How to Choose Material For Your Prototype Design
The material takes an important position in product design. In terms of material selection, the designer needs to comprehensively consider the use of material character, process performance, and use of material economy to finally choose the most suitable material. After the design is completed, the model needs to be represented. So what materials are used to make the product before prototype design? we believe that we have to further consider these issues, Creatingway will take this blog to share main points to you.
Creatingway have very rich experience in CNC machining manufacturing for various industry product, we will see what kind of products are you looking at? What are the properties of your designed product? The followings are the very things we always keep in mind to provide our best solution for you.
To choose the appropriate material for your prototype design, we have to further consider many factors from product concept, design, cost, performance until the final marketing location. So many times, most design and engineers will finalize product specifications after prototype design and making.
Below Are Several Main Points To Effects The Prototype Design Materials
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Feasibility
To consider whether the design and your request material are suitable for which machining process like CNC machining manufacturing or Plastic Injection mold, or Sheet Metal Fabrication, Casting, etc, Can this material meet the batch production requirement? If it is a good drawing design, one time’s sample test will be enough. Or else it wastes time on repeatedly modify. So we have to consider whole things from prototype design, making, modify till final product specification setting up.
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Product Cost
The production cost is a very important consideration in the actual work. See what’s your design purpose, only need a prototype, or exhibition/ function test, or for mass production? For different purposes/performance, a plastic material with 3D printing/vacuum casting or stainless steel/aluminum CNC machining, etc affects your budget a lot. Many different factors will affect product cost, design, material, standard, and we also have to compare the other competitor’s cost and product quality standards.
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Product Durability
If your design is for long term use, the design materials should be considered for durability. In combination with the product structure, whether the chosen material is highly durable and to what extent the service life of the product can be achieved. So when our design makes this design, we have to consider this product purposed what you will expect to get by this product, then we know what kind of material we will suggest getting the common price but not very high.
Like one of our customer in NL, they ask us to make one coffee prototype in PC and Aluminum material, he only wants to make this product feature and function testing out, so we have recommended common PC and aluminum 6061AL, but no FDA level, Of course, if they want to do production FDA testing out, we will have to find FDA material for production. But at this prototype design stage, we think that the common material is enough, so we have to save development time and production cost. Since we know that most of these special requirement materials have MOQ, and the cost is several times, this will lead the whole cost higher which even exceeds your budget. But the difference, if we will do mass production, the whole cost is apportioned to the whole product, so unit cost is lower, we can make them based on different standards included FDA, etc.
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Marketing
Product design should be considered in terms of product function, appearance, process, material, design psychology, and so on. When you have a design, if you want to create the prototype and into the market in the long run, overall considering the comfort of product materials, it determines the popularity in the market.
Consider the above to choose suitable material, it will be a great help for prototype creation. Creatingway also can give you some suggestions when having a review of your PDF/3D drawings, and offer a different solution to come true your products CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, injection mold, or 3D printing.
Also, our design and engineer will use what material, they have to discuss with our marketing guy, since they know what marketing they want. If the product design will high marketing, maybe they will use better marketing, and the cost is higher. But this is common marketing, maybe we need to try common materials for testing out. This is very important to our material choose before product specification.
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