How to select a rapid manufacturing company from China
February 20, 2019All businesses need prototypes, whether they are small companies, entrepreneurial inventors or multinational conglomerates. Often, the requested prototype quantity is too small for a large-scale manufacturer to take on.
Figure 1. Car manufacturers use 3D printing to prototype components. Source: 3ERPRapid prototyping refers to a number of production techniques that take a 3D model of a physical part or assembly and quickly fabricate a scale model. The most common method of rapid prototyping is additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. A rapid prototyping service such as 3E Rapid Prototyping (3ERP) helps companies with every step of product development, from optimizing the design and functionality to ensuring a high-quality finished product.
Many rapid prototyping companies in China are attempting to attract overseas customers, but few have the high-quality rapid tooling to produce well-built prototypes or small batches of products to test the market. Consistent quality, fast delivery and great service are difficult to find in one vendor. Here are some tips to select a reliable rapid manufacturing company in China.
Consider quality
Quality assurance relies on careful inspection of incoming materials, followed by in-process evaluation, and lastly, final inspection and testing. Purchasing materials from vendors can be risky; manufacturers with X-ray material testers can identify different kinds of metal within 30 seconds. Identification is critical to ensure the specified material is used. Creating a product using inappropriate materials is wasteful at best and can be dangerous at worst.
Experience is key
Manufacturing partners should have engineers with robust experience from numerous projects. They should confidently handle complex and precision parts in several industries and their machinery should be capable of handling a variety of CNC machining services. For example, CNC milling services create complex 3D shapes. Multi-axis milling machines make the CNC milling process versatile, as well as accurate and repeatable, for creating different types of parts, features and complex geometries. Examples include holes, curves, slots, angled shapes and channels. For any round-shaped components, such as shafts, worms and spheres, CNC turning is more efficient compared to CNC milling. On the other hand, sheet metal fabrication is unlike versatile processes such as 3D printing and CNC machining, and is dictated by strict design conventions.
Fast turnaround
Quick prototyping means that full-scale production will be accelerated. For example, 3ERP returns quotes within 24 hours, ships parts within seven days and has a 99% on-time delivery and quality rate. Rapid prototyping reduces overall production costs because it generates a visual and tactile model early in the product development process, generating helpful feedback.
For example, additive manufacturing technology eliminates the need for molds, patterns and special tools, which cost time and money. Rapid prototyping techniques quickly provide a model to identify flaws and optimize designs, saving money and effort downstream.
No matter the size of a business, prototypes are important because they drive productive conversations about if a design needs rework or will function as intended. Fewer iterations are needed to take the design from concept to creation and delivery, and the manufacturer is confident that their product will meet customer needs.
3ERP offers high-quality, on-demand rapid prototyping and injection molding from their ISO 9001: 2015-certified facility in China. It delivers experience and design expertise that cannot be met by competitors.