Prototyping technologies meet automotive demands

Arrk PDG UK is now regarded as the "centre of excellence" in automotive lens work and builds parts not only for customers in the UK but also for most major accounts across Europe.

Arrk globally has been pioneering developments within the rapid prototyping industry for over 50 years, and in particular its capability in vacuum castings for the prototype market.

However it is in automotive prototype lens work that has brought Arrk PDG in Gloucester its most significant success.

Its unrivalled precision and quality, often on extremely complex and challenging parts has earned Arrk PDG a world class reputation among clients and other Arrk sites globally for producing exceptional, class leading components.

Arrk PDG UK is regarded as the "centre of excellence" in automotive lens work and now builds parts not only for customers in the UK but also for most major accounts across Europe.

Arrk PDG has built up this reputation as a result of years of research and development, working closely with leading resin and technology manufacturers to test and develop materials and technologies before offering them to customers.

It is only after they meet its own high standards of performance that Arrk accepts them for its specialist processes.

By trialling most new materials and processes that hit the market place Arrk is well placed to determine which will offer its clients a "competitive edge/advantage" in the field of prototype, testing and development work.

Arrk PDG's global overview, combined with its own in-house research, ensures it is at the cutting edge in this field and remains a pioneer for pushing the boundaries of prototype capabilities and their performance.

The world of product development is as varied as it is diverse in terms of what each individual designer is looking to achieve from a prototype part at any given point in time.

In some circumstances it can be the need to get "first cut" prototype parts on the table quickly that is critical, in other instances it can be to prove functionality, where as at other times it is the need to produce prototypes that most closely represent the finished production part that is the determining factor.

It is precisely this understanding that helps Arrk Product Development Group to remain the market leader in the production of prototype parts.

It is in the field of polyurethane vacuum castings that the most significant advances have been made in producing high quality prototypes that most closely represent final production quality parts.

For many years stereolithography (SLA) has been the natural starting point for the tools from which polyurethane castings are made.

In many instances this is still the case, as SLA represents the quickest and cheapest method of producing the master model required to create a tool, often ensuring first-off polyurethane parts within a week of commencing a project.

With 12 stereolithography machines based at the Gloucester factory, Arrk has the largest SLA facility in Europe at its disposal.

This flexibility allows it to select the type of machine, resin and build style most suitable to the customer's part geometry, without compromising design intent simply through machine availability.

Increasingly, however, customers are demanding higher quality more aesthetic parts that are far closer to the quality they can expect when their parts reach full production.

It is under these circumstances that Arrk is able to draw on its extensive in house resources to create rapid prototype polyurethane parts that standard techniques alone cannot achieve.

Within the UK, Arrk Product Development Group has 30 full time dedicated model makers, employing a wide range of sophisticated model making techniques enabling it to include details from customers' existing products within new designs.

These can range from particular design features to company logos or areas of optical functionality; all can be "lifted" from current product and incorporated into the creation of a new master pattern.

Similarly, the extensive CNC facilities available within Arrk worldwide, allow the company to create master patterns CNC machined directly from acrylic, ABS or aluminium.

This not only creates a near perfect master as a starting point, but the durability of the master allows for additional tools to be taken from the same part for larger batch quantities, or design modifications to be incorporated without the need to completely start again.

As mentioned earlier, in order to meet the market demand for prototype parts that are able to simulate ever closer the more expensive moulding techniques seen in today's aesthetic and ergonomic designs, Arrk has developed significant advances in its multiple shot tooling techniques.

These principles have also been extended to encompass the multiple shot colour tinted lenses used extensively in automotive lighting applications.

Arrk now works with some of Europe's leading automotive lens businesses to develop their new designs.

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