Despite a declining three years, including the slowest since the industry’s foundation, the rapid prototyping market is expected to reach $859.4 million in 2013, nearly tripling 2006’s earned revenues and marking an exciting up-tick for the innovative technology.
Rapid prototyping, adopted early on by automotive and aerospace markets and expected to take off in the manufacturing sector, bridges the gap between design and production by transforming virtual designs into models via a technique called additive manufacturing. The model is built using thin, virtual, horizontal cross-sections and then successive layers are created until it is complete.
The introduction of lower-cost machines, such as 3D printers, and open-source development has enabled the industry to design and produce goods that are truly needed, not pre-designed, pre-produced or pre-shipped to stores. And, through the innovative techniques, the process results in less material waste, less expensive prototyping and faster manufacturing, resulting in not only more prototypes but more testing and design phases of development.
Because Multi/Cable is geared specifically towards smaller production runs of customized wire & cable products, we play an essential role in the rapid prototyping movement. Custom products from Multi/Cable eliminate the lead time and minimum purchase requirements associated with conventional cable manufacturers, enabling end users to save time & money while receiving a product optimized for their application.