History of the Rapid Tooling Industry

Between 1983 and 1993 I was a director of management and the owner "of the components of precision of models limited", a store of machining of work to the task of accuracy of 10 people. You know the kind of place: some Bridgeport and some turns of Colchester! My small team were tall, but the businesses were wedged in the Sixties. I had increased the businesses of £50,000 per annum approximately with £500,000 per annum, but in 1993 the businesses in the North-East of England were terrible. The MODELS faced closing. I had two options: disappear the bust, or do something of spectacular. I chose "spectacular" (in a small manner). In 1980, when I was approximately 15 years, I had a sharp dream of a machine which could accumulate a metal component in an ultraviolet box. The small particles seemed to run up a small pearl on the end of a vertical stick. While time passed, thus the particle developed until it has y have a component on the end of the stick. It was one of these dreams ! which you do not forget. In 1989 I saw a program runs on the world of tomorrow of the BBC about the first machine of Stereolithography to install with the systems of BAe. I observed while an ultraviolet laser lased through the surface of an acrylic resin tank converting the liquid plastic into solid. While each layer plunged to the bottom, another layer was deposited on the top. It was not exactly like my dream, but element UV and the "growth" of a part caught my front imagination like nothing. In 1989 I was completely skint: I could not even allow me the next box of carbide ends for my shell-mill, thus the "stereolithography" had to wait. Still in 1992 Stereolithography caught my imagination when I saw an article of magazine per Tim Plunkett, director of management and founder of a company called Formation Limited. The article of Tim seemed to raise more questions than it gave answers and I was astounded that somebody, no matter who, could probably make with businesses out! of this new astounding technology. At the beginning of 1993 I! called Tim on my portable telephone posing as a prospective customer to test and glaner more information. Tim was really useful and he said to me much that I did not know. The formation was the original chief of the BRITISH fast sector of prototyping and flamed a trail in quality and to finish models of Stereolithography. At the end of the call I embarrassed myself slightly: Tim asked me which kind of data 3D I had available to send to him. At this time I did not know the difference between a file of DXF, a file of IGES, or a file of nail. I covered the telephone and am turned to me towards my brother who led and said - "to give me the name of a file of CAD - quickly!" Dave whispered DXF. I repeated in Tim that my data 3D were in the form of file of DXF (2D given). Ah, the innocence of youth… I do not know if Tim remembers this call, but it left me forever because it was the point to which I decided that I had had enough old machining work to the dull task, and that I was going to ! direct me for the luminous lights of the fast sector of prototyping of beginner. In April of 1993 I undertook to look at a machine of stereolithography SLA-250 at the offices of Hemel Hempstead of the systems 3D the BRITISH division of the inventors of the USA of the process of stereolithography. I turned to the top there with my friend and his daughter 2 year old in a pram and looked at this fast machine of inauguration of prototyping. The director of management then 3D of the systems RU, Andrew Chantrill, later says me that of all prospects it had ever had, it forever suspecté that from here 2000 I would be his best BRITISH customer. In fact, it to me forever given a second thought after my visit which day. For November 1993, after having made the rounds with the specialists in the venture capital with RU, I had raised total funds of £586,000 including/understanding £250,000 venture capital of 3i, and had entrusted an order to the money cash with Andrew Chantrill. I had t! o help it while going down from his jaw of the floor. As well ! as to bu y a stereolithography fast machine of prototyping, I bought a system of vacuum casting of MCP to make parts of reproduction starting from the model of Master of stereolithography. This proven to be a combination of profit and regulated the mould so that all the companies of RU RP follow. I attacked the fast businesses of prototyping exactly in the same way that I had attacked the precision of machining work to the task, but with the result proven to be di x fois plus grand. Parfois les gens sont juste tenus en arrière par leur secteur industriel. Au début des années 90. la compagnie japonaise d'A. a appelé ARRK avait établi un bureau de vente à Londres aux modèles usinés par commande numérique par ordinateur de vente dans le marché BRITANNIQUE. Peter Rawson a été leurs MD européens depuis. Ils ont fait l'argent vraiment bon vendant des modèles de commande numérique par ordinateur jusqu'à Tim Plunkett et je me suis brisé leur partie. Vers la fin de 1995 nous presque totalemen! t avions détruit la commande numérique par ordinateur basée secteur de prototypage au R-U. C'était alors qu'ARRK a concédé que le stereolithography était la manière vers l'avant et sautée dans le secteur rapide de prototypage avec une grande éclaboussure. Par 1997 le secteur rapide BRITANNIQUE de prototypage a été dominé par Formation, STYLES RP, et ARRK. Il y avait un certain nombre d'autres joueurs principaux tels que des modèles de CA, lorgne, Malcolm Nichols, technologie de JJ, prototypes l'Europe de laser, Amsys, et une notion des sorties incroyablement irritantes d'université. Mais l'étape a été placée pour que les grands trois la luttent dehors à l'extrémité amère. D'ici la formation 1998 et les modèles R apid Prototyping were pretty much neck-and-neck as the industry leaders; two young companies, with two young and energetic Managing Directors, going at it with great gusto.In January 1999 Formation was acquired by ARRK and Tim moved on to set up 3TRPD, which is now ! the UK's largest Selective Laser Sintering bureau.Tim Plunkett! was and continues to be the most experienced and knowledgeable rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing specialist in the UK, if not Europe. He had done such a fantastic job at Formation, and I am not ashamed to say that I copied/emulated much of what Formation did. Tim now runs Plunkett Associates, which specializes in advising OEM's on best practice in rapid manufacturing.In April 2000, when STYLES RPD was also sold to ARRK, it had sales of £5m and employed 73 people. STYLES RPD at that time was the largest and most successful rapid prototyping company in the UK.After the acquisition of STYLES RPD, ARRK had an effective monopoly in the UK and could quite easily have driven away all of their competition - but they didn't.The RP sector went through a very difficult period post 9/11, and in 2002 the industry experienced its first year of decline. I have to say that I considered myself lucky to be out of the rapid prototyping sector at that time. I could also see that great changes ! were afoot during 2002 and 2003. ARRK started to add imported production tooling and moulding to its offering and the smaller RP bureaux such AME, Paragon, CA Models and Malcolm Nicholls, as well as the University outfits such as CRDM started to take a good foothold in the market.By 2003, Phill Adamson, a former Team Leader of the Vacuum Casting department at STYLES RPD, and his modelmaker colleague Peter Humphrey, also from STYLES, bought out the rapid prototyping section of Mold Systems (formerly JJ Engineering). With a tiny little bit of help from me, they set about creating what is nothing short of the World's most advanced vacuum casting facility. They took the STYLES quality to new heights and are now renowned for their 'two-shot' and 'lens' capabilities.Both AME and Paragon now have more than £1,000,000 in sales each and are growing very fast. Many of the other rapid prototyping bureaus are expanding nicely and biting away at the giant's ankles. ARRK are now a huge G! lobal toolmaking/moulding company and have over 20,000 employe! es world -wide. In the last couple of years they have bought more than 20 companies in China alone.As for me, the story is just beginning: again.In 2005 I moved my home to Dongguan in Southern China and set up a rapid prototyping company called Star Prototype China and am experiencing growth rates of about 30% per month presently. I also came back into the UK market recently with the acquisition of the once great Omega-Plastics.Omega was, and will again be, the UK's most successful rapid tooling company: but that's for the next article.Gordon StylesAdvisor to Rapid ToolingAdvisor to Injection Moulding CompanyArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gordon_Styles
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