Rapid Prototyping for Competitive Advantage

Chapter 5 - Purpose and Summary

• This chapter will provide readers with insights into the major factors affecting the choice of approach used to assess and to implement rapid prototyping technologies. These major factors are: the interrelationship between strategy and technology; the pace of technological change; complexity of the issues; and potentially high capital costs.
• A structured and systematic assessment and implementation process based on stage-gate concepts is described. This process can be adopted more or less as given or customised to meet specific circumstances.
• General advice on managing technical and organisational change is provided. The key issue here is to gain commitment, which can best be achieved by involving those affected by the changes in the organisational redesign exercise, through the use of a structured and systematic process of the type suggested.
• To properly specify rapid prototyping technologies many types of knowledge are needed — strategic, marketing, design engineering, tooling, manufacturing, information technology, etc. Specifications should not be prepared by one group or one person, because all these specialists need to interact to share information and to explore issues and adjust their ideas.
• Advice on assessing rapid prototyping bureaux from a supply chain management perspective is provided. This deals with the issue of choosing a supplier to work with on a clear understanding that the relationship will be based on the supplier cooperating to improve the product delivered to the final customer and reducing overall costs.
• A number of tactics to deploy when faced with difficulties or doubts are described. These include: demonstration projects; adopting bureau services as a starting point; benchmarking other industries; and research and development projects.