
The Frankenstein monster has always gotten a bad rap. Sure – he was weird looking and scary and a metaphor for unchecked political forces, but if we remember correctly he was also, after all, just a prototype.
There are all kinds of prototypes, ranging from the duct tape and cardboard variety which don’t even resemble the thing they may actually become, to the looks-like-feels-like product which is functional enough to use in field trials. In between there may be several generations of prototypes which move a product along its evolutionary path.
The roughest prototypes may not have beauty in the eye of the beholder, but they always answer one critical question: does the idea work? In the case of the Frankenstein monster, the concept was definitely flawed. But better to find out early, eh?
“I know of several cases where companies either created metal tooling or had parts molded after doing only one or two prototypes made by some other process,” says Tony Furdock, Priio’s prototype build coordinator. “After spending a lot of money they discovered the design wasn’t at all what they expected – and the adjustments were expensive, as you can imagine.”
While feasibility is an important function of prototyping, there are other, equally valuable aspects of prototyping that are often overlooked – as in the case of pre-manufacturing. There may be times when you need a bridge over troubled waters – that is, a bridge to cover the gap between design and full scale production. One or two models will not do – you need 12, or 20, or 200.
“With prototyping on this scale you can put an item out there for people to actually use,” says Furdock. “This answers questions about whether or not the ergonomics are correct, in addition to determining whether or not your design feasibility and manufacturing practices are appropriate.”
In the end, it costs far less money and provides results much faster to do several prototypes than invest in the hard tooling, especially if the project is complex or novel. And it’s also a good way to determine what will make the product easy to manufacture and reproduce.
There are even times when multi-unit prototyping can serve as the actual manufacturing process. “I did prototypes for one company that designed a very low-volume part,” says Furdock. “They only needed 50 to 100 parts produced each year, and since we were able to prototype using the suitable materials, they chose to manufacture their product that way.”
The bottom line is that prototyping, in its many iterations, is an integral part of good design. It not only proves or disproves a concept as viable, but also allows you to discover any unintentional monsters early in the process. (And well before you learn your mistake is actually pronounced Frankenschteen.)
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