An injection mold manufacturer has seen a recent resurgence of toolmaking in its native Irish Republic, and says state-of-the-art software helped them through the recession by giving them a competitive edge to work in high-end markets.

“As pattern cutters we need to be very good at generating CNC code time after time, and VISI is exceptional at doing that job for us.”

Brendan Feely, Director

Alpha Precision, based at Tubbercurry in County Sligo, operates an almost full suite of VISI modules, which Director Brendan Feely describes as a seamless communication tool.

“Several years ago Ireland experienced an exodus of toolmaking contracts as work went overseas, particularly to China. At the same time, the specialist VISI CAD/CAM software for the mold and die industry was rapidly developing and adding new features. Even companies which weren’t computer literate were investing in the technology to survive. The software had a huge effect on the toolmaking industry, giving us a competitive advantage to weather the storm.”

He says it’s now “high end all the way” for Alpha Precision – high end staff building high end mold tools with high end software. “The technology promotes a more automated process, and means our staff need a different skillset nowadays, to use VISI to its full potential.”

To explain fully how he feels VISI is the seamless communication tool that acts as the glue in the complete toolmaking environment, he likens his toolroom to a football team. “We need our goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and strikers. We have a variety of different machines doing different jobs, so our operators have different skills. The software’s applied on the back of the machining, and because there are several disciplines, such as design, milling, wire and spark eroding, the software fits naturally into its given area. The operator in that area is just trained on the one particular VISI module.”

Continuing the “team” analogy, he says the toolroom is like a group of people from different countries with none of them speaking a language other than their own. “One language is design, with others including flow analysis, milling, wire eroding, spark erosion. VISI is the common language that unites all processes, ensuring everything moves fluently through the toolroom from one discipline to another.”

Operating with 12 employees, the company produces an average of around 40 tools a year, ranging in size from 100mm x 100mm x 100mm, up to 600mm x 1-metre, mainly for the automotive, medical, packaging and electronics industry sectors.

Two of their current projects: Producing a number of high cavitation tools for one of their many medical customers; and a contract for two-shot plastic injection tools, which involves an overmold. “Although two-shot production adds another element by involving a second material and process, VISI keeps it simple and efficient.”

With VISI programs running their high speed milling on Röder, and F3 and F5 Makino machining centers, the challenges posed by the medical industry requiring very fine micro levels, are readily overcome. “We use high-end 42,000 rpm spindle speed for very small detail finishing, and cut our electrodes on the Makino F3, with high definition being done on the F5. And we can also machine a cavity in just one night, that would otherwize take a week. Using VISI Machining we can quickly produce a highly polished medical part with fine detail, a milled finish, and a split line within micron accuracy.”

VISI also powers Alpha Precision’s EDM Charmilles machines for spark eroding, and Mitsubishi wire eroders. He says parts of the tool will have been cut on each of the machines, and when it’s ready for shipping it is a very fine-micron, accurately controlled finished tool for, typically, the medical or automotive industry.

Having invested in many VISI modules including Modelling, Analysis, Flow, Mould, Progress, the wire cutting and electrode systems, along with 2D Milling, 3D Milling and High Speed Milling, the software is used at every stage of their process, beginning with providing an accurate quotation for the customer. “We use VISI’s analytical tools to check the drafts and all the different features we’ll need to build into the mold, such as the core and side pieces.

“When the order’s been placed, we work closely with our customer’s molders on the design concept, including flow analysis and tool layout. Once the 2D design is broken down and we have the tooling in full 3D we really begin to see the huge power of VISI, which controls everything from design, through milling to wiring in one environment. Because we’re not going across translators there’s a perfect understanding within the technology, taking it right through every stage.”

Combining VISI’s Compass technology with its 2D and 3D milling capability, all milling for hard prepping and high speed finishing is handled quickly and accurately, which he says is vital to their operation. “We make a lot of one-off custom components for each mold, meaning we only run a program once. As pattern cutters we need to be very good at generating CNC code time after time, and VISI is exceptional at doing that job for us.”

Although injection mold tools form Alpha Precision’s core business, they also provide a blow molding and forming tool service, and have experience in specialised press tooling. But Brendan Feely concludes by saying they are currently embarking on an exciting new journey, working closely with one of their major customers on injection rubber.

About the Company

Name: Alpha Precision

Business: Injection mould manufacturer

Web: www.alphaprecision.ie

Benefits Achieved

• Gave a competitive edge to work in high-end markets
• More automated process
• Controls everything in one environment
• All milling for hard prepping and high speed finishing is handled quickly and accurately

Comments

“Using VISI Machining we can quickly produce a highly polished medical part with fine detail, a milled finish, and a split line within micron accuracy”

Brendan Feely, Director

One of the early adopters to introduce simultaneous 5-axis machining into its region, chose the VISI integrated CAD/CAM system from Vero Software, to drive its CNC machine tools.

“VISI is fast and intuitive, even on corrections and modifications that often have to be applied to the customer’s original CAD model for manufacturing purposes.”

 

Alessandro Corà

 

Realizing that an efficient CAD/CAM system was a prerequisite to successfully compete and achieve excellent results, mechanical workshop Siet invested in VISI when they set up business in 2007.

“We perform virtual tests – not carried out by the real machine – and we may find that the more effective strategy is not the one we originally assumed.”

Simine Nencioni

Anyone who voted in the recent UK General Election and last year’s American Presidential election is likely to have slotted their paper into ballot boxes manufactured for the leading Government election solutions provider, Pakflatt, by Irish injection molding specialists Crossen Engineering LTD.

“Every mold we make is designed in VISI, and manufactured on our range of 3-axis and 5-axis Hurco CNC milling machines.”

Peter Crossen, Business Development Manager

Using the VISI suite of CAD/CAM applications from Vero Software significantly reduces the overall costs of each project for a German toolmaker, and makes it easier to implement innovative design ideas.

Based in Velbert, Volker Gehlen Werkzeugbau GmbH have a 30 year history of providing innovative solutions for stamping and forming industries. They are going from strength to strength, with the acquisition of a stamped component manufacturing company, acquiring new machines, and the addition of new products to their range.

“VISI makes it significantly easier for us to implement ideas; and as tool optimisations can be made much quicker, this significantly reduces the overall cost of projects for our clients.”

Volker Gehlen, Director

Managing Director Volker Gehlen says a vital factor in their success has been upgrading all CAD/CAM operations to VISI’s integrated 3D tool making solution. It was the software’s consistent operating philosophy for CAD and CAM that initially made it a front-runner when they were looking to change. “We made the final decision after a trial installation and training from VISI’s German reseller Mecadat AG. VISI proved to be so easy to operate, and can be used so intuitively that it was giving us a high level of efficiency after only a few days.”

The company’s turnkey solutions to customers throughout Europe include technological advice, prototype construction, and tried and tested full suites of tools. And he says VISI software helps them stay at the top of their game. “We’ve invested heavily in CAD/CAM and use VISI exclusively to design our tools. We can’t imagine doing it any other way now.”

Three designers each have a workstation equipped with VISI Modelling, and the stamping die module VISI Progress for strip layout and 3D tool construction.  Lukas Gehlen, who is in charge of design and production, says: “The hybrid modelling combines a Parasolid kernel with surface modelling, giving us a faster and more flexible workflow that can handle any geometry type.”

Two additional workstations feature VISI Modelling and 3D Machining to provide NC programs for the company’s four Hurco and DMU CNC milling machine. A more recent software addition is the VISI PEPS-Wire license to support the generation of NC programs for three state-of-the-art Sodick wire eroders – one of which is the AQ 1200 L, able to process metal more than four-and-a-half feet wide, weighing up to four tons.

Other software modules include VISI Compass for manufacturing automation, which uses preset processing definitions to create automatic NC programs for feature based drilling, milling and wire erosion geometries. Finally, the shop floor runs VISI Viewer for checking CAD models in a paperless environment to verify where each component fits.

However, he says they offer much more than just high quality tools. “We support our customers from the original idea right through to the finished product. And VISI plays a key role at the start of that process, by helping us carry out a feasibility study and 3D evaluation to confirm in the early stages that the parts will function correctly.”

VISI is also used to edit 3D CAD data supplied by customers, which is then transferred to their ProJet HD3500 3D printer. This produces fully functioning, fit for purpose, acrylate components up to 300mm, hardened by UV light, for prototypes and pre-series parts. “We can print entire assemblies, including moving parts, with a maximum size deviation of 0.2 per cent, at a thickness of 10 µ. If a pre-series is ordered, we 3D print first, so the customer can test it in terms of size, form and function. Then we supply the first 50 metal parts, so the client is able to fully test the form and fit during the development stage without having to pay for costly prototype tools and modifications.”

Their traditional tool making and stamped part production has also been strengthened with the purchase of a 200-ton press. The high-tech machine has a servo drive giving a flexible adaptation of the ram speed and acceleration, producing 60 per cent more parts in the same time, while still saving power. “We can test and optimize the newly developed tools under realistic production conditions, providing the customer with a proven tool that can be used immediately.”

Lukas Gehlen concludes: “Overall, we use VISI to design and produce our tools much more efficiently, and we are able to react with more flexibly to customer requirements.” He says being able to seamlessly import data into the VISI core modeller means there are no problems with customers’ files, which saves a tremendous amount of time compared to how long projects used to take. “VISI makes it significantly easier for us to implement ideas; and as tool optimisations can be made much quicker, this significantly reduces the overall cost of projects for our clients.”

About the Company

Name: Volker Gehlen Werkzeugbau GmbH

Web: www.volkergehlen.de

Benefits Achieved

• • Single product solution to develop products faster, and innovate more efficiently.
  • VISI Modelling used to edit customer CAD data, which is then transferred to the ProJet HD3500 3D printer.
  • VISI Machining and VISI PEPS-Wire used to drive the HURCO, DMU and Sodick CNC machines.
  • Improved tool optimization, significantly reducing project costs for clients.

Comments

“VISI makes it significantly easier for us to implement ideas; and as tool optimisations can be made much quicker, this significantly reduces the overall cost of projects for our clients.”

Volker Gehlen, Managing Director

Preparing for Industry 4.0 was so important to an injection mold manufacturer that they tasked CAD/CAM provider Vero Software with optimizing their I.T. system to cut the time taken on non-value-added CAD tasks by 35 per cent.

“After using this system for two years we achieved a 35 per cent reduction in time spent on nonproductive CAD tasks.”

Gilles Pernoud, CEO

Based at Oyonnax in France, George Pernoud is a family-run business with around 100 employees, producing molds for the automotive, domestic appliance and construction industries. CEO Gilles Pernoud says Vero’s involvement has meant the approach to digitizing their design and manufacturing aspects ensured end-to-end digital processing, and represents a global company project rather than just an I.T. scheme.

The company has worked with Vero products for 17 years. “We rely on innovation and productivity, and started digitizing our systems in 2000. At that time we were looking for a 25 per cent reduction in the price of our tooling equipment to remain competitive.”

Their most recent digital investment involved replacing the CAD system to cut time taken on tasks such as data recording, file transfer and translating, alongside the creation of technical documentation.

“This led to Vero Software optimizing I.T. and integrating the VISI CAD solution for 3D tool design. We reorganised our processes to digitize each phase, and, above all, link them by eliminating any discontinuity in the digital workflow. This enabled us to remain competitive, and sustain design and technical engineering in France, while continuing to sell our molds at the same time.”

The VISI product suite is just one of four Vero Software packages currently in use by the company, as Gilles Pernoud explains: “After receiving data from our clients we use WorkXplore to analyse the geometry and rapidly supply a tooling feasibility report to the prime contractor. Then we move on to the actual project phase, using the VISI applications to design the tool and manage associated documentation.”

Using the WorkPLAN CAPE module allows Pernoud to link data both from the workshop and the CAD platform.

“Once the design is complete we recover all relevant CAD data, whether this has been generated internally, from our engineering office in India, or from the subcontractors.” And he says they have other procedures in place for recovering files originating in other CAD systems.

“Finally, we generate CNC programs for our machines with WorkNC using a native data transfer from VISI.”

The whole process means data can be accessed from any of the company’s sites. “This includes Slovakia, where we have 25 staff providing after-sales service for molds sold in Eastern Europe. They can access all project data from our headquarters in France…and the same process applies to our subsidiary in the United States.”

Gilles Pernoud says not only did Vero help implement the system, they also provided security access and database duplication, ensuring operational continuity in the case of network failures.

“After using this system for two years we achieved a 35 per cent reduction in time spent on non-productive CAD tasks. And we believe we can do even better by integrating the metrology branch, following Vero’s acquisition by the Hexagon Group.”

Finally, he says incorporating VISI into the I.T. system has enhanced the company’s reputation as it enables their prime contractors to access up-to-date technical elements of projects on their FTP site.

Vero Software’s Sales Manager for France, Antonio Parisse, says: “We’ve established a fully collaborative relationship with the Pernoud company. We consolidated everything for efficient communication between the engineering department and the workshop, and later with production control allowing us to adapt each of the different software solutions to meet their specific requirements and ensure full interoperability.”

About the Company

Name: Georges Pernoud

Business: Family-run business with around 100 employees, producing molds for the automotive, domestic appliance and construction industries.

Web: www.pernoud.com

Benefits Achieved

• Cuts time taken on tasks.
• Can now link data through all phases.
• Can remain competitive.
• Can access data from any of the company’s sites.
• 35% reduction in time spent on non-productive CAD tasks.

Comments

“Incorporating VISI into the I.T. system has enhanced the company’s reputation”.

Gilles Pernoud, CEO

VISI assists Atlantic Tool & Die with the design of complex progressive dies for the automotive industry

At Atlantic Tool & Die, the proof, and the success of the company, is in its processes.

“One thing that we really hang our hats on as a company is the process of how our dies are designed and built,” says Jason Andras, Design Manager at Atlantic Tool and Die (ATD) for the past decade. “We really invest in how we process our tools.”

While products and dies manufactured by ATD read like a veritable laundry list, the company primarily serves the automotive sector as a direct-to-OEM, tier-one, and tier-two supplier.

Other products ATD manufactures are used to make home appliances, off-road vehicles, heavy trucks, and commercial-power and green-energy solutions, among others.

In addition to tool and die building, the company offers stamping, welding, assembly, and tube-manufacturing services.

“Our customers are relatively diverse, so we do have some variety, but it’s primarily automotive, and primarily repeat customers,” Andras says.

To fulfill its wide range of design and production demands, ATD employs a crew of 650 associates stationed around the globe. The company’s host of facilities include four stamping and assembly facilities in Ohio; production facilities in Texas and Mexico; a die-building and production facility in China; a design and engineering outfit in Costa Rica; and a sales office in Tokyo, Japan.

While the number of dies built annually by the company is in the hundreds, it produces an average number of stamped parts in the millions per year.

In the early 2000s, ATD purchased the VISI CAD/CAM solution, by Vero Software, to fulfill its complex range of tool and die needs. The company receives CNC software support from Tooling Software Technology (TST), LLC, the Michigan-based master distributor for VISI in the United States and Canada.

“Regarding surfacing and modeling, I have yet to meet anyone who can do what our designers can do with VISI. The ease with which we can create complex surfaces in VISI is critical for us.”

Jason Andras, design manager

“The support is excellent,” Andras says of the service provided by TST. “They are quick to respond to any issues that arize, and the follow-through is better than any software support I’ve ever experienced.  They will call and e-mail until you verify with them that your issue is resolved.”

Having found that its former solution was not keeping pace with an evolving manufacturing landscape, ATD switched to VISI because the solution could handle increasingly challenging design demands.

“As time went on and stamping got more complex, there needed to be a way to handle it,” says Andras, who works in the company’s headquarters in Strongsville, Ohio, but collaborates closely with its nine-member design team in Costa Rica.

“The software we use has to be complex enough to do what it needs to do, but simple enough that people who aren’t engineers are able to visualize what they need to see. We can see how quickly our employees can pick VISI up as compared to the software that we have tried to use in the past.”

Most notable, Andras says, “ATD’s former software was limited in terms of simulation and in the creation of surfaces.”

“Our simulation of what we were proving out in terms of our form sequences was a challenge,” he says. “Regarding surfacing and modeling, I have yet to meet anyone who can do what our designers can do with VISI. The ease with which we can create complex surfaces in VISI is critical for us.”

VISI delivers a dynamic, flexible structure within which designers are able to manipulate solids, surfaces, wireframes, or a combination of all three. VISI surfacing technology offers a varied set of tools and methods tailored to assist in an organic, free-form creation of geometry.

Surface modeling functions within VISI include ruled, lofted, drive, sweep, n-sided patch, drape, tangent, draft, revolved, and piped surfaces. Paired with the software’s advanced editing capability, this varied set of modeling commands simplifies the process of healing imported geometry and constructed complicated 3D data.

As ATD primarily builds progressive dies, the company takes advantage of VISI’s numerous strip-layout tools to quickly answer questions posed by customers.

“I spent a lot of time on the phone this morning because a customer expected to have a strip layout within a couple of hours,” Andras says. “Our customers demand to have answers quickly, in terms of cost and design. We noticed that VISI stays up to date with the features we need, and that has made it easier to fulfill those demands.”

Specifically, Andras notes that VISI helps ATD to quickly and easily create the company’s strip layouts.

Beginning with the developed component blank, VISI makes it simple to rapidly generate an efficient 3D strip layout with its automatic blank alignment, rotation, and optimization tools.

The software also offers an automatic 2D strip plan, including fold lines, making both punch design and layout more effective.

Designed to deliver flexibility and customization for the designer, VISI offers a range of automatic and semi-automatic capabilities that help with the generation of shearing punches. Once created, those punches may be dynamically moved to different stages in the strip with a simple drag-and-drop process.

Likewize, the positioning of 3D folding stages onto the strip is seamless, and the strip can just as easily accommodate reductions and increases in the number of stages. To test for the validity and performance of the design, the 3D strip can be simulated at any point in the design process.

Another tool used frequently by Andras and his team is the VISI assembly manager, which “works well to help organize the design,” he says.

The assembly manager allows the designer to rapidly build a solid based upon the layout of the required bolster plates, along with pillar and brush arrangements. By providing access to the parameters of each plate, VISI ensures that the modification of the tool is fast and accurate. The tool assembly also includes critical data required for the operation of the press tool, including press stroke, strip stroke, punch height, and tool-stroke data.

Andras also takes advantage of VISI’s collision detection capabilities, which alert that designer that the virtual design will run into very real trouble once it hits the shop floor.

“It’s important to be able to see, when we design dies, that there may be a problem that we haven’t anticipated.”

About the Company

Name: Atlantic Tool & Die

Business: Tool and die building, as well as stamping, welding, assembly, and tube-manufacturing services

Website: atlantictool.com

Benefits Achieved

• Greater ease in creating complex surfaces
• Increased accuracy and confidence due to simulation capabilities
• Ability to quickly create top-notch strip layouts

Comments

“Regarding surfacing and modeling, I have yet to meet anyone who can do what our designers can do with VISI. The ease with which we can create complex surfaces in VISI is critical for us.”

Jason Andras, design manager

VISI Flow Is Vital For Formaplex Mold Tool Integrity

Specialist plastic flow analysis software performs a significant role for a leading UK tool and moldings manufacturer which successfully produces over 400 pre-proven tools each year…. and its costs were recovered within the first month.

Formaplex design and manufacture aluminum and steel injection mold tools to the automotive, motorsport and aerospace industries, and produce low volume finished molded components such as brackets and fixings, through to bumper assemblies and instrument 1     panels. They also supply composite tooling and components, carry out specialist machining and finishing projects, component painting, flocking and assembly.

“Within the first month of using VISI Flow to analyse the correct filling pattern and maximize our process parameters, we saved the cost of the software.”

Adrian Chapman, Technical Director

The company has over 40 CNC machines – both 3 and 5-axis – with a range of machining envelopes up to 8m x 6.2m x 2m to suit a wide variety of design projects, along with 11 injection mold presses, from 55 tonnes to 3,500 tonnes.

They specialize in providing full design support and advice for tools, including plastic flow analysis, logistics project management through production, measurement, tool testing, design, and manufacture. Technical Director Adrian Chapman says VISI Flow from Vero Software is vital in ensuring the long-lasting integrity of their mold tools – its injection simulation achieves cost effective and reliable designs, and optimum molding conditions such as well-balanced runners with symmetrical filling patterns.

“Aluminum molds, in particular, can be damaged if filled from the wrong position, in the wrong sequence, or by excessive pressure with inadequate clamp tonnage. It’s all too easy to blow the mold and damage the parting faces. But VISI Flow shows us all potential manufacturing issues such as welding lines, air traps and the best gate location, before the mold is trialled.

“We can quickly analyse where the pressure is going to be too high, whether the material will freeze too quickly, if we need to have more than one gate and whether they’re in the right place. Once we’ve analysed and understood exactly what we need to do we can advize the customer on any necessary changes such as part thickness modification, changing the material or re-engineering.”

Initial studies of molded features and draft check analysis tell him all he needs to know to complete his initial Design for Manufacturability (DFM) work. He then carries out initial fill studies where VISI provides the same level of control over injecting molten polymer into the mold cavity as is available on the molding machine. The simulation provides the ability to forecast and visualize how a component will be filled by the plastic melt front, making it possible to identify any potential aesthetic issues. VISI Flow provides a number of analytical tools that allow the investigation of molding variables such as pressure, temperature, shear stress, frozen skin, fibre orientation, clamping force and many others.

“With VISI I can quickly analyse the customer CAD data to verify molding feasibility by checking for draft conditions and undercut features; then VISI Flow shows the capability of successfully molding the required plastic part.

“We use the part splitting tools to create parting faces, enabling us to quickly design the main core and cavity block. Once we have those finalised, we model the sliders, lifters and any other small components – whether they’re automatic or manual – and incorporate them into the mold tool.

“With VISI we can simulate the mold kinematics and correct any issues before we start cutting expensive metal. It gives a very clear indication of all areas where problems could arize. We can give our customers full and accurate information regarding the development of their mold tools. Without it, our dynamic approach and customer service would definitely be hindered.”

He says once the mold tool is complete it undergoes a maturation procedure – a series of process trials that monitor and review the continuous improvement of the product until the component is ultimately accepted

The company operates out of 150,000 square feet across three ‘state of the art’ sites in Hampshire, and is expanding with a further 120,000 square feet purpose built facility in 2016. Specialist Engineering is a crucial division of the business which supports the Metrology department, where molded components are accurately inspected and measured with the latest CMM technology. Formaplex design and manufacture bespoke fixtures for the inspection process, under the guidance of Specialist Engineering Manager Grant Keates.

And VISI plays a key role in this process, too, ensuring absolute accuracy and repeatable tolerances. He says they design the fixture by importing the native CAD model into VISI and creating the fixture around the critical points of the component. “The CAD data can come from our customers in a range of formats, but VISI handles it all seamlessly, which is a great advantage for our speed and efficiency of design.”

His next step is to send the finished CAD data of the fixture to the shop floor where VISI Machining’s dedicated high speed milling techniques and built-in smoothing algorithms create intelligent 3 and 5-axis toolpaths for their Doosan and Kondia CNC machines.

“We don’t have any real challenges or issues with designing and manufacturing our jigs and fixtures, because VISI helps us achieve everything we need to.

He says the Specialist Engineering Division embraces new technology with a high level of investment year on year, and is now incorporating sheet metal fabrication, encompassing welding of a range of steels through to exotic metals such as titanium.

Summing up the company’s overall use of VISI, Adrian Chapman says: “It provides us with key information at the design stage and it supports the complete mold process, which ultimately ensures total end product satisfaction.

“A conservative estimate is that within the first month of using VISI Flow to analyse the correct filling pattern and maximize our process parameters, we saved the cost of the software by avoiding downtime, repairs, wasted toolmaking and setting time, and reduced material costs.”

About the Company

Name: Formaplex Limited

Web: www.formaplex.com

Benefits Achieved

• Single software solution for DFM analysis, 3D tool design, plastic flow simulation and CNC manufacturing.
• Cost effective and reliable designs with optimum molding conditions such as well-balanced runners with symmetrical filling patterns.
• Dedicated high speed milling techniques and built-in smoothing algorithms create intelligent 3 and 5-axis CNC toolpaths for their Doosan and Kondia milling machines.

Comments

“VISI provides us with key information at the design stage and it supports the complete mold process, which ultimately ensures total end product satisfaction. Within the first month of using VISI Flow to analyse the correct filling pattern and maximize our process parameters, we saved the cost of the software.”

Adrian Chapman, Technical Director

Upstate Simulations masters the art and science of mold design with VISI Flow

An ounce of prevention may be worth a pound of cure, but when the art and science of injection molding is at play, that pound of cure can very quickly become a ton.

If you ask Rich Bryan, owner of Upstate Simulations of Canastota, New York, laying the vital groundwork for a successful production launch before the tooling hits the shop floor is guaranteed to prevent financial loss.

“Many companies go into the tooling build and launch their product into production despite any problems that may arize, and that just ends up taking longer,” says Bryan, a long-time mold-simulation professional who branched out on his own. “Mo16ld simulation can take care of exposing not only part design issues, but many production issues down the line, as well.”

Production challenges arize, Bryan explains, when designers and manufacturers fail to recognize the complicated array of variables that affect the performance of the tool and, ultimately, the quality of the customer’s final product.

“Design to final product is typically a 10-month span,” he says. “When you get to production and have a problem, you may lose six to 10 weeks. You’re supposed to launch the project next month, and you’re stuck. There are many rules to the game and most desired designs violate those rules simply because it comes down to the intended functionality of the new product. The PPAP date, or the finish line, never moves.”

Materials, shrink rates, action, cooling and the longevity of the project are just a few of the variables that mold designers must consider. Molds have also become increasingly complex as materials, equipment, and CNC software have evolved.

“The surgical precision of taking the data from VISI and putting it into a way that your customer can understand it is very helpful — from the designers, manufacturing engineers, all the way to the technician dialing in the process.”

Rich Bryan, Owner

“It can cost tens of thousands of dollars changing a mou   ld to correct a quality issue, not to mention the cost per hour sampling and adjusting process variables on the shop floor. Don’t forget about time, either; we cannot buy time,” Bryan says. “More than likely, the root cause of your issue would have been identified and solved utilizing plastic flow simulation technology. Whether it is a design problem or a process variable change, why have your production staff shut down production, change over, just to experiment, sample, and attempt to solve an issue after the fact? You’re wasting that precious production time, and using up your precious capacity. You are only tightening up your process window when you process around an issue, and will only create headaches for the production team.  The bottom line is you’re losing time and money.”

To help Upstate Simulations identify and improve the designs of new and existing products, it utilizes the VISI Flow mold-simulation solution, by Vero Software. The analytical tools within VISI Flow assist Bryan in detecting potential manufacturing snafus — such as welding lines, air traps, pressure drops, and undesirable gate location — and computes the maximum possible time frame for corrective measures.

“VISI has capabilities that can assist you in each step of the design, and process settings, during launch,” he says. “It offers establishing the optimal settings for the desired quality expectations of your product.”

Offering a big-picture view of the numerous variables at play in the molding process, VISI delivers in-depth analysis that predicts the behavior of each element under specified conditions.

For instance, how fast or slow should you be injecting the plastic into your part?  Rheology studies can be used to establish optimal flow rates for your resin.  All this guess work is taken out with flow simulation. The optimal fill time and viscosity are calculated within the software.

If the mold has too few vents, trapped air will create burn marks. Unsightly weld lines are identified to allow the team to determine if the aesthetics of the part is acceptable.  Its VISI’s job to identify the potential for mishaps before the mold makes it to the shop floor.

“Using VISI Flow, you can predict where the trapped air will be,” Bryan says. “If you have a complex design, there are many different areas where you could have trapped air. Analyzing the simulation before you go to series tooling will eliminate having to go back and add additional vents, or insert areas of the mold. This, of course, means that you have to spend the time and money to change the mold, reassemble and test it again, which all adds up to wasted time and money.”

With integrated computer-aided design, manufacturing, and engineering analysis capabilities, VISI runs data exchange between the design and the analysis of the manufacturing environment in which that design will be placed. In so doing, the software pinpoints hazardous design flaws, and suggests better choices.

“I can run flow simulation under certain molding conditions, such as water temperature, fill times, and pressures. I can use different type of resin to see how it performs,” Bryan says. “Every mold is unique, and has been designed to achieve the optimal quality expectations for the life of the product. Utilizing flow simulation is necessary, as it will simulate actual production conditions by taking every factor into consideration.”

In some instances, Bryan is able to correct a problem by simply adjusting the process variables, negating the need for the mold to be redesigned and retested.

“With VISI, you can go into the process parameters, make changes, and establish what the optimal process settings should be,” he says. “All of this can be completed off the production floor so that you utilize production time for production. This is where we earn our money and why you started your business. Are you a sample facility, or production facility?”

Mold design is an increasingly tricky prospect when considering the variables at play, and how each affects the others. In addition to its pre and post production analysis tools, VISI analyzes the project’s runner and cooling systems, as well as its filling phase, shape phase, and thermal phase.

Filling simulation delivers a visualization of how a component will be filled by the plastic melt front, which helps in identifying cavity balance, and other issues. This also allows the operator to analyze variables such as pressure, temperature, shear stress frozen skin, fiber orientation, clamping force, and more.

“If I change one variable, I can observe immediately the ramification of the change, and adjust settings as needed. When you change one variable, it can adversely affect your process. The key is that you can make changes in the software and see the results right in front of you.”

The shape phase helps the designer to see and measure the final product after processing the values for the filling, holding and freezing molding phases.

Thermal analysis delivers consideration of all possible thermal effects related to heat exchange among plastic and blocks, as well as hot and cold runners, and mold inserts with conductive materials.

As Upstate Simulations performs mold analysis for a wide range of customers and purposes, Bryan finds the customizable nature of VISI Flow simulation an asset.

“There are different levels of simulation that you can do with VISI,” Bryan says. “As a simulator, you need to tailor your flow to the audience, to who will need to see and understand it. The surgical precision of taking the data from VISI and putting it into a way that your customer can understand it is very helpful, from the designers, manufacturing engineers, all the way to the technician dialing in the process. Everything that you do is fed into a report that you can show the customer.”

When it came to choosing a flow simulation software, Bryan chose VISI Flow because of its strong support capabilities and versatility, though additional factors included its extensive materials database and its ease of use as compared to other brands that he’d reviewed.

“What really made me choose VISI is the support. It’s guaranteed by the team at TST (Tooling Software Technology) Software that support will be provided within 24 hours — and they are always willing to help if you need them. The team at TST typically will address your concern and help you within a few hours.”

As a mold simulator, it is Upstate Simulations’ job to identify where the issue lies, and to present the best possible solution. Their ability to come to the rescue quickly is linked to its expertize and choice of software.

“The key is that I can make changes in the software and see the results right in front of me,” Bryan says. “All of the guesswork is taken out if you use VISI Flow simulation.”

About the Company

Name: Upstate Simulations

Business: Mold simulation services

Website: upstatesimulations.com

Benefits Achieved

• Accurate prediction of mold performance before it hits the shop floor
• Extensive materials database aids in accurate simulation
• Management of every variable of the molding process

Comments

“The surgical precision of taking the data from VISI and putting it into a way that your customer can understand it is very helpful — from the designers, manufacturing engineers, all the way to the technician dialing in the process.”

Rich Bryan, Owner

VISI plays a vital role at each stage, beginning with research. We work alongside our clients every day in product development and research projects.

VISI is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading CAD/CAM software solutions. It offers a unique combination of fully integrated surface and solid modelling, 3D tool design, and comprehensive 2D, 3D and 5-axis machining strategies with dedicated high speed milling routines.

An Italian plastic mould-maker uses a portfolio of VISI CAD/CAM software modules to ensure it stays at the forefront of product development and research.

Onni-Stamp, based in Villafranca d’Asti in the Province of Asti, is a classic example of an Italian family business, but characterised by intense research and development activity, which, according to founder Giorgio Goria, sets it apart from other mould manufacturers.

Set up in 1980, the company combines the experience of expert craftsmanship with state-of-the-art technologies. Onni-Stamp incorporates fully integrated project management into its core business of creating moulds for plastic materials. The owner’s son, Alessio Goria, says the company works alongside the client from the very first stages of the project through co-creation and co-design activities, with the goal of producing products that are easier to manufacture, more cost-effective and of higher quality.
Once product design is complete, Onni-Stamp uses VISI to assist in finding the most appropriate technical or economic production solutions according to quality requirements, size of production batches and economic investment.

“We’ve worked with VISI’s Italian reseller, Vero Solutions, for many years. Their technical and commercial support goes beyond the use of the software, extending to a genuine collaboration in solving particular problems, ranging from managing product deformation to managing the coding of mould components at CAD level,” he says. “For example, we’ve worked with Vero Solutions in the past to create a fibreglass component for the automotive sector, which was characterised by great deformation. The skill and experience of the Vero Solutions team allowed us to create the part, using a specific VISI module.”
Onni-Stamp’s technical department has six VISI stations with VISI Modelling, VISI Flow, VISI Machining, and VISI Mould modules, as well as viewers in the workshop. “VISI plays a vital role at each stage, beginning with research. We work alongside our clients every day in product development and research projects,” explains Alessio Goria. “For example, moulds have been created with channels shaped to guarantee greater cost effectiveness and energy efficiency in moulding with dynamic conditioning, and optimising the models and parameters used to simulate the process through the use of pressure and temperature sensors inside the mould.”

To extend their knowledge and perspective, they have worked on European and regional research projects with universities, research centres and companies regarding polymer processing.

One of the most important was Thermonano, which studied thermallyconducting polymer nanocomposites for making heat exchangers. “We tested the technologies most suited to converting thermally-conducting nanocomposites”, he says. “These are materials of great interest for applications where thermal conductivity, resistance to high temperatures and good mechanical resistance at operating temperature are required at the same time.”

About The Company:
Name: Onni-Stamp S.r.l.
Business: Design & manufacturer of
plastic injection mould tools.
Web: www.onnistamp.com

Benefits Achieved:

• Single software solution for geometry analysis, 3D tool design, plastic flow simulation and CNC manufacturing.
• Quality, highly skilled technical and commercial support from VISI’s Italian reseller, Vero Solutions.
• VISI Flow used to predict part failue, achieve cost effective and reliable mould designs and the optimum moulding conditions.

Comments:
The technical and commercial support goes beyond the use of the software, extending to a genuine collaboration in solving particular problems, ranging from managing product deformation to managing the coding of mould components at CAD level.

Alessio Goria

The materials tested had presented certain critical issues and essential differences in transformation with respect to traditional polymers. Onni-Stamp was tasked with simulating and optimising the process using VISI Flow, a unique plastic flow prediction tool, ideal for pre and post production analysis and concurrent engineering of injection moulded components.

A couple of other research projects where VISI played a vital role for them:

• The Microcell regional research project, studying microcellular moulding and its peculiarities, analysing the solutions that could be used to obtain an attractive product. “We analysed the effects of microcellular moulding, in terms of process, deformation and the aesthetic aspect, combining it with dynamic conditioning of the mould. Through optimising variations in the parameters of the process and the design of product and mould, VISI obtained particularly interesting results, such as important reductions in clamping force as well as deformation with microcellular moulding alone. There were also important aesthetic improvements by combining microcellular moulding with dynamic conditioning of the mould.”

• The Drapò regional research project developed high-efficiency integrated auxiliary systems for energy recovery and reducing consumption in motor vehicles. In particular, Onni-Stamp dealt with the industrialisation and transformation of a component made of polymer composites.

As an essential part of their everyday tasks, once the mould has been created, the company then works alongside the client in the first stages of production, providing support for pre-production moulding or for checking product dimensions. With increasing frequency, they also handle the subsequent maintenance, and any modifications to the mould.

Over time, they have developed a complete range of services, all of which can be performed autonomously. “We’re are now seeking to expand our services in two directions: first by creating non-conventional moulds that employ advanced moulding technologies, able to guarantee better end results compared to traditional technologies; and secondly by creating equipment used by clients during the production stage that permits beneficial synergies if well interfaced with the mould.”
Operating in a range of markets including automotive, technical items, healthcare and toys, Onni-Stamp has recently invested in new machinery including a high precision Röders 5-axis machining centre, high-speed graphite machining centre, and an EDM machine cell.

Referring to the latest software release, the company list a number of new and enhanced functionality in VISI’s 2016 release as particularly valuable for optimising the workflow process, and reducing mould design and production times:

• New options in modelling which allow surface extensions to be rapidly generated for managing sheet parts, and parting lines for plastic moulds.

• Improved performance on integration with solids in reading external formats, including reading and simplifying the management of B.O.M list data.

• The ability to work directly on a solid using 2D, 3+2 or 5-axis processing, which saves time and money, along with calculating and immediately verifying machining angles on 5-axis machine tools.