7 Tips to Help You Reduce Prototype Design Costs And Lead Time

One of the most important things that can lead a company to either success or failure is its prototype design. However, it can be quite costly to design a prototype, and its lead time may take some time. However, if you know the right tips, you can easily reduce the cost and the lead time of designing a prototype.

The Tips That Will Help Reduce The Cost And Lead Time Of Your

Prototype Design

Here are some tips that should help you reduce the cost and the lead time of the design of your prototype.

Choosing The Right Technology:

Do you want your prototype for visual demonstrations only or do you want to test its mechanical attributes? Once you have the answer to that question, you can move on to choosing the technology. There are different sorts of technologies with which you can build your prototype, which is why it is important that you know what you want from your prototype.

In-House Prototyping:

One of the best things you can do to reduce both costs and lead time is to choose in-house prototyping. Outsourcing can require quite some time and money. However, if you choose in-house prototyping, make sure that you have an expert to overlook the work.

Hollow Parts:

To reduce cost and lead time, you can easily have some hollow parts in your prototype design. You can do this on parts of your prototype that do not require a certain strength. By reducing the amount of dense parts, you can save a lot of time and money.

Improve Your Schedule:

This may sound unnecessary. However, if you take a look at your schedule, you might find ways to improve it. You may want to print smaller runs during the day and larger ones during the night. You could also try to batch several parts into one build.

Prevent Failures:

Any failure or mistake that occurs will take more of your time and money. If you want to reduce cost and lead time as much as possible, you need to prevent any failure or mistake that could happen. To prevent any of those, you need to make sure you prepare ahead of time.

Design Optimization:

A little thing you can do to reduce cost and lead time is to optimize the design of your prototype. You may spend some time optimizing the design. However, the result will save you more time and money. To optimize the design as best as you can, make sure you follow the design guidelines of the technology you use.

Reduce Support Structures:

It is true that the support structure of your prototype is important. However, sometimes, there is excessive support. If you take a look at your design, you might find areas that do not require any support structure. By reducing the support structure, you will be able to reduce the cost and lead time.

You need to make sure that you can reduce your prototype design costs and lead time. By doing so, you will be able to save both time and money. Hopefully, this article gave you a lead on how to do so.