A NEW rapid prototyping service is promising to slash the cost of innovation for East Lancashire manufacturers.

The service is being provided by Blackburn College's Centre for Manufacturing, offering the design and production of accurate working models within a very short timescale.

Project manager Dave Melling said rapid prototyping could save companies thousands of pounds in development costs and speed up the process of innovation.

The initiative is being run from the Centre for European and Commercial Operations at the Saturn Centre in Blackburn.

Working together with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Blackburn College was successful in securing money from the Single Regeneration Fund for a £30,000 state-of-the-art prototyping machine.

Working with sophisticated computer-aided design software, the equipment produces highly-accurate prototypes in ABS plastic.

Mr Melling said the equipment could help to transform the way innovative companies developed new products. "Most small to medium-sized firms simply cannot afford to buy the equipment in their own right," he said.

"The costs of using commercial services can also be prohibitive which means companies are forced to shy away from innovation.

"Thanks to SRB funding, we can delivery a highly-flexible service at a low cost."

Mr Melling said one of the first companies to take advantage of the service was Mellor Electrics, based at the Shadsworth Business Park, Blackburn.

"They came to see us with a rough drawing of a case for a gearbox for a vending machine company in Denmark," he said. "From the first visit on a Friday lunchtime, we produced a prototype for the following Monday - all for less than £50."

The rapid prototyping machine is also helping to train a new generation of engineers. The service is also available to schools to help technology training by producing working models from the students' own CAD designs