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Evaluating prototyping technologies for product design

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Abstract

Firms that design mechanical and electromechanical products confront a variety of difficult issues in their prototyping activities. For a given part, how can a choice among fabrication technologies be made? Where should investments in new prototyping technology be focused? How can new and existing prototyping technologies be evaluated? Our primary goal has been to develop a systematic method of evaluating prototyping processes in order to determine the best process for a given situation. A secondary goal has been to map the “space” of prototyping processes in order to determine future process development needs. Using data from a field study at the Kodak Apparatus Division, we have developed a systematic method for evaluating and selecting prototyping processes. Our data are drawn from (1) a user survey of prototyping perceptions and needs, (2) a survey to determine the importance of various prototype part performance attributes, and (3) estimates of the fabrication time, cost, and part performance for 104 parts and four prototyping processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room E53-390, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Matthew B. Wall, Karl T. Ulrich & Woodie C. Flowers

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  1. Matthew B. Wall
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  2. Karl T. Ulrich
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  3. Woodie C. Flowers
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Wall, M.B., Ulrich, K.T. & Flowers, W.C. Evaluating prototyping technologies for product design. Research in Engineering Design 3, 163–177 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01580518

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