Mobigrip is a cool new consumer product that helps users of mobile phones and other hand held devices to keep them from falling or being left behind. The Mobigrip sticks to the back or underside of the device and has a micro bungee that loops over the user’s finger to secure the device to the hand. The big benefit is to avoid damaging or losing these expensive devices. Mobigrip can also be customized to be a promotional item.

ProtoCAM worked with Mobigrip to create the stereolithography prototypes that were used in the product development process. ProtoCAM brings a wealth of experience in rapid prototyping for consumer goods, where a fast turn-around in the prototype creation leads to faster time-to-market. ProtoCAM’s plastics engineers have extensive consumer goods prototype manufacturing expertise, and as always with ProtoCAM, design confidentiality is assured.

Check out the Mobigrip or purchase online at http://www.mobigrips.com/. The Mobigrip device leash is made in the USA.

Labels: consumer goods prototypes, plastics engineering, product development, prototypes, rapid prototyping, SLA prototype, stereolithography

For some uses of SLA prototypes, the color of the prototype is important. ProtoCAM has a well-developed expertise in dyeing stereolithography prototypes using a proprietary process to have the part properly absorb the dye. A prototype may be colored with any of the basic colors such as red, green, blue, purple, yellow, etc.


There are many reasons to color SLA prototypes and parts. Four main reasons for adding color are:

Assembly
Having multiple parts in an assembly may make it difficult to communicate which part is doing what. Coloring the parts provides the advantage of easily indentifying every part and its purpose within the assembly. Dyeing also helps with a precise fit – no extra material is added as with painting. Dyeing will eliminate galling or peeling that may occur from painted parts as well.

Aesthetics
In some cases it is important to color the part to the desired color of the end product. If the end product will be blue, then dyeing could be a fast and simple solution to help bring the SLA to life. While the dyeing process cannot achieve specific colors such as Pantone numbered colors, it can provide the basic colors to provide a part that is close to the production color.

Identification
In multi-piece projects in may be helpful to color all parts of a certain family - blue parts are all part of Project A, red parts are all part of Project B, etc. This will help to quickly identify the parts and keep them with their associated projects. It can also be used to help with keeping track of prototyping revision levels - all green parts are revision 1, red parts are revision 2, etc.

Cost
Dyeing SLA parts is a less expensive alternative to painting. Painting parts requires multiple steps of sanding, priming and painting. Painting can be an expensive process depending on the specific part geometry. The dyeing process is a fast and very cost effective process for most part geometries.

For more information about coloring your prototypes or to request a quote for a color SLA prototype, please contact ProtoCAM at 610-261-9010.

Labels: color prototype, prototypes, rapid prototyping, stereolithography

Labels: plastics engineering, protocam, prototypes, rapid prototyping

Right around the time of our last post about Rapid Prototyping: the Importance of Customer Service, Speed, we received the following email from TF Industries, LLC, used here with permission:

We received our 2 complete sets of SLA, SLS proto's in excellent condition and on time. This is the second time we have had ProtoCAM produce our proto's and we are very impressed with the workmanship, expertise, quick service and professionalism that we received, along with our parts, on time!

We look forward in doing business with your company in the future.

This last order was very complex with several types of material for specific parts and Ryan made it a breeze to order. And all the parts were correctly produced to our needs the first time. Nice Work!!!

Best Regards,

Lee Foerster
COO
T F INDUSTRIES, LLC

We appreciate Lee's comments and realize that we have to earn customer trust via good service and timeliness. It's good to know that our customers appreciate that. We were particularly impressed that Lee mentioned "on time" twice!

Ready to try ProtoCAM's speed and service for your next rapid prototype? Just contact us!

Labels: prototypes, rapid prototyping

The November/December 2008 issue of Time Compression magazine had a special feature on service providers in the rapid prototyping/rapid product development arena. There is a survey of users of rapid prototyping service providers, asking 15 questions about service bureaus, technologies, buying processes, etc.

What really jumped out at me was the first question: “When selecting service providers, how important are each of the following when making your decision?"

The top two most important criteria for selecting a service provider were Speed and Customer Service. Price, Material Selection, and Capacity were also deemed important, while Location and an Online Quotation System were not important.

When we at ProtoCAM read this, we now had real customer survey data that supported the primary tenets of our business approach - that speed and service are the most important things we should provide our customers to make us a top rapid prototyping service provider. And of course, these things are related. We have to have good customer service to provide fast prototype development and production. We have to have good systems and processes in place to handle inquiries and respond quickly. We have specifically chosen that phone calls to ProtoCAM are answered personally by real people, not automated answering systems. We have the engineers on staff who can assist with prototype development, CAD drawing and design, and design for manufacturability issues. And our prototyping production capabilities will support the aggressive time constraints that we often encounter and our customers demand, because we know that time-to-market is often a critical factor in the success of a product development project supported by rapid prototyping.

While we have always believed that our priorities were on target to emphasize customer service and speed in our business philosophy and customer interactions, it was good to see that many customers agree!

In the second tier of important decision criteria, we have the prototype manufacturing capacity to meet demand, we are continually exploring new materials to make better prototypes, and we’ll maintain price competitiveness for quotes with existing customers as well as new inquiries.

We look forward to continuing to emphasize service and speed. Contact us to get a rapid prototyping quote and see service and speed in action!

Labels: protocam, prototypes, rapid prototyping

There are many factors that affect the production and delivery of stereolithography prototypes. Weather is one critical factor. These factors affect the stereolithography process:

• Humidity - SLA prototypes can absorb moisture
• Heat - SLA prototypes are more brittle when cold and softer when warm

While at ProtoCAM, stereolithography prototypes are made and packed in a controlled environment, so the prototypes do not experience weather extremes here. But they do have to be shipped to customers, so once they leave the ProtoCAM facility, they are exposed to other conditions.

In order properly protect prototypes during shipment, the following precautions are taken:

• Prototypes are properly cushioned in the shipping container, which also insulates the part from temperature extremes
• Support is provided in the container for the prototype if the shape of the part requires it
• The day of the week is considered for shipment - in hot weather, we might delay a Friday shipment until Monday so that the prototype is not exposed to long periods of heat while in transit

With ProtoCAM’s vast prototyping experience, even these seemingly minor details are considered to provide you with the best service and best results.

Request a quote for your next stereolithography prototype!

Labels: protocam, prototypes, rapid prototyping, stereolithography

It seems to be a daily question when customers call ProtoCAM for a quote: “How do you price a stereolithography prototype?” or “What are my options for reducing the cost of my part?”

Stereolithography parts are priced using 5 criteria (in order of importance):

1. Overall height of the part - Most parts are built using a .004” layer thickness. The exception is a high resolution build which uses .002” layer thickness. The 3D file is “sliced” into layers and then traced and solidified layer by layer on the SLA machine. Consequently, a 6 inch part (1500 layers) will take longer to build than a 3 inch part (750 layers) and therefore, cost more.
2. Volume of the part - This relates to the number of cubic inches of material that will be needed to make the part. Again, the larger the part the greater the volume of material needed and the greater the cost.
3. Complexity of the part - When the part is finished on the SLA machine, it will require time to have the excess resin removed as well as having the support material removed. The prototype is then post cured in a UV oven and bead blasted to provide a consistent finish over the entire part.
4. Finish level of the part - ProtoCAM offers several levels of part finishing ranging from an economy “strip and ship” to a “presentation” level. Our standard level of finish requires the removal of supports with some light sanding on the support surfaces with an overall bead blast prior to shipping. See our Stereolithography Prototypes page to see our offerings of various finish levels.
5. Lead time of the part - ProtoCAM’s standard lead time is 2 days after receipt of order. Some parts, due to size, require a longer lead time. If you need your prototype part sooner, there is an additional charge to accomplish that requirement.

Understanding the above criteria can make the answer to the second question “What are my options to reduce the cost of my part” seem a lot easier.

Height of Part
Since the biggest contributor to cost is the overall height of the part, the simplest way is to either orient the part with a smaller z height or cut the part in half and allow us to glue it together prior to shipping.

Volume
Reducing the volume to cut the part cost can be accomplished by “hollowing” solid pieces or reducing wall thickness on thick walled parts.

Finishing
If a “presentation” level piece is needed, it can be the customer’s option to perform that work. An experienced customer knows that it can take several hours (or days) to completely sand a stereolithography part, but because of timing or cost the customer may choose to do that work themselves.

Lead Time
The easiest way to reduce part cost is to increase the lead time. If the customer doesn’t need the part within 2 days, increasing the lead time to 1 or 2 weeks will also cut the prototype cost.

Number of Prototypes Ordered
If multiple copies of the prototype may be needed, it is highly recommended to purchase those with the initial run of parts. Economies of scale come into play here and the greater the quantity ordered the smaller the per piece cost.

ProtoCAM will generally orient the part to give the customer the best quality within the shortest amount of time. But if other options need to be explored to meet scheduling or budget constraints, we recommend calling us at 1-800-408-9019. Just ask for the project manager that quoted your project (name can be found in the upper left hand portion of the quote) and we will be glad to explain options that are available to meet your requirements.

Ray Biery
ProtoCAM Managing Partner

Labels: prototypes, rapid prototyping, stereolithography

One question that I get asked on a regular basis is "How large a part can you build?" Rapid prototyping machines have a fixed size, and many of them have a relatively small area where they can build parts (their "build envelope"). Our largest machines, the SLA-7000s, have a build envelope of 20" x 20" x 23", but this doesn't limit the size of the parts we can deliver. By sectioning your CAD model into 20" x 20" chunks, we can build parts of any size.

When we receive a large part for quotation, we cut it into sections in a way that minimizes cost. The typical factors we consider are total height of the platen (if you don't know already, we use height and volume to estimate cost, and we adjust that based on part complexity), number of platens, and number of cuts. We then price it based on the machine's run time and finishing/gluing time, so you get a quote with the information you need to know -- how much it will cost you, and how quickly you can have it.

Once you give us the job, we go back and cut the part again, this time adding lap joints for strength. This step allows us to produce a part that is very strong along its seams, and that can be positioned back together accurately. For parts with complex cutting requirements, this step may be responsible, partly, for any additional lead time (beyond our typical 2-day turnaround) that you were quoted.

After the parts are cut in CAD, they are prepared for build in the 3D LightYear package, a proprietary software package built for stereolithography machines. This step comes up with the set of instructions that the SLA machine uses to build. (Conceptually very similar to the G-code used to run CNC machinery.)

Once finished, the parts are drained, removed from the perforated metal platen, separated from their supports, rinsed of excess resin, and cured in a UV oven. After this step, the lap joints are sanded so the parts can be fit together. Once the fit has been adjusted optimally, the parts are bonded with one or both of the glues that we've settled on using after years of experience. This leaves the seam with excess material and sometimes slight discoloration. The seam is then sanded until it is smooth to the touch. This process is repeated for each piece that needs to be glued together. Often times, our choice of glues leaves the seam stronger than the part.

With this proven process, we can deliver you prototypes of any size, from dashboards to wind tunnel models to tractor seats to chair backs. Large parts require extra care when shipping, but we have great experience doing that, from customers local to us in the Lehigh Valley to those on the other end of the country in California or Washington.

If you have any questions, call (610)261-9010 or leave a comment here on the blog.

Labels: CAD, cutting, large parts, prototypes