What is Moldmaking Technology and why is it essential for manufacturing?
Moldmaking technology probably isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when you think about manufacturing, but it’s been a crucial cog in the history of making objects. Countless parts of automobiles and other machines are possible due to moldmaking tech.
Plastic injection molds, popular during the 18th and 19th centuries, are used to produce large quantities of precision plastic parts at a low cost. As one of manufacturers’ most significant production investments, molds must be made with extreme precision to ensure that parts are mass-produced with repeatable accuracy and efficiency.
This perfection is also required in the creation of tools used to manufacture, hold, or test products during production. An essential investment for a manufacturing company, quality precision molds are built to last.
Molds used to be much more difficult to make, and take much more time. At the peak of the industrial revolution, toolmakers had to do everything by hand. Unsurprisingly, tool forming, heat treating, sharpening, metal machining, and by-hand design drilling required a significant time commitment.
CNC Machining
Due to the unique nature of anything handmade, conformity was an issue, and no two molds were exactly alike. That all changed as moldmaking technology took advantage of computer numerical control (CNC) milling machines. These offer so many kinds of tools for cutting that the simple term “mold making” no longer covers the full gamut of current capabilities. Today’s moldmaking technology allows items to have more accuracy and range than ever before. More precise than manual machining, the process is infinitely repeatable. Due the precision that’s possible with CNC machining, the process can produce complex shapes that would be impossible with manual machining. Plus, you can often program computers to work overnight, resulting in around-the-clock production.
Speaking of computers, today’s mold makers need to be proficient with them. In order to mold the parts they require, they must be able to read blueprints and program computers. Accuracy is crucial, and the tools need to be cut and ground with high precision. In addition, mold makers have to be able to know the speed, direction, and feed of materials to cut the molds to exact specifications.
According to MoldMaking Technology magazine, design and engineering are essential to building better and more cost-effective molds with shorter lead times. A variety of software is available to help you overcome the daily challenges faced with data, quoting, designing, and programming. Some of these include computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and data management software. CAM generates machining programs corresponding to part designs; CAD creates detailed engineering of 3D models and/or 2D drawings.
Topology Optimization
A newer type of moldmaking technology software is topology optimization, which develops novel shapes and concept designs. As Gardner Business Media correspondent Barbara Schulz put it in a recent blog, “Since the software allows for consistency and traceability of all process steps, the designer can implement changes directly on topology-optimized parts directly, saving the usual reverse-modeling step”.
Another technology that will inevitably become prevalent in mold making — although it hasn’t yet been fully embraced — is additive manufacturing. “We all know it’s coming,” says Francine Petrucci, president of B A Die Mold Inc., in a recent blog. Adding that her company is very curious about the new technology and has been researching it for some time, she explains, “We have been waiting for the right project and the right customer — not an easy score.”
To see the latest advancements in moldmaking technology in person, visit the premier manufacturing event, SOUTHTEC in Greenville, South Carolina.