Rapid Prototyping Case Study 1



Tuesday, November 14, 2006

RPO Case Study 1

Rapid is a pretty open-ended term. It may have different meanings to different people. In manufacturing it means meeting our customer's needs. Clients are looking for their parts within days, and not weeks.

Well, here at Omni we listen. We are able to produce your parts with soft tooling in days for your rapid turnover. It's very common for a project to move from design, through modeling, to soft tooling and parts production within a few days.

Rapid Prototype lets you see and handle your ideas in a compressed period of time. Even complex shapes and assemblies can be created in short order.

Problem
We at Omni really are fortunate to partner with organizations with interesting designs and applications. For instance, if you are left-handed you know that most items get designed for right-handed people. Scissors, your computer mouse, even your keyboard are examples of things that just don't work as well for left-handers as for right-handed people.

Think for a moment, about a pilot and the coordination necessary to fly a helicopter. A manufacturer of flight equipment developed the concept of an interchangeable collective that can be moved from one helicopter to another and is specifically designed for left-handed pilots. Not a huge demand, but significant enough to justify development.

Solution
Stereolithography models were produced and used for creation of silicone or soft molds. The parts have a lot of detail and contours so that it has the proper feel and function for the pilot. Castable polyurethane material was used due to its tough and durable characteristics. Polyurethane is also easily pigmented so the color is through the part, yet can still have the lettering painted as needed.

Results
From soft mold to part took just 5 days.

The end result is a wonderful part that looks like the right-handed production but is used by left-handers; it functions exactly the same, has great durability and is very cost-effective in low quantities; as low as twenty or thirty parts. Should the requirements increase significantly, hard tooling would be justified to keep pace with demand, but for now this method is perfect.

 

• Packaging Machinery
» Form / Fill / Seal Machines - Horizontal
› Thermoform / Fill / Seal Machine
• Machinery Component
» Specialty Machine Components
› Container/Product Handling Component
› Molds/Forms/Dies
› Roller
› Static Eliminator
• Packaging Services
» Contract Packaging /Contract Manufacturing

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