Price quotation methodology for stereolithography parts based on STL model

Rapid prototyping (RP) service bureaus or providers are always facing the urgent price quotation requirements for RP parts from customers in today's competition market. This paper presents two effective methodologies of the price quotation for stereolithography (SL) parts based on STL model. A model of price quotation for the RP part was presented. Furthermore, the calculation of manufacturing cost for the SL system was also discussed in detail. Two quoting approaches which include the rough quotation based on weight and precise quotation based on build-time were proposed to determine the price quotation for SL parts. A new algorithm of predicting build-time of SL parts was put forward to implement the precise quotation. The algorithm incorporates the geometrical features drawn from the part's STL model and the value of support structures determined by a statistical method. The proposed quotation methods have been employed to develop a web-based automated quotation system that can provide instant and accurate price quotation for SL parts to support effectively the RP&M service. The application results of a number of actual cases show that the methods can satisfy the engineering requirements of price quotation at the early stage of product development. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.