Industrial Design Prototyping: Benefits, Methods, and Applications
Prototyping offers to be a crucial requirement for industrial components because these prototypes offer a path to create the actual components. The prototypes are a 3D design model that offers to be a point of start for production.
If you are also looking to learn about the benefits of applications and methods of industrial design prototyping, the guide below will help you.
What is Industrial Design Prototyping？
An industrial design prototype is a sample of the part that is required. The industrial prototype helps to evaluate the functionality and design of the part, after which mass production is initiated. The concept of the design is represented by the prototype.
Industrial prototypes play a vital role in the development lifecycle of a product and give a physical impression of the product idea. They allow the designers to create, test, and refine the components and make informed decisions by taking the feedback and subjecting it to real-world conditions.
The process of designing a prototype helps in reducing the costs that are associated with the changes that are conducted at a later stage of production.
Key Characteristics of Industrial Design Prototypes
The main characteristics of the industrial design prototypes are as follows:
- Prototypes offer a physical impression of the product, which helps evaluate it in detail.
- These prototypes can be tested for utility, and it helps to ensure that the component works under real-world conditions.
- Prototypes even help to validate the design by identifying flaws in it or finding out the area of improvement, which can help to finalize the design.
- A prototype is used to communicate with the stakeholders as a visual and functional representation of the part.
Benefits of Industrial Design Prototyping
Industrial design prototyping comes with various benefits, some of which are as follows:
Improving Errors in the Design
Prototyping helps to identify the errors in the design of the component, and these errors can be fixed in a timely manner before producing the parts in high volume. Prototypes give a physical model of the component, and hence, engineers can evaluate the design functionality and the performance by testing it.
In case there are any inconsistencies, flaws, or issues, the design can be edited right in time. It helps with the early detection of flaws, which helps save costs, and the performance standards of the part are also analyzed.
Serves as a Means of Communication with Stakeholders
Industrial prototyping helps with communication between the stakeholders; these may include the engineers, designers, investors, and customers. The prototype works like a model, which acts as a reference, allowing the stakeholders to have a visual impression of the product. They can offer their feedback, and it helps them make a decision regarding the product.
Saving Time and Money
Industrial prototyping helps with cost-effectiveness, and it can save time as well as money. The development process addresses the flaws in the design at an earlier stage, and these errors are even rectified in a timely manner. Hence, the time and money spent on mass production is saved, and rather than identifying the issues after mass production, they are identified early.
3 Methods of Industrial Design Prototyping
There are three methods of industrial design prototyping, and these are as follows:
Iterative Prototyping
Iterative prototyping offers a cyclic approach to the production and development of prototypes. In this type of prototyping, there is continuous design, creation, and testing of the prototypes, and then they are even improved. Iterative prototyping offers gradual improvement in the design and ensures that the final report is free from flaws.
The iterative method offers repeated cycles of prototyping, testing, and improving. Consistent feedback helps to test the prototype and evaluate each iteration. It helps make small changes that protect from the larger changes.
Due to the continuous design refinement, the final product is more functional and polished. It even helps mitigate the risks of errors that need to be addressed later. Iterative testing is suitable for such products, which are complex and enhance user satisfaction.
Concurrent Prototyping
Concurrent prototyping helps to create multiple prototypes at the same time, and each of them focuses on different product aspects. The process helps to have parallel testing and refining of the design elements. It helps to accelerate the process of prototyping and offers a comprehensive evaluation of the functionality of the product.
Concurrent prototyping helps with creating multiple prototypes, and each of them has different features. It even enables the testing of different aspects simultaneously and reduces the overall time as the development stages overlap.
Concurrent prototyping fastens the process as it can handle multiple aspects at the same time and optimize and evaluate the components thoroughly. It even promotes collaboration and teamwork between different teams that work on separate prototypes.
This method of prototyping is suitable for such products that are used for their diversified functions or those that have multiple technologies used.
Rapid Prototyping
Rapid prototyping is an advanced product that utilizes innovative technologies and creates prototypes in the quickest possible way. These methods consist of vacuum casting, 3D printing, and CNC machining.
Rapid prototyping reduces the time for product prototypes in a significant way when compared to the traditional method. It even helps to create accurate and precise prototypes using innovative design tools. It is compatible with multiple types of materials and, hence, can accommodate a wide range of product requirements.
The process of rapid prototyping is done due to faster development cycles and high precision. It even reduces the cost by minimizing the wastage and time spent on production. It is used for such projects that have quick turnaround times, complex shapes, and require customization.
Industrial Prototyping and Part Manufacturing Capabilities
Industrial prototyping and part manufacturing use the following processes:
CNC Machining
CNC machining is an accurate and precision-oriented process that creates detailed components using materials like composites, plastics, and metals. CNC machining uses computer-controlled machines that remove material from the workpiece and shape it according to the design code.
It is a highly precise process that offers repeatability and material versatility; it can work with versatile materials and manufacture components with complex shapes. It produces high-quality prototypes that have tight tolerance and a smooth finish and offer customization.
Vacuum Casting
The process of vacuum casting requires having molds created, and then high-quality parts are produced. It is a high-precision process that helps to create parts that have accurate dimensions and a prototype that is completely like the final product. Vacuum casting uses multiple materials like thermoplastic, elastomers, and resins.
It helps to create parts with consistency and reliability for evaluation and detailed features, ensuring smooth surface finishing.
Rapid Tooling
Rapid tooling is a method that is used in the prototyping process for creating dies and molds. The process produces the components and tests them. It offers producing parts at high speed and with excellent flexibility, which helps with easy modifications.
As the part is manufactured quickly, the process of testing and development speeds up and reduces the cost of production.
3D Printing
3D printing is an additive manufacturing process that offers high versatility and is used for building models of prototypes in the form of layers. It can create components that have complex shapes.
It is an additive manufacturing process that can create detailed parts and even supports the use of versatile materials. It even facilitates customizing prototypes and making modifications conveniently. The process is used for manufacturing prototypes quickly, and it is a cost-effective method for producing complex shapes.
Applications of Industrial Design Prototyping
There are many applications of industrial design prototyping, and some of these are as follows:
Automobile
In the automobile industry, prototyping helps in producing and testing new designs of vehicles and new components. These prototypes pass through rigorous testing processes and help to evaluate their durability, safety, and performance. The interior components of a car, engine parts, and body parts of a car are produced as prototypes.
Medical
Prototyping is used in the medical industry, as precise parts and regulatory compliance are crucial in this industry. Hence, the medical prototypes help manufacture components that are safe, functional, and usable. Some of the medical prototypes manufactured are prosthetics and implants, surgical instruments, and diagnostic equipment.
Aerospace
The aerospace industry uses prototypes for testing aircraft and spacecraft parts. These prototypes have to undergo testing and evaluation to ensure safety and performance. The components of the aerospace sector, which are designed after prototyping, include avionics, spacecraft systems, and aircraft components.
Get Help from Prototyping Experts on Your Project
Prototyping is the first step in your product development. Hence, it is very important to consider it with proper planning. As you have gone through the guide above, you must have gotten the idea of the different tests and methods.
We at DEK make sure to manufacture highly accurate prototypes that are tested and improved, keeping in mind their criticality. So, get in touch with us today to get your hands on the right prototypes.
Conclusion
Industrial design prototyping helps to improve product development in a significant way. Therefore, knowing about these in detail is very important. After going through the guide above, you must have understood in detail about the methods, benefits, and applications that will help you in your upcoming projects.
