Mold makers know that inefficiencies in the mold building process can cause poor lead-times and inflated overhead. Pressure to decrease bench work and lead-times, while making molds that produce superior parts, is pushing many mold makers to investigate more effective methods and new technology.
Whether it is a digital camera or an enterprise-class laser copier, hundreds of high-precision plastic mold injected parts go into every Canon product. Canon Virginia Inc. was originally established for the production of Canon products, but has recently begun providing mold-making services for other businesses requiring high-precision molds.
PDC, of Scottsdale, Arizona, began as a pure engineering service company and relied on outside partners for prototype work. Not satisfied with the quality of prototypes they were receiving, the company started a small in-house tool room to make their own. This evolved into an in-house molding operation, and today the prototype mold making and prototype molding represent the lion’s share of PDC’s business.
Univac expands mold offerings
In today’s highly competitive market it is crucial to underbid the competition and yet deliver a good part at low cost. A key factor in determining the bid price is the machining time. The more quickly the part can be machined, the lower the bid price can be, and the more chance the manufacturer has of winning the job and turning a profit. It is now possible to increase productivity without increasing cost by using a new milling technique—tool engagement milling.