Why use 3D Rapid prototyping? For design and manufacturing development, 3D printing is an ideal complement to 3D CAD design by offering a fast, low cost alternative to traditional rapid prototyping technologies for building concept and functional prototypes. Why would you use Rapid Prototyping? • To decrease product development time (time compression technology) • To minimise engineering changes • To increase effective communication between engineers, product designers and marketing departments • To extend the product life cycle There are several types of materials and printing processes available for this prototyping The use of your prototype will determine which 3D printing material is best for our project. Key factors that influence the choice of prototype material are lifespan, complexity of geometry and the durability of the model. A summary of the prototyping materials that we can offer include; Durable material – produced by SLA or SLS process Multi-colour material – Powder based material, high resolution, which is rigid and fairly strong, suitable to evaluation of deigns. Many designers and companies use prototypes and models for the purpose of product and functionality testing of new designs they can also be used to obtain customer feedback for new products. The data collected from these tests is then used to change the prototype models and improve the product or design. 3D printed prototypes are a crucial tool for rapidly making cost efficient design modifications before a product goes to manufacturing where these changes will be extremely costly. The time and cost savings using rapid prototype models can be as much as two thirds. 3D Rapid prototyping advancements allow for faster and lower cost prototypes and model fabrication by eliminating manpower and expensive tooling which allow companies and inventors to bring there products and designs to market faster than the competition.