If a company has chosen to delay a rapid technologies tooling initiative, it has fueled a tremendous competitive disadvantage. Continuing to do business in the ways of the past has only a single destination - failure.

rapid technologies tooling article

For the rapid technologies tooling and injection molding industries, the competitive pressures are monumental. Competing on price is no longer a viable option due to the low-cost solutions available from offshore companies. Competing on quality is not viable, because in today's market quality is no longer a feature that provides benefit - now it's a standard expectation and requirement.

The issue today is speed. Companies in every industry are focused on delivering product to market faster. The ability to help the customer achieve this objective results in a competitive edge.

Rapid tooling positions the moldmaker and molder to meet the customer's requirements and gain a competitive advantage. Without a rapid tooling solution, many claim that a company's competitive position is precarious. However, the necessity of a rapid tooling solution is dependent upon the definition of "rapid tooling." Rapid Tooling Defined At its inception, rapid tooling was the ability to generate core and cavity inserts as a product of a rapid prototyping technology. Rapid tooling was the result of an additive process driven by 3-D CAD - a process that requires little or no machining or rapid technologies tooling. For some, rapid tooling continues to be described in this narrow scope.

Others, however, have embraced a description of rapid tooling that has expanded to a much broader scope. Perhaps the most important factor to this change was the use of the adjective "rapid." Since the opposite of rapid is slow, a company that cannot claim to be a rapid tooler could be perceived as a "slow" tooler.

A secondary driver is the attractiveness of the phrase "rapid tooling." Inclusion of "rapid tooling" in advertising and literature attracts the attention of buyers and results in sales. Rapid technologies tooling has become a loosely defined buzzword.