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The cost of building production moulds is of great concern for every mould buyer, but one should take care that the tool quality and performance will not be adversely affected by this.
Looking at the tool design, by using 3-plate cold runners instead of hotrunner technology, further savings on tool costs can be achieved. However, they ultimately cost more due to the reduction of process control and performance and because they use up a lot of resin, which will have a direct impact on piece part price. In addition, one must deal with the bad appearance of gate points on direct gated components. Depending on the component weight, a savings of up to 80% on resin and better process control and performance can be achieved by introducing hotrunner technology to mass production moulds, especially for higher volume products. Always, wear from the use of low quality steel and not using protective coatings will lead to shorter tool life. What is needed is a cost competitive but good quality mould that suits the requirements of the product and the local mass production environment. Having the right tool specification in place with tool design guidelines will help achieve that balance. Let AST Technology help you find the right balance in your next mould project.
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DFM – The Right Way Concerns over visual part quality and failure of a snap fit feature for an automatically assembled component led a customer to look into Design for Manufacture (DFM). The snap fit integrated into the existing component was originally quite thin and suffered from breakage problems at a natural weld line caused by flow of the material in the mould. The snap fit was re-designed to change its construction so that a thicker snap fit was incorporated that had no issues with strength or performance. This eliminated the functional issues with the part.
Additionally, it was possible to highlight opportunities to create a part with a more even wall thickness that removed visible sink marks and flow lines and permitted a 5% reduction in material. This then led to a further reduction in part cost as well as improvement in the reliability of the component.
Learn more about AST’s DFM services at www.ast-tech.de.
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Mould qualification is an area where it is essential to follow a structured approach in developing the mould and the process from initial trials through to production. Failing to do this will result in lengthy tool development times and ongoing production problems that effect profits and customer satisfaction. MoldPro takes a step-by-step method of managing the mould from initial dry cycling tests, to basic testing of the mould during first trials, to full optimisation of all process conditions, to DoE if required to resolve any component performance issues and the development of production processing tolerances for flexible manufacturing. By using this approach it has been possible to more effectively share results during the validation phase and more quickly resolve any quality issues. Mould validation times are typically reduced by at least 30% and production efficiency is increased by having a more robust and reliable performance and stable quality. To find out more about MoldPro and qualifying mould tools, email AST at contact@ast-tech.de.
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Low tool prices can often lead to problems in production by not taking care of simple tool design
