By Sean Fenske, Editor-in-Chief

Medical device developers are constantly seeking ways to reduce costs and get a new product to market faster. As such, contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) supply chain partners offer an array of capabilities to help enable this. Often, communicating with those development partners early in the process offers greater benefits. Rapid prototyping is one such example.

Rapid prototyping is highly effective early in a product’s development lifecycle. The process can help reduce costs, enhance the design, and speed up the time to market. However, in order to benefit from these key advantages, device manufacturers must engage with their rapid prototyping development partner early.

With this in mind, Tyler Stark, Innovation Hub Leader at Spectrum Plastics Group, a DuPont Business, responded to a number of questions on this capability in the following Q&A. Speaking on behalf of the company’s Rapid Prototyping and Engineering (RPE) Center, Stark provides insights on the benefits of rapid prototyping, how it can be used, the processes involved, and other considerations for OEMs seeking to leverage this service.

Sean Fenske: What is rapid prototyping and what processes are involved?

Tyler Stark: Rapid prototyping allows OEMs to evaluate designs faster. The process enables physical models of a design to be created very quickly out of the same materials used in a production state so form, fit & function can be reviewed. Physical models allow users to hold the design instead of viewing it on a computer monitor. It’s a valuable tool to gain further insights into a medical device or component design.

With this in mind, Spectrum has created a center dedicated to rapid prototyping. The purpose of the Rapid Prototyping and Engineering (RPE) Center is to develop quick-turn solutions for customers—both internally and externally—using a variety of manufacturing processes. Among the methods the RPE Center leverages to achieve quick-turn solutions are additive manufacturing, extrusion, and injection molding.

Fenske: What benefits does the RPE Center offer to Spectrum customers?

Stark: One of the benefits of the center is that, in most situations, the component can be fabricated using the exact materials required, offering the customer a more complete understanding of the characteristics of the component. In addition, the RPE team can work with the customer to optimize the component design or suggest changes to enhance the overall result. Since this is achieved at such a fast pace, the iterative design process can cycle through more candidates, providing the true benefit to the customer. This helps reduce costs that might be required for redesigns later in the development cycle and can improve upon the overall time to market.

Fenske: What processes are used for rapid prototyping and are there limitations on these processes?

Stark: While rapid prototyping can leverage a number of fabrication processes, our RPE Center provides solutions using additive manufacturing (or 3D printing), extrusion, injection molding, and catheter manufacturing equipment. In addition, the RPE team will find unique ways to prototype as required by each project. However, when prototyping a component or design, it’s critical to keep in mind a significant factor regarding the output. That is, the component or design being prototyped must be able to be manufactured once the project enters the production stage. Therefore, it’s important that design for manufacturability comes into play in the prototype phase.

Fenske: Is material selection limited with rapid prototyping?

Stark: Not at all! That’s one of the main benefits I mentioned earlier. Material selection is open to the developer with rapid prototyping. We are material agnostic and will tackle whatever challenge the industry presents to us. However, if a unique material is required that we don’t normally process, additional time may be required for sourcing and process development.

Fenske: What are the most important considerations with rapid prototyping? When should it and should not be used?

Stark: Early-stage development is typically the sweet spot for rapid prototyping. That is where the most benefit will be realized. It should be used at the phase where the design is not locked down and adjustments can still be made, whether that’s the material selected, or physical characteristics being revised.

Getting involved at the forefront of a project to help shape the design or component into what’s truly required is where the RPE team excels. Once a component is fully defined and moves into the larger scale production phase, RPE is not as beneficial. One exception could be when display or training samples are needed.

Fenske: What is Spectrum doing to enhance its capabilities in rapid prototyping for customers?

Stark: While the RPE Center is a significant representation of our commitment to offering rapid prototyping for our customers, continual investment is also required. We’re constantly looking to bring in talent and resources to enhance our capabilities. We strive to remain up-to-date with technology that will provide the best components possible.

At the current time, our offerings include additive manufacturing for tubing, fittings/hubs, handles, general components, and micro components. We can also use it to produce components with multiple materials, including thermoplastics, photopolymers, silicones, and metals. Additive manufacturing can also be leveraged for injection molding by 3D printing the molds themselves.

Other services available through the RPE Center include quick-turn extrusion, catheter development, and laser processing. We have access to material compounding capabilities to tune materials when applicable.

Fenske: Do you have any additional comments you’d like to share based on any of the topics we discussed or something you’d like to tell medical device manufacturers?

Stark: Our RPE Center is a great place to start when designing a new product or component. It allows customers to get functional prototypes into their hands quickly. Our mission is to serve as an extension of the customer’s development team. We’re ready to support you with whatever is needed to achieve the required traction for “speed to market.”

Click here to learn more about Spectrum Plastics Group’s RPE Center >>>>>