What is Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM)?

Direct digital manufacturing (DDM) is the technique of creating production-grade parts directly for end-use with rapid prototyping equipment. Direct digital manufactured parts are ready to use in internal assemblies, or can be finished to high-quality surfaces with polishing, sealing or painting. Also called rapid manufacturing, additive manufacturing or additive fabrication, DDM offers benefits in increased speed and low-volume requirements over alternative manufacturing techniques such as injection molding and die casting.

Direct digital manufacturing allows a company to ramp up manufacturing of a new product without the delays of creating a traditional mold, rapid tooling or plastic tooling. As companies rush to market to stay competitive, creating short runs of parts can shave weeks or even months off manufacturing time. That can mean meeting tough deadlines, gaining new business or maintaining critical shelf space with key retailers.

Like rapid prototyping, direct digital manufacturing eliminates the need for tooling set up. And because it can produce parts of intricate geometry, it can create one part where previously there were two, eliminating the time involved in sub-assembly of parts produced by traditional means.

Direct digital manufacturing isn't right for every manufacturing application, but it can have profound effects in the right circumstances. Direct digital manufacturing can gain a competitive edge for small to mid-sized manufacturers who:

• Produce short-run quantities of parts where the cost of a traditional mold would be high on a per-part basis. Typically, quantities from single digits to the low thousands make economic sense for direct manufacturing.

• Require rapid turnaround of 2-5 days. For example, alpha and beta product launches require a very small total production but very fast turnaround time.

• Need parts that utilize complex geometries with negative angles, undercuts, thin walls or complex injection mold parts. It's also appropriate for parts without draft angles or ejector pin placements, or those with critical dimensional stability requirements.

• Require new product pilot builds to gain early Underwriters Lab or CE testing approval.

• Conduct continuous design iterations during feasibility and market validation studies. Rapid manufacturing parts allow engineers and manufacturers to design, build and test their parts as many times as necessary.

Small manufacturers may also choose to use rapid manufacturing to conserve cash flow. With the ability to order small quantities, purchasing agents may order parts as they're required, rather than ordering an entire years' production in one run. They can also validate market acceptance before committing to large manufacturing runs.

Regardless of their reason for using direct digital manufacturing , manufacturers have found it to be a critical tool in reducing time and costs. If you have a project which might benefit from RedEye's rapid manufacturing, give us a call at 866-882-6934 or send us an e-mail at GoDigital@redeyeondemand.com