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How to reduce the cost of developing new products using SLS


Source sinterit.com

Maciej Burzhinsky is a product developer at the Polish company Sybet. The company creates integrated security systems for the mining industry. Machey has a huge responsibility - he is responsible for the ease of use of products, and for solving technological and production problems.
He faces another, no less important problem - the introduction of a new product on the market should be cost-effective.



Not every designer is faced with the development of innovative, intrinsically safe systems for identifying and locating personnel and equipment in mining enterprises. The devices manufactured by the company are based on radio systems and are designed to operate in extreme conditions. At a depth of hundreds of meters underground, they help rescuers find miners who survived the accident.

The stakes in such a game are high, but the financial responsibility is also high. For the manufacture of end devices, molds for injection molding are used, which cost tens of thousands of dollars. Any mistake made during the design is very expensive and time consuming.

Without 3D printing, injection molds were used not only for the production of end parts, but also for the manufacture of prototypes. In order to create these prototypes and save money, in comparison with prototyping in production, the company uses the Sinterit Lisa 3D printer SLS .


Source sinterit.com


Source top3dshop.ru

Walkie talkie (walkie talkie) for mines



Source sinterit.com

The designer is currently developing walkie-talkies for KGHM. This mining holding employs more than 34,000 people worldwide and has been a leader in copper and silver mining for over 50 years.

The miners in such a large company are accustomed to certain technical solutions of the equipment that is issued to them. The distribution of the main buttons of the walkie-talkie should be the same as in the other devices used in KGHM. An important point - the emergency button must be well protected from accidental pressing, so as not to provoke an unnecessary rescue operation. In mines and mines it is always very noisy, which means a rather large speaker is required, several times louder than those used in phones, and protected by a housing.

To create a fully functional prototype, selective laser sintering (SLS 3D printing) is often used, due to the high accuracy of this technology. In the SLS process, the laser beam sinteres the powder, which allows you to create even the most complex internal reliefs, inclined walls and elements that must fit very tightly together when assembling the product.

How much does a prototype cost?



Source sinterit.com

The main parts of the prototype walkie-talkie are made of PA12 polyamide powder , the antenna is made of TPU plastic, and the buttons are made of silicone. If you make molds for everything, then the cost of creating a prototype of one device can reach $ 40,000. Instead, the designer spent $ 7,000 to buy a desktop SLS 3D printer - work on the project became more efficient and costs fell sharply. Since the printer is used in projects of other devices, the investment will pay off very quickly.

Case design is very important. The silicone keyboard for him was also printed on a Sinterit Lisa 3D printer .

Without the use of 3D printing, this happens as follows: the designer draws a prototype, orders its production, waits for several weeks and pays at least $ 8,000 in a similar project. Machek decided to do everything himself. The print was printed from PA12 polyamide. At the next stage, the designer made a silicone part with the addition of rare-earth minerals so that the buttons look beautiful under the backlight. The whole process took two days and cost less than $ 200.

Due to the high quality of the prints, the client can accept the product already at the prototype stage and approve the creation of injection molds.

SLS 3D printer greatly facilitates product development. In addition, since third-party companies are not involved in the manufacture, there will be no leakage of information on the project. The workflow is accelerated and becomes rhythmic. Costs are reduced by several times compared to conventional prototyping methods, and the risk of errors becomes minimal.

“Our 3D printer is working fine. Printing on 3D models that we are developing takes about 24-28 hours. I just start the printer in the morning, and in the afternoon the next day the prints are ready for testing or for showing to the client, ”says Maciej Burzhinsky.

Prototyping and designing is a lengthy process, but the effort will be rewarded a hundredfold. The end products will be used to protect the lives of miners, reduce the risk of accidents and increase productivity. These devices, which last 30 days without recharging the batteries, can help locate and identify employees, which is very important in the event of an accident.

What is the return on investment?


In the European Union, Sinterit Lisa costs about $ 7,000, and a complete set with a Sandblaster post-processing device and a Sieve screener costs about $ 11,500. In Russia you can buy them here .

Printing a prototype of an entire walkie-talkie using parts from PA12 and Flexa Gray costs less than $ 600 and takes about four days.

Compare with $ 40,000 for prototype molds. Investing in a printer pays off during one or two projects, depending on their volume.

Thousands of design bureaus involved in new product development can benefit greatly from knowing how to cut costs efficiently and achieve goals faster with SLS prototyping. SLS is one of the few technologies that will help to quickly release the final product and ensure the safety of people working in underground work.

Read more about 3D printing on the Top 3D Shop Blog .

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