With how fast technology has advanced through the years, anyone can now easily turn their ideas into real and tangible concepts. Whether machine components, medical parts, or toys, there are currently different tools and strategies to develop prototypes to look and function like final products.
In the product development and manufacturing process, rapid prototyping has taken on a crucial role. It allows companies to execute their visions and put them in a real-world setting. Alongside it, there is on-demand manufacturing, which has revolutionized product manufacturing in a way that is flexible, sustainable, and resilient.
As both have plenty of benefits to offer, the manufacturing industry has embraced them and relied on them for a wide range of purposes. To gain a much better understanding of their importance, read the discussions below.
What is Rapid Prototyping?
Rapid prototyping is the process of fabricating a physical model, assembly, or part quickly with the use of Computer-Aided Design (CAD). It is typically completed with the help of additive manufacturing, which is more widely known as 3D printing (https://art-tangent.com/product-category/3d-printing-maching/).
Due to its ability to transform raw ideas into real-life products fast, it motivates designers to think out of the box and explore concepts beyond their usual range. It is also an effective way to communicate their ideas to others, as they can have physical representations of their visions outside the screen.
Most importantly, because 3D printing allows for the reusing of existing 3D printing setups, rapid prototyping can save you a ton of time and money. With the same equipment, you can produce many different products with varying geometries.
What is On-Demand Manufacturing?
On-demand manufacturing refers to the process of producing goods only on an as-needed basis. This means manufacturers create products as a response to the demands of the market, orders of their customers, or needs in the supply chain.
Because a lot of manufacturing companies produce large quantities of their products whether or not they can sell them, they often cause high rates of wastage and losses.
However, by manufacturing on demand, they can still be responsive to the changing market demands but with less environmental impact. They can produce based on certain production needs and efficiently use their resources.
How Important is On-Demand Manufacturing in Rapid Prototyping?
Now that you have a clue of what rapid prototyping and on-demand manufacturing are, let us proceed to the benefits of on-demand manufacturing in rapid prototyping (https://art-tangent.com/capability/).
Cut costs
When manufacturers create their products through rapid prototyping, there is no guarantee that they can sell them every time they are made available to the public. Whether they sell most or only a few, the unsold ones just go to waste. But, through on-demand manufacturing, they can avoid allocating their resources to finished products that may not be sold. As a result, they can lower their expenditures in storage, packing, transporting, and others.
Minimize inventory excess
The traditional way of manufacturing products often eats up a significant portion of a company’s budget. For manufacturers who want cost-effectiveness, that has to change. By manufacturing based on demand, they can afford to reduce their labor, storage, and waste, and avoid dealing with excess inventory.
Shorten response time to market demands
The market is constantly changing. Because of its dynamic nature, manufacturers have to find a way to keep up to not lose sales and get left behind by their competitors. By adopting rapid prototyping to focus on current consumer needs, they can optimize their prototyping capacity and launch a sufficient volume of products faster.
Mitigate financial risks
Unlike traditional manufacturing strategies that often involve a good amount of upfront investment, on-demand manufacturing lets companies produce prototypes or products in small batches or as needed. This lowers the financial risk that is typical in mass production. It also eliminates the need to set aside a huge amount of money before getting a clear picture of the market demand.
Improve product quality
As a result of the more advanced capacities of rapid prototyping and on demand manufacturing, companies can create auto parts (https://art-tangent.com/product-category/auto-parts-wire-harness/) and other component not only faster but also of better quality. Before they schedule these for release, every step of the process ensures that specifications are met and that no variations that can negatively impact the end product go unnoticed.
What are the Differences Between Manufacturing On Demand and Manufacturing Using Traditional Methods?
Looking closely at how manufacturing on demand works and what goes on in a manufacturing process that uses traditional methods can show you that there are stark differences between the two.
When it comes to planning and forecasting, traditional manufacturing is more about anticipating market demands and creating products according to their projections. On the other hand, on demand manufacturing lets companies take into consideration what customers want before starting the manufacturing process.
Also, once production time comes, the traditional way usually calls for a considerable amount of time, effort, storage space, and other resources. On-demand production, meanwhile, only begins production once an order for the product is received.
The delivery process works differently as well. With traditional manufacturing, bulk quantities of products are kept in the company warehouse until shipping is ready to start. They can remain there for an undetermined amount of time. On the other hand, because products are only manufactured as they are ordered, on-demand manufacturing does not require warehouse management. It can ship the products straight out of the production facility to the customer as soon as possible.
Conclusion
On-demand manufacturing and rapid prototyping work well together. By taking advantage of the cost-effectiveness, reduced risk, flexibility, and speed of the former, manufacturers can make the capabilities of the latter to create designs and prototypes fast work for them more efficiently. They can cut costs, minimize their inventory excess, respond faster to market demands, and deliver higher-quality products.
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