Does Prototype Equal to The End Product ?

 

Today ,When people are talking about rapid prototyping ,usually it’s involved in a question: is the prototype same as the end product ? especially on the function and performance of material .Most of designer or engineers have expressed concern about this question, in fact ,we should treat this question dialectically. That means it depends on what type of prototypes you discussed .Hereby ,as a prototyping manufacturer ,we are mainly discussing three pointing as below:

 

 

 3D Printing Prototype

As we all know. It is formed by resin or metal powder layer by layer for 3d printing prototype ,including SLA ,FDM ,etc .The principle of prototype manufacturing is the same. Obviously these procedures are totally different from the mass production in molding ,and also ,the materials of features and performance are a little bit different too .So we can say 3D printing prototype is not the same as the end product .However , in some industries,3D printing can not be replaced ,such as : in jewelry and medical sector ,due to the particularity of the industry, in most cases, customers demand to develop small and irregular shaped product with low volume manufacturing ,it’s a not good choice by molding or impossible , thus ,3D printing is a good option ,or it is necessary .In this situation, the prototype is just the final product .

Vacuum Casting In Soft Tooling

It’s a process of using RTV molding to cast plastic and rubber prototype parts .In this sector ,usually the material of prototypes are collectively called PU. There are some materials similar with ABS ,Nylon ,POM…etc .But they are not the real end product materials .The type of rapid prototyping process can produce low volume products quickly .RTV molding is silicone soft tooling ,it can save so much money and time to compare with steel molding .Is this type of prototype treated as the end product ? It had better check with the prototyping company where your product applied is ? what condition does the product work ? Usually for the housing shell of consumer electronics product with the short run requirements.It can be replacement totally.

CNC Prototype Machining

In most cases ,we can say this type of CNC prototyping is almost the same as the end product .Because no matter on prototype or final production phase ,both processes are not changed too much,they are all CNC manufacturing ,unless a bit difference on both efficiency and production cost ,such as: in the final production stage ,the vendor will add up more fixtures or  automation equipment ,or customers just request the finished of prototype as machined in order to save the cost ,but for later mass production ,they want a nice finished ,for example : anodized ,plated ,powder coated ..etc. However ,the manufacturing essence has not changed. There are two points as following worth discussion individually :

(1) CNC Metal Prototype :

For most metal products of industries ,the shape and structure is simple ,once the engineers confirmed the plan to create CNC prototype , then ,the final production will also be CNC machining way.We can say that the prototype equals to the end product due to both taking the same manufacturing process . Of course ,some of metal product is special and exclusive ,such as : the shell of automobile engine,in the beginning of product development test step ,building prototype in CNC , but for later mass production .Obviously it’s the best choice by molding due to the structure is quite complicated ,the production cost will be increase greatly in CNC machining , it dose not make any sense.

(2) CNC Plastic Prototype:

basically there are two cases custom plastic prototype ,one is for big prototype model in ABS or Polycarbonate ,ABS is the most commonly engineering  material ,and it’s the cheapest too .So when building a big model ,it can be split in a few small pieces and glue again after that in order to save the cost .It’s convenient to handle this process .Obviously it can not equivalent to the final product .Another one is for the stiff engineering material ,such as: Acetal/Delrin, PEEK. People must take CNC  because of 3D printing limitation for using material currently,if short run production for later requirements , It is still the best choice by CNC machining .At the moment ,plastic machining is playing more and more important role in rapid prototyping industry .

Conclusion

According to the analysis and statement above ,how to judge if the prototype equivalents to the final product ? It will depend on many factors : material ,application,manufacturing processes ..etc. If you are not sure ,then ,you had better check it with the manufacturer along with your design and details .They will answer you from a professional perspective。