Multi-tasking is one technology that has been around for a while, but has only recently become the hot topic as more shops discover their uses. In fact, many companies who previously never thought about getting a multi-task machine have done so or are thinking about doing it for the gains in productivity they offer. [...]
Design for Manufacturability (DFM) is the general art of creating new designs in such a way that they are easy and inexpensive to manufacture. Anyone who has ever designed a product to be injection molded likely learned along the way that small changes to the design could significantly impact the cost, time frame and overall [...]
Today’s moldmakers are finding great opportunity to modernize and speed the process of mold (and product) verification, while at the same time boosting their ability to collaborate globally with their partners and suppliers. One increasingly popular solution comes from combining model-based inspection software and portable inspection devices. […]
The automotive market offers sizeable opportunities for thermoformed parts, and by extension thermoform tooling, but only if processors and toolmakers embrace high-tech mold designs and forming techniques. […]
Mold designers and builders try to use the typical methods of minimizing wear—such as using differential metals; using low-wear coatings; specifying high metal hardness thus equating high hardness with low wear; designing shutoffs with high angles thus avoiding locking shutoff angles; and, many more concepts that their experience leads them to believe works best in [...]
The best solution to the problem of movement causing stress was very simple. If component A is forced against component B thus putting both components under stress, remove the stress. Removing the stress can be accomplished by a revolutionary principle and that is to incorporate designs that allow components to move in the mold.Specifically, if [...]
Design for manufacturability is not a new concept, nor is the use of digital solutions for the many steps in mold design. Yet it remains a daunting task to rapidly produce cost-effective manufacturing molds for complex organically-shaped products. […]
1. Intricate details involved in part manufacture. The amount of effort and engineering (mechanical, manufacturing, industrial, chemical, metallurgy/materials, polymer, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and even electrical)—regardless of required part tolerance—that goes into each and every mold to produce a quality, aesthetically pleasing, flash-free injection molded component. […]
The word automation means different things to different people, but when related to CAD/CAM there is a more common view. It means reducing menu clicks for frequent tasks. In a production environment, a frequent task could be something as simple as programming a certain type of groove on a turned profile. Saving these menu selections [...]
Medical parts have different requirements than other molded articles, and as a result tooling engineers over the years have pioneered new mold materials, coatings and mold maintenance practices. […]