Production Prototypes Review

Production Prototypes Review

Production prototypes or production prototyping is the act of designing and manufacturing a product as close to the product deliverable as possible. Production prototype as normally different in both application and intent from an Engineering or Rapid Prototype. Engineering prototype is a manufactured component or assembly that is used to evaluate the product performance or function. many engineering prototypes ar manufactured without consideration of the cosmetics and manufacturability in mind. The engineering prototype is used to load, thermal cycle, endurance test or any other engineering functional test to verify or develop the products performance. A rapid prototype is often used to review a products cosmetics, appearance or further study how a part or assembly relate for assembly Other uses are design meeting reviews, design ideals, or wiring and/or piping routing.

Production prototype may or may not be fabricated using the target manufacturing process. Typically the production prototype will include all production features designed or required for the target manufacturing process and final part. For example, a part designed to accommodate injection molding will likely include the requisite drafted or tapered surfaces necessary to remove the part from the plastic mold. These complex features can be produced using a CNC mill or lathe machine.

Advantages of including a production prototype in your product development plan are:

Enables functionality verification of the design, engineering and allows a cosmetic or appearance review of the product before full production. Performance testing of materials and function is often called Acceptance Testing Procedures or ATP. This is normally a internal or customer directive and specification generated to very the performance of your production prototype.
Assist the design and engineering team in presenting the product more effectively to customers or consumer without the pre-production tooling or final tooling costs and associated challenges.