Innovate easier and faster with RS Components

RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the global distributor for engineers, will be showcasing its integrated rapid prototyping ecosystem at this year’s Computex Taipei from 2-6 June. Located in Hall 1, 1st Floor, Booth A0338, RS will feature its full suite of products, tools and software that supports design engineers to innovate and create new product concepts easier and faster.

Newer and more affordable 3D printing technologies emerging today are having a dramatic impact on how engineers can rapidly produce prototypes and realise mechanical design concepts. Over the five day event, RS will showcase its wide range of 3D printing solutions including Envision TEC 3D printer, Ultimaker 2 3D printer, RepRapPro2 3D printer, Beeverycreative 3D printer, Fuel 3D Scanify 3D scanner, and RS brand IdeaWerk. The new RS IdeaWerk 3D printer is easy to use, very affordable and targets a wide range of users including electronics and mechanical engineers involved in design, prototyping and research and development, as well as enthusiasts and those in education.

Live demonstrations of RS’ award-winning DesignSpark PCB 7.0 PCB layout tool and DesignSpark Mechanical 2.0 3D modelling software, will highlight how the company has removed the bottleneck of having to use specialist PCB layout or CAD tools for product design. An important element of the demonstrations is the ability of DesignSpark Mechanical to produce STL-output format, which allows the direct export of designs to 3D printers further enabling engineers to rapid prototype.

Both software are offered free by RS to help engineers rapidly design new product concepts and can be downloaded from DesignSpark, the company’s online engineering design community. In Taiwan, user activation of DesignSpark PCB and DesignSpark Mechanical has seen double-digit growth from April 2014 to March 2015 and DesignSpark membership increased 36% during the same period.

The popularity of RS engineering resources is given a further boost with the launch of a new DesignSpark book in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Initiated and written by independent training group, CAVEDU in Taiwan, the book titled “3D and PCB Design: A DesignSpark software Guide”, is a comprehensive guide to DesignSpark tools from RS. The book is published by Fullon Publishing House (Fulin Wenhua) and is sold at major bookstores in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

“The industry is undergoing a transformation in the approach to product design. The Internet has enabled easy access of technology and information. Every engineer, maker or enthusiast should have access to the resources and support needed to innovate and support their creativity,” said Alex Tsui, country manager of Greater China and Korea, RS Components.

He continued, “Our role as a global distributor is also morphing. RS is no longer merely a vendor of electronic and engineering components, but increasingly a resource for tools, know-how and complete systems technologies. The highly accessible DesignSpark resources complement the breadth of the RS product offer, forming a unique rapid prototyping environment to help engineers react quickly to market demands by realizing multiple concepts faster, reduce time-to-market and empower engineers across entire departments.”

In addition to live demonstrations and product displays, RS will also be giving away a RS IdeaWerk 3D printer, one set of RepRapPro 3D printers and one 3D Systems 3D scanner in a lucky draw.

About RS Components

RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers. With operations in 32 countries, we offer more than 500,000 products through the internet, catalogues and at trade counters to over one million customers, shipping around 44,000 parcels a day. Our products, sourced from 2,500 leading suppliers, include electronic components, electrical, automation and control, and test and measurement equipment, and engineering tools and consumables.

Electrocomponents is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the last financial year ended 31 March 2015 had revenues of £1.27bn.

For more information, please visit the website at www.rs-online.com.

Further information is available via these links:

Twitter: @RSElectronics; @alliedelec; @designsparkRS

RS Components on Linkedin
http://www.linkedin.com/company/rs-components

Relevant Links:

Electrocomponents plc
www.electrocomponents.com

RS Components
www.rs-online.com

DesignSpark
http://www.designspark.com