Rapid Harvest

Deere & Co., the Moline, IL, agricultural equipment giant, has been using rapid prototyping (RP) for about a decade, and is now finishing a wider examination of its entire product development process. Deere is seeking to cut development time by as much as 50 percent, and is looking at how the different prototyping techniques can help that along. Using solid modeling software, as Deere did, is critical for engineering teams wishing to use RP technology. Deere has expended considerable effort recently developing a new product-delivery process (PDP). Such processes can be difficult to hammer out and then follow faithfully, especially in today’s work environment of lean staffs and greater profit pressure. Although RP materials have improved significantly since the first stereolithography machine came into use a little over 10 years ago, none of the current materials to date have the durability required for use on John Deere products sold to customers.