Hardware development has had issues in the past. The costs were high for tooling, revisions, testing, labor and materials. It wasn’t always easy to find someone to produce a small number of pilot parts, and once you found someone, they might not have been able to produce production quantities to quality specifications, so there was a new search for production manufacturing facilities.
What’s different now? First, 3D Printing (Additive Manufacturing). The paradigm is changing from starting with a block of material and removing all but what is need to “building up” (an additive process) from nothing to just what is required – sometimes with elements that could not have been machined in a single piece.
What else is different? Software. Think of the things you can do with apps on your phone. The same changes have occurred in development software. Software can now preform many of the tests that used to require hardware testing.
Today we can develop 3D CAD files, run them through software testing routines, make modifications, send the tested files to a 3D printer and hold the prototype or finished part in our hands hours later – not weeks or months. And the cost? Usually a fraction of what the old hardware models would have cost.
The 3D CAD software packages today provide extensive libraries of user submitted models so that portions of the design may already be available.
Another advantage – using social media for product design market research. Considering different design options? Today we can 3D print prototypes of the different options, load pictures of the options to social media platforms and use social media followers’ feedback to refine the designs. In the case of custom work, we can send the different 3D printed options to our customer and have them provide feedback before production begins.
Looking for a source for 3D printing? Check out www.3DPartSource.com as well as local 3D printing sources – two of which will be at our 3D Demo Day on June 19th. (click here for flyer)
And finally, once your prototypes are ready for production, manufacturing sourcing can be easier with lists of manufacturers available from resources like www.makersrow.com.
It really is a new day for hardware development with 3D printing!
3D Demo Day (Open House format) – Wednesday, June 19th, 1:30pm to 3:30pm, Cumberland Business Incubator, 2569 Cook Road, Crossville TN 38571.
Call Bonnie at 931-456-4910 to register.