Product-to-Market Speed
The key to Apple Inc.'s success, said Objet's Marangell, is its ability to create a direct link between product and design.
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| Air conditioning automotive part printed in Objet High Temperature Material |
"Apple says it best when they say it's all about the design," he said. "They talk about rapid prototyping as the thing they do right from the napkin." 3D printing technologies allow this to happen.
With it, "very early in the process, designers have a physical object to work with," he said. As a result, they are able to spend more time with the product in-hand for modifications, redesigns and testing.
The advantage of this is great, he said. "If you are able to improve your design early, you can get to the market sooner... with a much better design."
His favorite example of this is with the case of New Balance Shoes.
"I always thought they were just a shoe company," he said, "but they're a fashion company. The changes and the sensitivity of that market are so quick that they have shows every month and they have to have new products for every show."
This means that to serve their customers and stay on top of industry trends, the company must design and manufacture completely new product lines every month. Each item in these lines requires customized components that traditionally took months to produce.
Now, Marangell explained, the shoes they are showing have "rubber soles that may have been designed and printed yesterday." There is simply no other way to meet these demands than 3D printing, he said.
