What Does It Take to Open an RP Business?

Joel Segal - Research Engineer at University of Nottingham (England)

Terry Wohlers - Wohlers Associates, Inc. (Fort Collins, CO)

1. Develop a newsletter that discusses the technology and its application. Discuss the first several jobs in the newsletter and give details such as time and cost savings. Be sure to include photographs of the parts from the machine.

2. Schedule seminars that show the machine in operation. Discuss strengths and limitations of the process and show example parts. Explain how users can use parts as patterns for tooling.

3. Encourage tours through the facility. Give away small samples and printed information so that visitors have something to take back to their office.

4. Create an e-mail distribution list that provides updates on machine upgrades, new materials and new capabilities such as tooling. Consider distributing the newsletter through this e-mail list.

5. Set up a website that provides details on your service. Provide picture gallery parts, molds, etc. Include a caption with each picture that explains it, along with time and cost savings.

6. Attend industry events such as conferences and exhibits to stay updated on new developments and trends. As the demand grows for models and prototype parts, be prepared to make well-informed decisions about expansion, including the purchase of a second machine.

Todd Grimm - Accelerated Technologies, Inc. (Hebron, KY)

As with any business plan, they need to:

• Identify the price point that they want to meet.
• Understand the costs and work them out until an accepted profit margin is achieved.
• Build the processes for efficient and productive operations.
• Find ways to do it faster.
• Find a tool to manage an ever-changing schedule.
• Train the staff in the process and their jobs.
• Determine what comprises customer satisfaction and figure out a way to deliver it.
• Develop a promotion effort that makes the potential customers aware of the technology and its benefits.
• Internal or external customers will get their prototypes elsewhere if they are not satisfied.
• People are resistant to new things. Find compelling reasons for them to change their behavior.

1. Rapid technology does not guarantee rapid delivery. Drop an RP system into a slow, inefficient operation and delivery cannot be fast.

2. Justify your existence every step of the way (in financial terms). If a company hits a rough spot, the RP lab is an obvious target for cutting costs. Just ask those who have shut down their internal RP labs.

Preston Smith - New Product Dynamics (Portland, OR)

RP systems are indeed rapid. They can make prototypes in a fraction of the time needed by more traditional fabrication methods. If you look at them in this way, you will no doubt cut your prototype fabrication cycle time.

The problem - and the misleading part of the sales pitch you may have heard - is that making a prototype is only a tiny fraction of your total output product development activity. If you look at your new system in this way, you are limited to making a giant reduction in quite a small slice of the pie.

Fortunately there is a solution to this predicament. It involves analyzing where time vanishes as you develop a product. Collect some real data from some of your actual projects and watch for delays due to decision making such as the following:

• Marketing can"t decide which shape is more appealing.
• A supplier needs to decide on which of their processes will accommodate the design most easily.
• Customer research indicates indecision on the standard or the extended-life battery pack. Top management just isn"t comfortable enough with deciding on funding for the next phase of the project.

Making the behavioral change to a new way of doing business is difficult. It is often easier to buy an RP system than to make changes in how you operate. But the choice is yours. You can stop where you are and enjoy your modest gains or you can make the leap and leverage them. How long will you take to decide on this one?