Today, there are many innovations in cutting tool technology. Whether a seasoned pro or novice, these technologies are new for everyone. New edge preps, coatings, cutting materials, digital capabilities and application methods are differentiators that help shops remain competitive if their moldmakers know how to use them properly. While moldmakers who are entering the field [...]
China has emerged as a leading manufacturing hub of the world. From electronic goods to plastic products- the country has it all. It should come as no surprise that more and more companies are now sourcing products from China. When it comes to variety, quality, and pricing, very few countries can compete with China. Whether [...]
Mold builders can increase the quality of a finished product and reduce manufacturing costs by minimizing irregularities or imbalances in the cooling process with improved thermal performance of injection and blow molds. The limitations of traditional cooling channel geometries and their placement are often not optimized for rapid heat extraction. Enter conformal cooling, where intricate [...]
Technology in moldmaking has grown substantially over the years, and so has our knowledge of the full process of Design for Manufacturing (DFM). We’ve realized that it is important not only to consider the detail of designing for efficient molding, but to also consider how tooling, molding and tool maintenance should connect. DFM and experience [...]
From the assembly line chaos of the 1936 Charlie Chaplin classic Modern Times and the robot-driven science fiction movies of the 1950s and beyond, automation (and its inherent robot-driven workforce) has always struck fear in the hearts and minds of organized labor. Since Ford Motor Vice President D.S. Harder first coined the phrase in 1946, [...]
With the proportion of free-form surfaces increasing and the precision requirements for mold processing rising, manufacturing molds of high quality and securing the stability and quality during production has become vital. 3D scanning technologies are a game changer in these processes. Mold Design with 3D Scanning and Reverse Engineering Reverse engineering aims to reproduce an [...]
There are thousands of designers who design injection molded parts but there is an elite group within this large community who can actually design parts for injection molders. Injection molded product design evolves through many phases of development before all the parts are ultimately documented and released to a molder for production. This last step [...]
During the coronavirus pandemic, the mold manufacturing industry stepped up, answered the call and assisted with ramping up production of personal protective equipment (PPE) in record lead times with utmost quality. Technology played a part, of course, but it was the people who got the job done. This time of crisis demanded a creative approach [...]
Nowhere is the connection between production and creativity more evident than in reverse engineering, which challenges manufacturers to find new ways to recreate or improve upon existing products instead of starting from square one. Data Collection and System Interoperability Increasingly sophisticated engineering and production tools have propelled the development of equally complex products that are [...]
Every injection mold build comes with some challenges that need solutions. The size of those challenges depends on the project and might be tied to the part design itself, the mold makers capabilities, the kind of press the mold will run on, the expectations that production fulfillment is putting on a mold, or a 1000 [...]