Prototyping

RICO Group offers the right concept for prototypes or pre-series parts for every customer requirement.

Location:

Development and test molds

3D printing:

THPL printing, the appropriate process is selected depending on customer specifications and requirements. Alternatively, we offer LSR 3D printing with silicone material, which, however, does not correspond to the original material.

Test mold

Here, the components are manufactured using the injection molding process. The untreated cavity parts correspond approximately to the series quality. The test parts are manufactured from full cavities and are close to series quality. The prototyping process is semi-automated or, at the customer's request, fully automated.

Express mold

In this process, the components are manufactured from a 3D printed thermoplastic express mold or milled aluminum mold using a manual cartridge casting process.

Pre-Production

All material combinations can be covered in pre-production: For 1K, the number of cavities is one to four, depending on the part size. For 2K, the number of cavities is designed for one plus one, or four plus four - again depending on the part size. A modular system for different injection systems and mold concepts enables RICO to reproduce all 1K and 2K mold concepts and produce pre-series samples, each in a fully automated process.

Criterion	3D printing	Express mold	Test mold	Pre-Production
Application	Demo parts	Demo parts	Test parts	Pre-series
1K / 2K	1K	1K / 2K	1K / 2K	1K / 2K
Parts quality	3D printing, depending on the process	Not in tolerance	Close to series quality	Correspond to series quality
Concept	3D printing	Manual cartridge casting process	Semi-automatic	Pre-series concept corresponds to series production
Material	No original material	The original material is used wherever possible	Original material	Original material
Quantity	Up to 10 pieces	Up to 10 pieces	Up to 1,000 pieces	Up to 100,000 units
Lead time	1-2 weeks	2 weeks	5-8 weeks	15-20 weeks