NextFab Studio in South Philadelphia hosted “Product Prototyping in 60 Minutes” for 30 engineers, entrepreneurs and artists interested in creating products using the advanced technology available at the studio.
NextFab staffers presented participants with the prototyping steps using a digital house number design, then demonstrated how the product was constructed using the studio’s equipment, including various software programs, a wood-carving ShopBot, a stone cutting Waterjet machine and the Arduino microcontroller.
The event was NextFab’s first prototyping demo and part of Philly Tech Week.
NextFab’s president and founder Evan Malone worries about the loss of manufacturing in the US and wants to show that advanced computer-controlled machines can spur innovation. He said he hopes that the event will show people interested in these technologies the thought process behind turning an idea into a product, and also a few of the pitfalls they are likely to encounter along the way.
“People get excited about an idea and rush in without considering whether the direction they’re headed in is a good one for their ends goal,” said Malone, who explained paying attention to excitement-killers like financing, legal issues and marketability early on can mean success for product creators.
The studio operates like a fitness gym. Members can use NextFab’s equipment, take classes or receive assistance from trained staff members. Biomedical engineering student Melissa Stagnl joined NextFab to learn more about electronic and mechanical programming. “I’m interested in creating a sleep mask that will help with lucid dreaming,” said Stagnl.
Software programmer George Alexander is considering membership and was impressed with the studio’s 3D printing machines and laser cutters. The prototyping presentation gave Alexander a concrete idea of how the South Philadelphia studio could assist him in creating the jewelry he hopes to make. “The amount of activity that there is in the rapid prototyping and 3D printing area, lots going on in the world, and Philadelphia, this is really where it’s at.”
Today, the pressures faced by PPM center largely on customers seeking offshore solutions, typically from China, Malaysia, and other low-cost areas of the world. As a result, the company has created a niche for machining high-end medical components that, “no one else wants to cut, because it is just not profitable for them,” John says.
He goes on and describes PPM’s manufacturing style as probably a little different, positively attacking CAD models in Pro-Engineer, and then generating our machine code in the same CAD package, returning seamlessly what the client ordered from solid geometry to the reality of actual products manufactured exactly to specification.
“Using Haas technology, we get greedy,” John notes. “We utilize a fourth-axis rotary head to machine four sides of the workpiece with one fixture, and then we flip it, and we are done in two operations, before it goes into our finishing department for deburring.”
Typical materials processed on the Haas machines include 17/4 stainless steel, 400- and 300-series stainless steel, titanium, cobalt chrome, and PEEK (polyether ether ketone). In terms of the latter, PPM has just secured its first order for PEEK, and production of these parts will be on Haas technology.
“We are a no-debt operation – we buy our equipment, pay it off, and move on,” John explains. “The Haas machines are particularly good for us, as is the price structure. The machines we acquired were not $500,000, as some makes; they were a lot less, so we had the means to bring them in as needed, and we could own them outright. In addition, for the size of product that we manufacture, the machining envelopes and tables are just the right size, and the machines have no problem holding the close tolerances our parts require.”
John and his family understand fully the importance of the parts they are making, the difference they can make to a recipient’s life, and the need to pay close attention to specifications and quality.
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