In the current poor economic climate, it is vital that businesses spend their capital wisely. For most (especially small business), the days of having money to spend on risky ventures are gone. Nowhere is this more true than in the realm of new product development and testing. Businesses simply can not afford to risk diminishing resources on a product that may never see the light of the sales day. For these very reasons, rapid prototyping manufacturing technology is the answer to this very serious problem.

With this type of manufacturing process, designers can actually see (visually as well as physically) what the finished item will look like, which allows for design changes during the process. Naturally, this is a mammoth cost savings.

There are numerous engineering advantages to this exciting technology as well. Rapid prototyping allows the design process to actually yield a creation to scale, which also means that errors can be located and improvements made prior to actual implementation. This ability to factor in improvements at the development stage has become the ‚gold standard‘ for manufacturing technology.

Once the purview of medical and other types of engineering, rapid prototyping was too involved and too expensive for a small business to even consider. However, changes in the technology have changed that.

Computer aided design or animated modeling software is used in the initial design phase of this process. Those programs then deconstruct the item and virtually ‚break‘ it in to extremely thin horizontal cross sections. The rapid prototype machine can then construct the item by re-creating those cross sections in layers until an actual physical form results. Most additive manufacturing creates a physical object my layering liquid, powder or a sheet material.

The advantage to finding and correcting flaws before implementation is also paramount from the marketing and sales standpoint.The process also has the advantage of the capability to make just a few items, which is also far more cost effective.

There are many different techniques available today that fall under the main category of rapid prototyping. Some incorporate the traditional layering technique, while others use medium blown or poured into molds or casts.

Clearly, almost any business could and would benefit from the wealth of advantages offered by rapid prototyping. It is very fortunate that the technology is now easily available and affordable to all.