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Prototyping
Marketing Tech offers custom prototyping solutions for metal, plastic, and electronic manufacturing. From one-off models to low-volume fully-finished parts, we have a variety of prototyping options in castings, stampings, plastic parts, PCBAs, and more.
Marketing Tech’s additional prototype and bridge-to-production options are summarized in the table below:
Category | Process | Prototype Approach | Advantages | Qty | Limitations | Manufacturers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Metals | Die Casting | Machined Prototypes | Fine detail. Production materials available. | 1-5 | Expensive parts. Geometry and process not representative of production. | |
Metals | Die Casting | Plaster Mold Casting | Representative of production design and material properties | 10s-100s | Expensive, longer lead time prototype tooling | |
Metals | Aluminum Extrusion | Stock Tooling Shapes | No tooling cost to verify design. Flexible iteration. | 1-25 | Geometry limited by available tooling. Post-machining costs for more customization. | |
Metals | Investment Casting | 3D-printed SLA or Wax Patterns | Quick parts. Flexible iteration. Representative of production design. | 1-10 | Expensive parts. Production testing and quality requirements may not apply. | |
Metals | Liquidmetal | Master Unit Die (MUD) Insert Tooling | Faster lead time. Representative of production design and material properties. | 10s-100s | Expensive, longer lead time prototype tooling. | |
Metals | Metal Fabrication | Laser Cutting or Turret Punching with Press Brake Forming | Low or no tooling cost. Faster lead-times. | 1-10s | Manual process with looser tolerances. Higher labor content. | |
Metals | Metal Machining | Prototype Machining | Representative of production design and material properties. | 10s-100s | Expensive parts. Programming and fixture costs amortized across short run. | |
Metals | Metal Stamping | Stage Tooling | Faster lead time. Representative of production design and material properties. | 10s-100s | Longer lead time than manual fabrication. More expensive parts than progressive die stamping. | |
Metals | Permanent Mold Casting | Sand or Plaster Mold Casting | Representative of production design and material properties. | 10s-100s | Expensive, longer lead time prototype tooling. | |
Metals | Plaster Mold Casting | Machined Prototypes | Fine detail. Production materials available. | 1-5 | Expensive parts. Geometry and process not representative of production. | |
Metals | Precision Laser Cutting | Prototype Laser Cutting | Representative of production design and material properties. | 1-100s | Inefficient material usage. Requires dedicated prototyping if using production supplier. | |
Metals | Sand Casting | 3D-printed or Machined Sand Molds | Quick parts. Flexible iteration. Representative of production design. | 1-10 | Expensive parts. Production testing and quality requirements may not apply. | |
Plastics | EMI/RFI Shielding | Stock Materials | Variety of materials and sizes/shapes available. Fit testing to finalize design. | 10s-100s | Lack of customization. Not representative of production design. | |
Plastics | EMI/RFI Shielding | Prototype Tooling | Customized shapes representative of production design. | 100s | Longer lead-time. Prototype tooling similar cost to production tooling. | |
Plastics | Injection Molding | Additive Manufacturing | Quick parts. Exact desired geometry. | 1-10 | Slightly different material properties than production. Secondary finishing required for appearance parts. | |
Plastics | Injection Molding | Soft Tooling | More part detail. Production materials available. | 100s | Complex part geometries may not reflect production process. Prototype tooling similar cost to production. | |
Plastics | Injection Molding | Machined Prototypes | Fine detail. Production materials available. | 1-5 | Expensive parts. Geometry and process not representative of production. | |
Plastics | Injection Molding | Digital Manufacturing | Quick parts. Production materials available. | 100s-1000s | Expensive parts. Engineering changes require new cores/cavities. | |
Plastics | Reaction Injection Molding | Machined Prototypes | Fine detail. Parts painted by production supplier give representative appearance. | 1-25 | Expensive parts. Geometry and material/process not representative of production. | |
Plastics | Reaction Injection Molding | Additive Manufacturing | Quick parts. Exact desired geometry. | 1-10 | Different material properties than production. Secondary finishing required for appearance parts. | |
Plastics | Structural Foam Molding | Machined Prototypes | Fine detail. Parts painted by production supplier give representative appearance. | 1-25 | Expensive parts. Geometry and material/process not representative of production. | |
Plastics | Structural Foam Molding | Additive Manufacturing | Quick parts. Exact desired geometry. | 1-10 | Different material properties than production. Secondary finishing required for appearance parts. | |
Electronics | Box Build | Time and Materials Assembly | Quick parts upon receipt of materials to verify design and test functionality. | 1-10s | Subcomponent supply chain must already be in place. | |
Electronics | Printed Circuit Board Assembly | Quick-turn PCBA | Quick parts to verify design and test functionality. | 1-10s | Hand soldering subject to error. Limited number of components in the PCBA. | |
Electronics | User Interface Technology | Modified Off-the-shelf Units | Quick parts to define requirements and show expected functionality. | 1-10s | Lack of customization. Options limited by market availability. |
Manufacturing Processes
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