Project budgets are generally tight and deadlines are even tighter, so why would you invest the time and money needed to anufacture a prototype tool? Why not go straight from your 3D printed prototype to production tooling?
Here are seven reasons:
Test
Allow you test the part in the production material
Trial
Allow you to trial several different materials
Understand
Allows you to understand how the part will work when manufactured in the production process
Test builds and lager scale
Allows you to test builds and larger scale testing
Low volume production
Allows you to do low volume production runs and test the market
Satisfy
Enables you to satisfy initial demand while production tooling is being made
Cost effective
Most important it saves you a great deal in costs and time. If anything is wrong you can fix it before investing time and money in production tooling.

