Phillips’ in-house rapid prototyping service makes it easy to test your design before beginning full production. Drawing upon a large group of design and production experts and the most state-of-the-art equipment, Phillips’ team members work closely to ensure a seamless transition to production facilities. With a dedicated design and development center, prototyping programs are given individual attention focused solely on pre-production needs. And because not all programs begin at the same phase, engineers can begin working with Phillips’ team at any stage during the development cycle, including:
Concept Development
Phillips’ industrial design group leads brainstorming sessions, conducts investigative research, and generates concept sketches. From that foundation, Phillips can shape the overall design, appearance, and ergonomics of the customers’ product.
Design Engineering
Whether validating the customer’s design or generating new manufacturable geometry, Phillips engineers are skilled in applying all the popular 3D CAD tools, such as Pro/Engineer®, SolidWorks®, CATIA V5®, and Unigraphics®, as well as finite element analysis and Moldflow®.
Material Selection
Specialists at Phillips assist customers in making material choices and can provide an unbiased database of suppliers. The Company can also conduct materials testing in various thermal and chemical environments.
Physical Models
These range from foam models to parts generated through stereolithography. Phillips engineers can also evaluate models provided by customers, many of whom are increasingly using 3D printer tools for rapid prototype molding service. Phillips offers a wide range of modeling services to support the industrial design and design engineering needs, including:
- Stereolithography (SLA)
- 3D printing
- Foam models
- Fused deposition modeling (FDM)
- Castings
- Machined models
Prototype Tooling
To further prove the customer’s design, Phillips routinely designs and manufactures prototype tools for customers, typically from aluminum or P-20 steel. These tools typically produce anywhere from 100 parts to many thousand, giving customers more data to validate the final design and prepare for volume production. Three levels of prototyping are offered:
Level 1 Prototype – RPTech™ (Rapid Process Technologies)
- Rapid tooling when you “need parts fast”, with lead times measured in days
- Up to 8 x 14 inch part size
- Molds constructed from aluminum or P-20 steel
- Manual side actions to form undercuts
Level 2 Prototype
- Allows more complex geometry and larger part sizes than RPTech
- Molds constructed from aluminum or P-20 steel
- Undercuts formed using either manual or automatic side actions
- Production representative tool and process
Level 3 Prototype – Market Entry/Pilot
- A great option for low volume programs or scaling up for high volume production
- Molds constructed from P-20 or hardened steel for longer tool life
- Undercuts formed using automatic side action only, to support lower cost production and process validation
Production Plastic Tooling
The final step is the design and manufacture of actual production plastic tooling from hardened steel for high-volume runs. Learn more about Phillips’ design through distribution services. Download guide now.