Product Description

In an age where better, faster, and cheaper is the mantra for product development, rapid prototyping is recognized for its ability to help companies achieve these goals simultaneously. However, determining when to apply rapid prototyping requires an understanding of the technology, the process, and its strengths and weaknesses.

User's Guide to Rapid Prototyping will help designers, engineers, executive management, and others in the company understand how to apply rapid prototyping technologies such as 3D printing, stereolithography, selective laser sintering, and fused deposition modeling to the product development process. Intertwined with rapid prototyping, the processes of rapid tooling and rapid manufacturing are also discussed.

An aid to making informed business decisions, the book provides information about when it may be right to implement rapid prototyping in-house versus going to a service provider. The path through justification, evaluation, and implementation is outlined. Readers will gain insights into the benefits, risks, and limitations of each technology.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #978166 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 404 pages

About the Author
Todd Grimm has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University. He has been active in the field of rapid prototyping since 1990 and is considered to be one of the leading experts on the topic. His experience with the technology comes from hands-on-work with various rapid prototyping systems in a service bureau environment. Today, he is a consultant to industry and president of T.A. Grimm & Associates, Inc.

Recognized as one of the top speakers in the rapid prototyping industry, Todd Grimm has delivered numerous presentations, seminars, lectures, and keynote addresses. He is also an accomplished author with many articles and white papers to his credit. Since 1997, he has served as an advisor for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers' Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing conference.

Customer Reviews

Are This Book and Its Author Truly Objective?
I have come to question whether Todd Grimm and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) present a truly objective look at Rapid Prototyping and Additive Fabrication technologies. My concern, as detailed at
[...], comes from the fact that Grimm and SME seem a bit too close to think that either is providing an arm's length look at this important industry. If you do read this book, I encourage you to consider it more along the lines of propaganda than hard, objective reporting. That may be okay, since there is a lot of good to say about this industry. But I think Todd's reasons for writing this book were more to bolster his own marketing practice than to provide readers with valuable, actionable content.

For the Pro or the Novice Prototyper
"User's Guide to Rapid Prototyping" is the first text of this technology and process that I have read. Since everything it presents as a process is new as compared to the established processes that I am more familiar with, every section provided new information and practical knowledge to my reading effort. There is no better way to learning a methodology than to physically perform it but with this book and a decent manufacturing background, even a novice prototyper can sow a fertile field of choices to producing quick samples or short production runs avoiding expensive alternatives.
The author properly compliments the many contributors who supplied real world application studies. He ends the text with a complete glossary and index which with both together, upgrades this "user guide" to a formal desk reference. This book will satisfy any technically oriented individual who is seeking an appreciation of this narrowly understood technology.

Robert Szyka