The implications of this on a small manufacturing business are enormous. If you can produce fewer physical prototypes, you can save the commensurate development costs and get your product into manufacture and out to market faster than the competition.

Whilst most SMEs are aware of the advantages of 3D digital prototyping, many are unwilling to move from their existing 2D capacity for fear it will be too costly or that it will create an untenable interruption to workflow and production. Therefore many believe that digital prototyping is only for the big players with the scale and financial muscle to invest in the requisite software and skills. But this is a misapprehension.

SMEs have easy and affordable access to digital prototyping tools; with a little help, small manufacturers can easily identify their digital prototyping capabilities and implement them with a surprising lack of interruption to operations. Some of the big success stories have been SME’s for whom the new software has revolutionised their business.

3D prototyping software can also help to clinch customer sales pitches through the ability to demonstrate, with extreme clarity, exactly how a product will look and behave before it is produced. This minimises risk so effectively for a new business prospect that, all else being equal, it’s hard to say no.

This was a situation familiar to Dorman Long Technology, consultants and contractors of services to the construction industry and specialist sub-contractors for heavy lifting and skidding operations. Their recent high profile projects include Wembley Stadium, Heathrow’s T5 and Paddington Station.

“This is a highly competitive market,” says Dorman Long’s senior CAD technician, Steve Garratt. “By presenting a solid rendered object with 3D views early in the process, we can accurately illustrate what the end result will look like and so effectively involve clients in the development of the design and how it will meet their needs.”

One of the key aims in moving to solid modeling was to improve design communication. Every Dorman Long project is bespoke – tailored to the specific clients’ requirements. As a result, it was often extremely difficult to portray in 2D drawings what they were trying to achieve with highly-complex designs to non-engineering clients. 3D digital modelling changed all that.

 “We already had a positive view of what Inventor could do, as it was in use with a continental fabricator partner,” recalls Garratt. “We were impressed with its intuitive, easy-to-learn functionality.”

Just because you implement 3D digital design, it doesn’t mean you have to abandon 2D drafting entirely, and this is a big concern for smaller businesses for whom much of their work – and their valuable intellectual property – is still based on 2D drafting.

Almost three quarters of companies that use 3D modelling also use 2D drafting.This means that by using a product like Autodesk Inventor, which enables users to design either way, manufacturers who have generated thousands of CAD drawings over the years can continue to use them. This puts the intellectual assets and knowledge that went into those drawings to the best possible use.

Dorman Long had been using 2D AutoCAD for over 10 years, but they recognised that the integration of 2D and 3D and interoperability with AutoCAD would give them ideal design continuity and that there would be negligible interruption to workflow during implementation.

As 3D digital design becomes more widespread, manufacturers realise that the benefits extend beyond the virtual model. The ability to see and experience the product – through testing and simulation – before it is made is a huge advantage. For example, engineers could use it to calculate an eventual point of failure and design the product so that this is in a serviceable area, so prolonging its life or even help work out what spares are needed for the product over time.

Digital design vastly reduces the risk of error as data is input, extrapolated, updated and re-used, which frees-up engineers to think creatively about new design variations. This is because digital prototyping enables any number and scope of changes to be made quickly and without adding to costs. Once these have been agreed and incorporated into a final design, a physical prototype can then be generated, safe in the knowledge that it is unlikely to be changed.

The ability to show customers an early example of a product is another great feature of digital prototyping, encouraging detailed feedback that will ensure the finished article meets client expectations. This also presents a persuasive opportunity for sales and marketing, making it easier and cheaper for companies to develop speculative prototypes to persuade existing customers and new prospects what the company could do for them, given the chance.

The only real limit is the team’s imagination, since today’s tools are intuitive and easy to use with minimal training, ensuring a rapid payback. Whatever the size of the business, firms with sophisticated 3D digital prototyping facilities will find they have an extra tool with which to sharpen their competitive edge.