Rapid & Virtual Technologies in der Prototypenfertigung

Abstract

Prototypes are an essential medium in the development of products for evaluating and safeguarding accomplished product features. In the case of complex products and depending on the sector, the manufacture of prototypes involves the creation, production, assembly and provision of several dozen to several thousand prototype components for a wide variety of different tests. With the aim of continuous improvement of product maturity through to serial capability for product start-ups, tests are conducted over several prototype stages each including a few dozen prototypes being set up, with increasing demands on the prototype features as development progresses. Steady development of rapid technologies and a breakdown into Concept Modeling, Rapid Prototyping Process Chains and Rapid Tooling offer new opportunities for planning processes for prototype stages and the development of individual prototypes. This is accompanied by increased pressure to optimise costs in the area of prototype construction by utilising virtual technologies (visualisation, DMU, virtual reality etc.). The speeches will discuss the necessities as regards knowledge, processes and logistics for integrated utilisation of rapid and virtual technologies in the area of prototype construction as well as business models associated with these issues.