The process of prototyping and introducing new products to the market is crucial for businesses, but it can be slow, expensive, and in some cases, outright stressful. Manufacturing costs and timelines often limit small businesses to only roll out one or two new products yearly. This fact slows down market growth and makes it harder for small businesses to compete with their counterparts.
Fortunately, product development has become more efficient with 3D printing technology and helped businesses explore their full potential. With additive manufacturing, small and large-scale businesses can design, prototype, and manufacture products with quicker turnaround times. With that in mind, let us look at how 3D printing can save your business time and money in the long run.
Reduced Prototyping Costs
One of the most significant benefits of this technology is that it reduces the cost of prototyping. In some cases, proof of concept that would initially cost thousands of dollars can be designed for a fraction of the cost with 3D printing, allowing small businesses with limited budgets to pursue product development without limitations. R&D will enhance your prototypes and accelerate product development stages. If you are a small business, 3D printing can go a long way to help you develop your project without wasting valuable resources.
Faster Product Development
Besides saving your business time and money, 3D printing can significantly speed up the process of product development. Under ordinary circumstances, you would send mock designs to a professional prototype developer to convert them into functional proof of concept. As you might expect, having a 3rd party develop, build, and ship your prototype can take a fair amount of time. On the other hand, a 3D printer lets you print parts for your product directly from the design files – cutting down overall time for product development.
Storage Made Easier
Storage is a significant concern for small businesses. If you want dedicated storage space for your products, it will come at an extra cost to the company. Fortunately, 3D printing incentivizes on-demand manufacturing and digital storage space so you can achieve your goals on time. 3D printing technology is allowing us to rethink traditional supply-chain management processes.
Mass-Customization Opportunities
One of the significant benefits of 3D printing is the ability to customize your products at a low cost. While a 3D printer allows you to speed up the development phase of your products, it also opens the door to easy customization tools that let you make changes to the product’s digital file directly. Consequently, 3D printing allows businesses to cater to their customers with personalized products. Additionally, with mass customization, it is possible to make changes to your product designs at minimal costs.
Effective Production at Low Volumes
If you are working on a small-scale project, management of raw materials, avoiding wastage of raw materials, and quicker turnaround times should be your main priority. In addition to speeding up the development phase, 3D printing goes a long way to assist you in the manufacturing process. As a rule of thumb, this technology is best suited for production at low volumes.
While this may sound like a drawback, it is one of the benefits of 3D printing that many small businesses seek to take advantage of. Smaller companies face fewer challenges when entering the market without building massive production lines.
As you can see, 3D printing technology allows businesses to take advantage of myriad benefits while helping them save time and money. It is a technology that can apply to any business that delves into physical product development. If you are interested in learning more about this innovative technology and it can help your business grow, Scale Up 3D can help you.