and production cycle at Ivivi has been an unqualified success, yielding a
positive return on investment in less than one year. “We’ve cut an average
of five to six weeks off the clinical trial device production process,” said
DiMino.
2. Better collaboration resulting in improved design and manufacturability
The ability to quickly produce real working prototypes that
teams can see and touch helps bridge the gap between the virtual CAD
design and the final product. Design and manufacturing engineers can
use these prototypes as a tool to better communicate how a design looks,
feels, and operates allowing for the product design to integrate with
manufacturing at an earlier stage in the development lifecycle.
Brian McLaughlin from Orchid Design, a division of Orchid Orthopedic
Solutions, says “Often, something the designer sees on a rapid prototype
– such as an undercut, or some other area of difficulty – will cause them
to tweak the design before it goes to the customer or to machining. Or, a
customer will say, ‘You created it just as I described, but now that I see it, I
think we need to change X, Y or Z.’ 3D printing has definitely had a major
impact on the quality and manufacturability of our designs.”
According to Jon Fawcett from Fawcett Design, his team now uses the 3D
printing system for “Anything and everything. Functional prototype, aesthetic
prototypes, rigid molds for urethane cast parts, rapid manufacturing… our
Objet 3D printer is very versatile. We can now do same-day turnaround on
prototypes, which in turn allows us to do a lot more prototyping. We can
very quickly see if something will work; we no longer have to guess or take
a chance.”
3. Field test with prototypes that resemble the final product providing insight into potential design flaws
More prototyping means more opportunity to evaluate whether or not a
part will function as intended. Prototypes allow designers to catch potential
flaws before incurring the exponentially higher costs of re-tooling and
rework, reducing some of the risk of introducing new products.
Shawn Greene from Fender Musical Instruments describes a recent project
to develop a light-up front panel for an amplifier. Using 3D printing,
Greene produced prototypes of the panel using a clear material, tested it
with different types of lights and discovered that light didn’t deflect they
way they thought it would. “We had to adjust the design to make it
work,” says Greene. “In the past, we would not have done a prototype for
that kind of part because it would have taken too long and cost too much
money. So by the time we noticed that problem we would have already
paid for tooling, and then we would have had to pay for amendments for
the tool. The ability to rapid prototype in house saved us a fortune on that
project.”
4. Improve customer satisfaction
3D printing can help improve satisfaction for both internal
and external customers. Designers using 3D printing have the
ability to quickly produce realistic prototypes for internal
decision makers, as well as external clients. Having the ability to touch
a real world concept, combined with testing functionality allows all
constituents of the design and manufacturing process to make better
product decisions. The bottom line, 3D printing helps organizations get
better products to market faster than ever before.
“Frequently during a project, clients request design changes or wonder
how particular changes may impact the overall aesthetic,” said Piet Meijs,
Rietveld Architects. “Our Objet system lets us create a whole new model
right away, and that wows the client every time.”
“Now that we have it, we tend to use it for all our projects, and the
feedback from our customers has been terrific. It’s pretty amazing to see
someone’s face when you give them a real model that brings their idea to
life. It really blows them away.” -Brian McLaughlin, Orchid Design
Vista’s prototypes
5. Seeing is believing
Design is both an art and a science that starts with
imagination. 3D printing helps quickly transform something
imagined into something that can be seen and touched. Prototypes are
often used to help sell new concepts, so the more realistic the prototype,
the better.
‘With the Objet Connex500, we don’t have to rely on imagination to
convey how an overmolded part will actually look, feel and operate.’
– Dan Mishek, Vista Technologies
“No matter how good our 3-D graphics are, there is nothing like a model
in your hands…” – Henry K. Kawamoto, M.D., D.D.s, UCLA Medical
Center
“You can show someone something on paper all day long, but when you
give them a real part that they can touch, they really get excited” -Shawn
Greene, Fender Musical Instruments
Additional considerations
Cost and time savings are the primary drivers for incorporating 3D printing
into the product development process. But for some organizations, other factors
influence the need for in-house technology.
The ability to drive revenue – pertaining primarily to service bureaus – by offering
3D printing services or use the services as a way to lure customers into giving
them ancillary business such as manufacturing. When Fawcett Design was
evaluating rapid prototyping technologies they settled on a high-end 3D printing
system because it offered the speed and finish quality required to have the
competitive edge as a rapid prototyping service provider.
Organizations oftentimes weigh the need for in-house technology against the
efficiencies of outsourcing. A typical maturity curve is to start off with outsourcing,
and then bring it “in house” as the volume of projects grows. Many Objet
customers have realized that an in-house solution has significant additional
benefits like the ability to protect the confidentiality of their designs. Customers
have also found that the 3D printing system can be useful for many different
applications some of which were originally unexpected. Having this technology
at their fingertips gives them the freedom they need to be more creative and
efficient with their designs.
A 3D printer for every need
Whatever the driver, this paper demonstrates a myriad of benefits to integrating
3D printing into your product development process. In recent years, 3D printing
technology has matured to the point where there are a number of different types
of systems on the market, from entry-level to high end. Chances are a system exists
that meets your organization’s exact requirements.
3D Printing Systems from Objet Geometries
Objet Geometries is the innovation leader in 3D printing. Objet develops,
manufactures and globally markets ultra-thin-layer, high-resolution 3D printing
systems for rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing. Our wide range of
solutions includes the market-proven Eden family of 3D printers and the Alaris30,
the world’s first desktop 3D printing systems, based on our patented PolyJet™
technology. Our Connex Family of 3D printers are the only 3D printing systems
on the market which are based on PolyJet Matrix™ technology and allow users to
print multi-material prototypes in a single build.
Visit our webinar library and learn more about how customers like Orchid Design
and Burton Snowboards have successfully incorporated 3D printing in their
product development lifecycle.
To request the original PDF of this document, or to learn more about Objet 3D printers, please e-mail: dan@neometrixtech.com
