Industrial design practice using rapid prototyping : a case study / Ahmad Zuhairi Abdul Majid

The production of a prototype is a critical step in any production and design process.
Prototypes are necessary for determining tooling considerations, aesthetic
evaluations, and design verification. In the past, prototype parts required weeks, even
months, of high-cost machil1ing, hand modeling, and manual drawings and layouts.
With the new technology of Rapid· prototyping (RP) provide solution in
competitiveness. Rapid prototyping, in its generic sense, should be referred to as
manufacturing processes that can- create prototype parts rapidly. The purpose of this
research is to documenting a case study on product development that uses rapid
prototyping service. From.this study also the researcher need to see the involvement
of industrial designer in the development process in producing prototypes which
required by the client, Tellinx Sejagat Sdn. Bhd.
There are two main research questions to be. answered in the case study. One is to
establish how that RI? could contribute towards enriching the design process in
industrial design activities locally and to find what are the challenges that emerge
when local industrial designer applies RP in the industrial design process.
The case study identifies the significance ofrapid prototyping in industrial design in
Malaysia. If RP is needed in the local industry, the analysis on the involvement of
industrial designers in RP will reflect how the local industrial education could
contribute.