Rapid Prototyping for Competitive Advantage

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Most firms, regardless of industry sector, are undergoing transitions involving fundamental changes brought about by increased competition, changing markets, new technologies, etc. The first wave of change that took effect during the 1980s was largely experienced in manufacturing with the implementation of advanced manufacturing technologies. This was later followed by organisational and methodological concepts such as just-in-time manufacturing, flatter organisational hierarchies, empowerment and the like.

In the early 1990s the focus of attention shifted from manufacturing to the process of new product development and introduction. Great emphasis has been placed on time compression, that is, reducing the time taken to bring new products to market. In addition, many firms have been paying attention to reducing the cost of design and development activities. These issues are being addressed against a background of ever-increasing pressure for product innovation, often in the form of new features and improved performance. Usually this has involved the application of new materials and electronic and computer-based technologies.

The adoption of rapid prototyping technologies by firms has been pursued to help them deal with these pressures for change, largely with the aim of making significant contributions to reducing time to market. However, what are commonly called rapid prototyping technologies are in fact a set of technologies for the rapid manufacturing of models, prototypes, tooling and components. The application of these technologies therefore extends beyond new product development, into the manufacture of tooling and final components. As a result, the technologies should be viewed and judged on their ability to affect total company operations, not just new product development activities.

This broader perspective is particularly important since good practice involves firms addressing modernisation on a broad front, considering such issues as business and marketing strategies, supply chain management, organisational development, etc. As companies begin to move away from the fragmented and piecemeal approaches associated with functional organisations, they are starting to adopt a more holistic process-oriented view. The systematic identification of company-wide issues will help to develop this holistic perspective and overcome the problems of fragmentation.

This chapter briefly explains what rapid prototyping technologies are and outlines the potential benefits. It addresses the application of the technologies in the context of the business environment. The importance of organisational and culture changes is dealt with and the relevance of the technologies to the smaller firm is also considered.

A road map to understanding and applying rapid prototyping technologies is outlined at the end of this chapter. This road map is linked to the content of subsequent chapters. Each of these chapters follows up on some of the issues. Taken together, the contents of the report provide information about the different strategic, organisational, assessment and implementation issues that need to be addressed.