What is the purpose of your prototype? If the prototype will be used for trade show or ID verification of the new product, we recommend using CNC machining for manufacturing.
If there are several parts in one product, the structural engineer may not find all interferences among the parts by checking in 3D files.
When project engineer wants to shorten the product development leadtime, they often use prototypes to apply for certification test from third-party lab, such as UL, CSA, CE and CCC, etc.,
The traditional method of new product development and manufacturing is to make the mould first, and then use the moulds for mass production. The leadtime of this method is very long and manufacturing cost is much high. it needs enough quantity to share the tooling cost.
Reverse engineering can be considered as a process from product to design. Putting it simply, reverse engineering is the process to get engineering data (including various blueprints or data models) from existing products.
Quick inspect of product shape. If you only look at the design, you can't imagine the actual shape of the product, so the customer can't accept.
