Approximately 30 years ago, the jewelry industry underwent a revolutionary change in production from producing unique items only to mass production as a result of the introduction of a new casting technology based on the lostwax technique. In 1994 Meiko Inc., utilizing the know-how of Stereo Lithography developed by Industrial Research Center of Yamanashi Prefecture, manufactured a machine for jewelry production on a commercial basis, which marked the very first application of Rapid Prototyping in the jewelry industry. This new system was expected to effect another revolutionary change in production after the introduction of the casting technology in terms of labor-cost saving, shortening of time for product development, new design development, etc., but it failed to become popular because: 1. The gaps on the surface of the model did not meet the requirement of the jewelry industry that demands complex configurations. 2. Compared with western countries and those in the South East Asia, Japan was much behind in terms of computer education partly because of its unfamiliarity with the keyboard, thus, the number of CAD operators who input data was unarguably insufficient. 3. It was difficult to cast the ultraviolet-cured resin directly as a dissolving prototype. There existed such major problems, but furthermore: 4. The price of the machine and the replacement cost of the laser were so expensive that it was difficult to justify the introduction of the machine financially. 5. The timing was bad as the jewelry industry then was suffering from slow business. These problems existed among many as well. Under these circumstances, however, some companies brought in the system and challenged the difficulties. N company in Kohfu aggressively
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