Product development is a vibrant, growing and very necessary function in the South African economy. With growth occuring in a variety of fields, from agriculture to aerospace, the development of new products is always a necessary and present activity that will continue to sustain such growth and innovation. To facilitate the rapid development of new products, a family of technologies have emerged known typically as Rapid Prototyping or Layer Manufacturing. More recently their capabilities have increased to not only include the making of prototypes, but also final end-use components, hence the name Rapid Manufacturing.

The Rapid Product Development Association of South Africa (RAPDASA) was founded in November 2000 at the first RAPDASA conference, with the aim of serving the industry (both service providers and product developers) with a number objectives:

• To promote the study, research and implementation of accelerated product development based on concurrent engineering approaches.
• To further the exchange of knowledge and experience in concurrent product development among students and practitioners from industry, R&D institutions and training institutions through publications, conferences, workshops and symposia.
• To uphold and ensure a high standard of professional conduct among the members of the Association, and
• To promote collaboration and concurrent engineering among individuals and enterprises involved in product development, nationally, as well as internationally.

These objectives are achieved through:

• Organising an annual conference, to which overseas speakers are regularly invited.
• Organising winter and/or summer schools, workshops and seminars through its specialist groups.
• Giving awards for excellence at various levels.