3D PROTOYPING?

3D Printing is a new technology that is the future of modern manufacturing. The transformative impact on many industries is unimaginable. The fact that 3D Printing can produce a spare part in days, not months, will return a positive return on investment to many sectors.  This process provides the opportunity for organisations to quote for more work, turnover more products, and positively impact their bottom line. 3D Printing was widely known as additive manufacturing, is becoming industry prominent, and it is surprising to note that the technology has been around for about thirty years.

Why is 3D Printing useful?
Additive manufacturing has a wide range of prospects, including universities, medical, airlines, aerospace, automotive, and the manufacturing industry, all focusing their energies on 3D Printing capabilities.

What materials do you use to create your 3D prototype? 

Polymers, resin and  metal.

Find Out More About 3D Metal Printing >

ABOUT 

How Do You Create A 3D Prototype?

1. Sketch a detailed diagram of your idea
2. Create a 3D model of the concept
3. Create your concept as a prototype
4. Create a production-ready concept of your prototype (in CAD)

What are the Three Types of Prototypes?

Iterative – Create a prototype from the product design, test it for functionality, design a new iteration and manufacture the new prototype for testing. The old iteration is then, and the old version is obsolete. This type of industrial Prototyping can be time consuming and expensive. 

Parallel – This is used when several design concepts are compared concurrently. Multiple designs are drafted and then compared to find the best versions before a physical prototype is 3D printed. This method can be costly due to the number of prototypes to create one product.  

Rapid -Rapid Prototyping is our preferred model. It incorporates some aspects of the iterative process. This method is fast and accessible for product designers who can access CAD software and 3D Printing, and Retrocast 3D Printing has the equipment.  An advantage of this method is it is an affordable way to run usability and functionality tests on newly printed mockups.

Test Your 3D Concept >

why use

Why use 3D Prototyping for your product?

The significant advantage of using rapid Prototyping is the efficiency of the design, manufacture, and ability to test your prototype within minimal time.  Not only is your downtime minimal your costs are also reduced.

10 Benefits of 3D Prototyping and Printing

1.  Quicker turnaround times -Turnaround time for 3D Printing is significantly lower than other forms of manufacturing.  Traditional manufacturing of your prototype would take months compared to days with 3D Printing.
2. Our process allows the creation of 3D prototypes quicker, ensuring a reduction in production costs.
3. Additive manufacturing (3D printing) in the prototyping process means that CAD files can be uploaded directly into 3D printer software, saving time and eliminates the extra work of programming other machine tools.

4. You have a selection of 3D Printer filament types available, enabling the prototype can be tested on many different materials
5. Simply by adapting the CAD file, you can send the new file to the printer, resulting in testing and redefining your prototype within a short period and a fraction of the cost of traditional manufacturing.
6. Low volume production means that we can produce small batches of parts cost-effectively.
7. Weight reduction is an essential factor when manufacturing to the airline industry. Reducing the weight of 3D Printing significantly reduces airlines fuel consumption and payload.
8. Sustainable 3D Printing is produced by printing parts layer by layer, creating minimal wastage.
9. Freedom of design means the ability to transform your prototype.
10. Improve your supply chain as we can create your spare parts on demand.

Talk to our Engineers about Rapid Prototyping >

exploring

Technology has enabled us through our CAD system to highlight discrepancies between your design and manufacture or components by overlaying the original CAD file to the 3D Prototyping eliminating redevelopment costs and cycle time.  3D Prototyping is the wave of the future for innovators and Entrepreneurs.