(028) 9070 6940 
sales@laserproto.com 
Overview
If you want:
- a holistic design & development process with the highest quality craftmanship at the prototyping stage,
- quicker development cycles and shorter time to market,
- more cost and material efficiency in development,
- the best product designs for optimum user experience;
you can achieve all these things with 3D Printing, and here at LPE we house a comprehensive range of advanced AM processes and materials to help you do it.
With over 30 years of experience in prototyping for consumer goods, our expert team of in-house modelmakers and engineers help you find the right design for your product before bringing it to market, through hands-on engagement and regular consultation. We also provide secondary painting, finishing, and polishing, ensuring we deliver exact visual prototypes to your specifications.
In addition to exact prototypes, we can supply finished products as well, as 3D Printing for consumer goods continues to move beyond just prototyping and into the sphere of production. Many product packaging photos and online shopping images are 3D printed prototypes simulating final parts. Today, we have the materials with the durability and surface finish to produce parts fit-for-market, and with the removal of expensive tooling requirements, customised, finished products from headphones to trainer-insoles are increasingly being shipped out of 3D Printing Bureaus like ours.
Why do consumer goods companies use 3D Printing?
- Concept ideas can be brought to life, without the costs of tooling and labour, for testing, validation and pitching.
- Iterations can be tested, tweaked and repeated as required, with no additional fixed costs, and parts can be turned around in days, for easier and more comprehensive product development.
- Accelerated and streamlined R&D process ensures quicker time to market.
- Rapid, affordable, and accurate prototyping enables companies to create the most functional, durable, and aesthetic products for optimum user experience (UX).
- Customised and bespoke ‘one-off’ products can be manufactured with no fixed overheads and in turn, much more profitable margins.
- The additive nature of the process opens new realms of design freedom and creativity to be explored.
Why choose LPE for your consumer goods requirements?
- Over thirty years of experience in consumer goods prototyping and production
- Wide range of materials, including plastics, metals, and rubbers, which can deliver both functional and visually accurate parts
- Secondary processes including painting, finishing, polishing and assembly available if required
- ISO9001 certified – we are committed to the highest quality standards
- Cutting edge engineering solutions
- COCs, first article inspection reports, in house testing and full material traceability available on request
- Flexible project lead times allowing customers to accelerate campaign success
- Next-day delivery across the UK & Ireland
- Highly experienced team of engineers and modelmakers to help you unlock the full potential of 3D Printing
- NDAs guaranteeing protection of intellectual property
LPE Recommended Materials & Processes for Consumer Goods
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Stereolithography (SLA) - Watershed
Applications include: Highly finished/polished plastic parts, Exhibition/show models
Watershed is a water clear, water resistant material which can be finished, painted and polished to high levels, giving the appearance of final moulded components. Tough and ABS like functionality means parts can be handled and assessed as end product parts, giving a great sense of how a part will be.
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Vacuum Casting - PX225
Applications include: Excellent moulding simulated parts, photo shoots
PX225 is an opalescent thermoplastic like resin similar to ABS/PC, so is an ideal solution to produce functional components for both prototype and end use requirements. The material can be pigmented to match exactly brand / corporate colours and can even be used to replace injection moulding for low volume requirements.
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Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) - Nylon (PA 2200)
Applications include: Part testing, low volume production parts
Laser sintered parts made from PA2200 have excellent material properties with high strength and rigidity, good chemical resistance and finishing possibilities. It is a tough, functional material with high temperature resistance, designed for strong end user parts. Due to its excellent mechanical properties, users can test products early to ascertain issues and even substitute injection moulding for simplified, high-spec 3D printing.
Interested in finding out more about the materials we offer?