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 [...]
Every molder and OEM has the same goal: to optimize production of quality parts and get their products to market on time. There are several strategies out there that will help to accomplish this goal, and many times the molder or OEM looks to his or her mold builder to lay the foundation for a [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
A problem facing manufacturers is CAD/CAM data exchange. Design data useful for manufacturing is often lost as the solid model data moves from CAD to CAM. Data incompatibility results in more repair work and lost time. […]
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. […]