The Hindu Business Line : Wait, there's hope!

IF you were given a sketch of say, an agricultural implement or a motor pump, a toy, a jewel or an aircraft for that matter, and asked to develop a prototype of the said diagram, what would you do?

You would probably, after figuring out the sketch, ask for time to get the physical model.

But how much time can one ask, particularly when newer models are being rolled out more rapidly than ever before? Just read on to get an idea of the amazing speed at which models are being made today.

Recently, a 10-member European team visited an automobile ancillary company in Coimbatore and requested the product design and development team to build a model of the drawing that they had brought along. After a brief discussion, the delegates were taken around the factory. On their return, a couple of hours later, a scaled-down physical model of the sketch was handed over to them. They were simply stunned, for it was not made of clay or plaster of Paris, but was based on the principle of additive manufacturing - Rapid Prototyping. How does this work, you may ask. A CEO of a company recently demanded that he wanted a customised version of your usual Barbie doll, for; he wanted something unique for his daughter. PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore got it done for him.

Until recently, physical models called prototypes were invariably fabricated using clay, wood, soft meals or plastics and plaster of Paris, and the process has been a time-consuming one. The long cycle-time and the high cost of this process limited the number of design alternatives that could be evaluated, apart from material wastage and manpower requirement.

An alternative process that would directly give the physical prototype from the CAD (computer-aided design) model without going through the various manufacturing steps emerged as the ideal solution, leading to a class of material additive processes known as Rapid Prototyping. Rapid prototyping has not only shortened the prototype fabrication time, but has proved to be more accurate and capable of making complex components as well, industry sources say.

Rapid Prototyping applications are useful in

3D visualisation of hands-on prototypes - for effective product development with minimum design iterations.

Soft and hard tooling.

Soft tool - directly obtained from the Rapid Prototyping model.

Hard tool - model made of metal sintering of metal powders or hard materials.

Fit and functional applications.

Medical applications as in artificial limbs, tools and instruments.

Analysis - models for wind tunnel stress analysis

Marketing - models for tenders, customer feedback, presentation, brochure etc.

The TIFAC (Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council), an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology, has identified the PSG College of Technology for setting up a Centre of Relevance and Excellence (CORE) in Product Design, Optimisation and Collaborative Product Commerce. TIFAC-CORE has joined hands with Pricol, a player in the automobile ancillary industry, and PTC - a mechanical CAD/CAM solution provider.

Changes made easy

Pump and automobile manufacturers find the rapid prototyping technology an easy tool for incorporating changes, in enhancing the product design and in design optimisation, in reducing the design cycle-time, in collaborative product design and commerce, says Jagadeesh, Incharge of TIFAC-CORE laboratory.

"A renowned player in the two-wheeler segment is planning to roll out at least 25 variants of its bike in a span of 12 months. Earlier, the same company managed to introduce a newer version once in 17 or 24 months. Now the cycle-time has been slashed, the process automated and the accuracy rates are higher. For jewellers, this technology is a godsend," says Jagadeesh.

But will this help the SMEs (small and medium enterprises)? "Definitely," says the PSG STEP Executive Director, Raghavendra Prasad. While conceding that the dyes (moulds in this context) could cost a lot, he says that the smaller players could take to batch-processing using this technique. "We see rapid design changes in the market, be it in car manufacture, in the white goods segment, in the pump industry - every segment is witnessing a sea change. Manufacturers cannot afford to remain lackadaisical any longer," says Prasad.

One look at the component prototypes will make you wonder if anything will ever be the same again. But here again, we (consumers) have conveniently adapted to the change. Wonder just how? Take a look at your old washing machine or the motorbike and your latest acquisition. You will realise that it is we, the consumers, who have contributed a great deal to the modifications. The consumer is driving the change, as it were.

lnr@thehindu.co.in

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