The past decade has seen the CAD/CAM industry explode when it comes to its efficiency, sophistication and speed. Data and analysis in a recently released CAD worldwide report for 2008 to 2012 from Jon Peddie Research* reveals continued solid growth potential and reviews hardware advances, […]
Moldmakers typically work as subcontractors to Tier 1 suppliers. Aerospace OEMs, like their automotive counterparts, want to receive modules for assembly from a few suppliers rather than manufacture an aircraft from the ground up with components from hundreds of suppliers. […]
Finding good employees has always been the key to success in any business. Taking care of employees and their families is one of the best ways to ensure that a solid employee stays with a company. In essence, each employee must feel they are wanted, appreciated, needed and essential for the success of your company. [...]
There are a variety of medical grade resins on the market today, including polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyester, polyethylene, polystyrene, thermal plastics Alsatians, polyurethane and liquid silicone rubber. […]
How frustrating is it when you start up a mold, apply all Scientific Molding principles to your brand-new, all-electric molding machine, and finally get parts approved by the QC department only to have them come back a few hours later and say that some parts are flashing and others are short? […]
One of the important developments of 7000 series aluminum has been consistent through thickness strength across sections of material in excess of 8 inches. 7000 series alloys are characterized by the primary alloying element, zinc. Other elements including magnesium and copper in combination with zinc produce the highest strength family of aluminum alloys. [...]
As machine tools and mold designs become more complex, part program verification using CNC machine simulation becomes an essential tool for ensuring that the moldmaker’s NC programs machine the mold correctly the first time. Skipping the verification step creates costly production delays, which cause the machine tool to wait idle while the NC program errors [...]
Justifying new technology is a multi-step process that requires a thorough assessment of a number of factors at work in your manufacturing operation. […]
Many companies try to justify the purchase of capital equipment based on a 2- to 3-year payback. That forces the purchase of less expensive or dedicated machines at the outset and ignores the impact of new parts and new work beyond that—in 5 to 6 years. It may cost more today to account for the [...]
One of these problems is a shortage of knowledgeable experienced manufacturing engineers who can actually generate the code for the CNC machines in the most optimized manner to maximize profitability. This is due to an aging workforce and a lack of experienced engineers. The logical solution is to capture the current knowledge and to automate [...]