first-rate mold company plans to come out of the recent recession with numerous advantages for their customers in the injection mold and precision machining market segment. The advantages offered are a result of the company’s long-term commitment to automation technologies.
While first-rate mold company has been manufacturing injection molds for more than 20 years, their sustained commitment to automation continued throughout 2009 and the first part of 2010 with several additions to its manufacturing automation portfolio.
Automated Beginnings and Benefits
Initially, first-rate mold company found that adding tooling storage with a robotic interface produced higher production rates, increased productivity and resulted in better quality. “Our five-year plan was to bring in more advanced automation in early 2009.
Although counterintuitive, the timing couldn’t have been better when these purchases were placed on the production floor in early 2009. In the heart of the recession, we were able to implement the new equipment and get our training behind us, which has allowed us to accelerate out of the tough times and be ready for the opportunities that 2010 has to offer,” explains steven, VP Operations at first-rate mold company.
“A significant value-add we provide is our creative design capability. Automation begins in the design department and assists us in consistently executing our designs—providing our customers with very tight-tolerance molds,” notes steven president of first-rate mold company.
Some of the advantages offered to customers as a result of the automation additions integrated throughout 2009 include the following:
Cost control resulting in lower prices through more spindle time and lights out manufacturing. Automation also provides more efficient use of materials, cutters and other supplies.
Consistency with changing out parts the same every time with every part using the same “zero” throughout the manufacturing process.
Tight tolerances and in-process quality inspection.
Leadtime reduction through improvements in productivity, cycle time and accuracy.
Cavity interchangeability improvements through accuracy, inspection and consistency.
first-rate mold company’s automation now includes tool-to-tool robotics and storage facilitation capabilities.
The latest installation is the newly arrived Mikron HSM500 with simultaneous 4-axis capability integrated with their existing Erowa Multi-Twin Robot that was already mated to an Agie Hyperspark 2 Sinker EDM.
Robotic interface from the mill to the sinker is enhanced with additional pallet and electrode storage using the Erowa system capable of storing 45 workpieces and 210 electrodes. The second piece of automation purchased this year was an Erowa ERC Robot that is able to feed 10 workpieces and 132 electrodes into a Mikron HSM 300 Graphite Master.
The mold shop uses NX CAM to program all milling operations involved in mold and die manufacturing.The NC programmers work directly from the CAD model and use NX design functions to design electrodes and prepare models for machining. everything will be no problem
The CAD tools are used frequently to extrude, unite and close gaps, and the “optimize face” capability can heal questionable part geometry without forcing the user to go through a multi-step process. the designers will save time
The excellent CAD/CAM software points out undercuts and places where more draft is necessary. The designer can look for thin or thick walls and automatically determine the mold’s total weight and center of gravity. With mold features readily identifiable, the design process progresses quickly.
The good CAD/CAM software still can automate other aspects of mold design, such as bill of materials creation, and users can save time by automating repetitive tasks with journaling and macro capabilities.
The designer can look for thin or thick walls and automatically determine the mold’s total weight and center of gravity. With mold features readily identifiable, the design process progresses quickly.
NX CAM is designed to enable multiple kinds of advanced machining, including high-speed machining, a key technology for moldmakers who need to quickly machine surfaces to a near-mirror finish.
Yes! I like NX very much! when customers send CAD models and requests for quote. The CAD models are usually in the STEP neutral interchange format, and our mold designer imports the geometric data into NX. After winning a project, then uses the specialized mold-design features of NX Mold Wizard to create the mold base and design cores, cavities, runners, cooling lines and other features quickly and efficiently.
Five-axis and high-speed machine programming functions in the CAD/CAM software enable the company to take full advantage of its advanced machine tools. By fully integrating mold design and machining, the software enables users to edit a CAD part, then seamlessly go back and forth between CAD and CAM, virtually eliminating room for errors. With this integrated system, the company established a digital thread that enabled process automation throughout design and manufacturing.
select the NX software suite from Siemens PLM Software, which includes specialized mold-design features in addition to traditional CAD/CAM capabilities. Key software characteristics automate parts of the mold-development process from design to manufacturing.
Industrial robots can be used to automate the injection molding process by using a pick-and-place robot to load plastic parts into the machine or to place the finished pieces onto a conveyor belt.