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Prototyping Injection-Molded Parts
Molds for injection-molded parts traditionally correspond with high costs, long lead times and marginal changeability. Yet it is essential to generate a small amount of physical parts to verify market-reaction and actual function at lesser costs, in faster lead-times, in ways that allow part re-design.
The optimum path toward meeting this goal relies upon a heavy up-front dose of - prior experience in developing prototype parts for injection molded parts, including: rapid market research; hand-built concept modeling; design-engineering expertise; understanding a wide range of manufacturing-processes - including tolerances and visual limitations; heavy reliance on CAD; early integration of styling; early construction of functional-prototypes via the combination of machined-parts, SLS-parts and SLA-parts; and the elimination of aluminum and non-production molds.
SLA (Steriolithography) and the newer, SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) provide new opportunities to further optimize the path toward the construction of prototype parts, prior to the fabrication of production molds for injection molded parts.
We will discuss the advantages and opportunities of making SLA and SLS parts within the context of properly converging upon the fabrication of full-production molds for injection-molded parts.
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