The Advantages Of Rapid Tooling

Rapid Tooling refers to a process whereby a mold (or tool) is created for prototyping a part so that it can be directly fabricated in a limited number of instances. Today it generally means any method that enables replication of an injection mold to manufacture a physical plastic or metal part. The process has included the development of rubber, plaster, ceramic and metal molds.

The name is an extension of the concept of rapid prototyping which refers to the speedy design and manufacture of parts to help speed up the product development process. The advantage of this approach is that manufacturing time is much shorter than for conventional tooling methods and is much less expensive. However the tool has a considerably shorter life and tolerances in manufacture are less stringent.

It enables a designer to effectively communicate the nature of the item to be built. It decreases development time and reduces costly mistakes by enabling a product to be evaluated effectively. It means that stakeholders can examine a physical example of the tool to be built enabling omissions and necessary features to be added. It also enables redundant features of the product to be removed early in the development process.

Today, advanced technologies, processes and business practices make this process essential for product development in a wide variety of applications with the added benefit of saving time and money. 3D CAD solid models used in conjunction with freeform fabrication systems (SFF) make it possible to go straight from design to prototype.

The increasing awareness of the advantages of Rapid Tooling and technology driven mold-making techniques have given rise to better quality and performance in Rapid Tooling development without sacrificing part design, materials quality or reducing options in production materials selection. Rapid prototyping and tooling are the new standard in agile manufacturing to produce quality products faster at less cost.

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