What's New and What Works in Mold Manufacturing

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Data Management Software
MMT Chats: Digitalizing Mold Lifecycle and Process Performance
MMT catches up with Editorial Advisory Board member Bob VanCoillie senior manager of Kenvue’s mold management center of excellence outside of Philadelphia to discuss mold management via tooling digitalization and OEM expectations and opportunities.

Data Management Software
ERP Empowers Mold Builder to Increase Speed, Efficiency, Accuracy
Highly integrated but easy-to-use ERP system helps Delta Mold Inc. increase unattended hours, uptime, productive labor hours and improve mold delivery times.

Basics
Mold Design Review: The Complete Checklist
Gerardo (Jerry) Miranda III, former global tooling manager for Oakley sunglasses, reshares his complete mold design checklist, an essential part of the product time and cost-to-market process.

FAQ
How to Customize an Interoperable Software Solution for Your Moldmaking Process
A connected software solution streamlines the moldmaking process by providing a unified source of design data, enhancing efficiency and reducing errors, with five key steps benefiting from this integration.

Data Management Software
How to Manage a CAD Library
Learn five ways to organize your mold design information.

Design & Mfg. Software
Design, Management Software Resources for Mold, Die Applications
As technology advances, so too do the options available to efficiently design molds or manage the data involved in their progress and production. Here’s a roundup of some of those solutions.
Build See All

Aluminum
How to Machine Aluminum Molds to Enhance Efficiency and Quality
Ways to optimize the machining process to fully leverage the benefits of an aluminum mold.

Tips
How to Manage a CAD Library
Learn five ways to organize your mold design information.

FAQ
How to Implement Five-Axis Mold Machining for Higher Productivity, Versatility
Understanding the basics of five-axis capabilities justifies the investment, but exploring all the multi-axis machine benefits and approaches enhances the return on investment.

Additive Manufacturing
8 Ways the Plastics Industry is Using 3D Printing
Plastics processors are finding applications for 3D printing around the plant and across the supply chain. Here are 8 examples to look for at NPE 2024.

Additive Manufacturing
Mold Materials, 3D Printing Technologies for Next-Gen Moldmaking
As moldmaking advances, so too do the materials and processes involved in their efficient production, including these latest mold materials and 3D printing technologies.

Automation
Real-Time Production Monitoring as Automation
As an injection molder, Windmill Plastics sought an economical production monitoring system that could help it keep tabs on its shop floor. It’s now selling the “very focused” digital supervisor it created, automating many formerly manual tasks.
Maintain See All

Tips
Reasons to Use Fiber Lasers for Mold Cleaning
Fiber lasers offer a simplicity, speed, control and portability, minimizing mold cleaning risks.

FAQ
Mold Maintenance Continues to Matter: Enhanced Training Program in a New Facility
I attended a MoldTrax mold maintenance workshop in 2019 and shared my experiences, and despite changes in ownership, the workshop's remarkable value endures, as discussed in a recent Q&A with the current leadership.

Maintenance & Repair
How to Implement a Remote Validation Process
A review of the setup and use of a remote mold validation kit.

Maintenance & Repair
How to Maintain Heaters, Thermocouples, Valve Gates and Controls
An examination of real-world problems and solutions involving hot runner system maintenance.

Conformal Cooling
How to Use Simulation to Achieve a High-Gloss Surface Finish
Combining simulation, conformal cooling, and a rapid heat and cooling process can predict and produce the required surface finish for high-gloss plastic parts.

Maintenance & Repair
What You Should Know About Injection Mold Safety Straps
Every mold should have one in order to be safe and OSHA compliant.
Manage See All

Packaging
MMT Chats: Digitalizing Mold Lifecycle and Process Performance
MMT catches up with Editorial Advisory Board member Bob VanCoillie senior manager of Kenvue’s mold management center of excellence outside of Philadelphia to discuss mold management via tooling digitalization and OEM expectations and opportunities.

Basics
Mold Design Review: The Complete Checklist
Gerardo (Jerry) Miranda III, former global tooling manager for Oakley sunglasses, reshares his complete mold design checklist, an essential part of the product time and cost-to-market process.

Workforce Development
Aligning Your People Strategy with Your Business
Editorial Advisory Board member Marion Wells, founder of Human Asset Management discusses the why and how of developing a talent plan.

Workforce Development
2024 AMBA Conference Taught Me How to Elevate, Engage and Evolve
I returned home with a wealth of inspiration and instructions, including the importance of leaning into discomfort, having difficult discussions, delegating more, letting others shine and understanding the difference between a promise and a goal.

Business Strategy
The Intersection of Robotics, Hands-on Training in Mold Design Curriculum
A Q&A with Nicholas Vitelli, MoldMaking Technology EAB member and engineering lecturer at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

Safety
Mold Maintenance Continues to Matter: Enhanced Training Program in a New Facility
I attended a MoldTrax mold maintenance workshop in 2019 and shared my experiences, and despite changes in ownership, the workshop's remarkable value endures, as discussed in a recent Q&A with the current leadership.
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Webinars See All

On Demand
Using Hot Runner Balance in the Mold Qualification Process
System balance plays an important role in the optimization of an injection molding process and can be the limiting factor in the production of high-quality parts from every cavity. In this webinar, Husky will present the process fundamentals of system and hot runner balance and its impact on mold qualification. They will look at the factors that enable well-designed, balanced hot runners and the causes of unbalanced systems. Attendees will learn about the factors that influence short shot balance, how to measure system balance and how to set system balance expectations based on specific applications. Agenda: Process fundamentals of system and hot runner balance as well as impact on mold qualification How to assess the factors to balance short shot factors How to measure system balance How to set up balance expectations

On Demand
Design for Maintenance: Five Tips to Extend Tool Life and Simplify Maintenance
Want to extend tool life? You need a design for maintenance approach. Incorporating design for maintenance into your tooling process can help you reduce running maintenance costs, enhance part quality and reduce the risk of human errors. In this webinar, you'll learn five essential tips for getting started with design for maintenance. Plus, discover how Canon Virginia, Inc.'s mold maintenance planning process and tooling solutions can add value to your business. Agenda: Understand business and technical values of design for maintenance and maintenance planning Learn five tips for design for maintenance you can put into practice today Adopt Canon Virginia, Inc.'s mold maintenance planning process and tooling solutions

On Demand
Unlocking the Potential of Polycarbonate: Best Practices for Successful Injection Molding
In today's manufacturing landscape, it's common to be tasked with doing more with less. You rely on a combination of factors to mold smaller parts with greater precision to satisfy growing demands and higher production levels — all within a smaller space. In this context, polycarbonate has become a popular material for modern products and injection molding applications. Manufacturers and designers increasingly select polycarbonate for its high impact resistance, stiffness, optical clarity, light weight and dimensional stability. Because polycarbonate is an engineering resin, it requires more care and attention in processing than commodity resins. How are leading manufacturers leveraging polycarbonate and skill base to meet their production and business objectives? Agenda: The properties that make polycarbonate an attractive choice for material selection Considerations for part design Best practices for processing equipment and functionality — from pellet to final part How to troubleshoot defects Case studies and examples of success using polycarbonate

On Demand
Embracing Additive Manufacturing for Conformal Cooling
Injection molding is one of the most widely used manufacturing methods due to its ability to produce high-quality parts at incredibly high volumes. However, the productivity of these processes is often limited by the cooling methods that removes heat from the part after molding. Advancements in additive manufacturing (AM) techniques have opened the door for new approaches suitable for production molding. Modern conformal cooling approaches achieved through these AM techniques offer the potential for breakthrough solutions. This webinar will explore the cutting-edge advancements in these technologies that enable the design and production of intricately-tailored cooling channels within injection molding tooling. During this session, SyBridge Technologies will discuss its approach to design, simulate and test novel cooling structures to improve injection molding tooling performance from cycle time to warp.

On Demand
Optimizing Thermal Management in the Molding Process
DME will highlight the factors that can reduce thermal transfer over time and cause the mold temperature to stray beyond its established control limits—making it difficult to control the molding process. Recommendations are shared on how to best maintain the thermal transfer coefficient through the implementation of specific predictive maintenance measures.

On Demand
Cost-Effective Metal Part Production: Metal 3D Printing Cost Comparison
It has a reputation for being expensive, but it that a true apples-to-apples comparison? And how does the equation change if metal 3D printing is being evaluated as a complementary (instead of competitive) method? Join FreeFORM Technologies and Desktop Metal for this webinar exploring how metal 3D printing compares to traditional manufacturing methods through a detailed comparison of metal injection molding and metal binder jetting. With both technologies in-house, FreeFORM is positioned to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of traditional versus additive manufacturing methods. Together, both companies will walk through cost modeling to discover where the breakeven is on volume and cost that makes metal 3D printing cost-effective. Agenda: Learn where binder jetting fits and how it supports the product lifecycle curve as production ramps and declines throughout a product lifecycle Explore the factors that impact cost breakdowns (such as material and tooling) and provide examples to compare costing models at various production volumes of each method Compare the design considerations, process steps and end-part material properties

5 Jun 2024 New & Upcoming
Demystifying Flow Analysis: Advancing Plastic Injection with Smart Manufacturing Register Now
Videos See All

Inspection & Measurement
Zoom-Enabled Optical 3D Scanner Made Flexible for Inspecting Complex Molds
Hexagon delivers the SmartScan VR800 structured light scanner, providing the flexibility for 3D part inspection via a software-adjustable variable resolution functionality.

Leadtime Leader
Dynamic Tool Corp. Wins MoldMaking Technology’s 2024 Leadtime Leader Award
Dynamic Tool Corp., a provider of engineered tooling solutions based in Menomonee, Wisconsin, has been awarded MoldMaking Technology’s prestigious 2024 Leadtime Leader Award. The announcement was made during a live awards ceremony at the Plastics Technology booth, where owners Steve and Ken Eberle accepted the award on behalf of their team.

Ecomonics
Moldmaking Activity Has Contracted in a Desirable Direction
April’s moldmaking index contracted again but continued to inch toward a reading of 50 — the hurdle to cross before entering expansion.

Mold Components
Prehard Steel Undercut Style Extends Sprue Bushing Options
Progressive Components’ Undercut Style has now become an off-the-shelf, standard option for single-cavity molds.

UKCA Identification Stamp Expands Clear Compliance
Hasco’s identification stamps offer solutions for the clear and direct international identification of injection molded plastic parts.

Supply Chain
Decoding Reshoring: Motivations, Challenges and Technological Influences
Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative, sits down for a Q&A on the motivations behind reshoring decisions, offering insights into economic, strategic and regulatory considerations.
Events See All

6 May 2024
NPE2024: The Plastics Show
Every three years, leaders from almost every major industry gather at NPE to advance their businesses through innovations in plastics. The largest plastics trade show in the Americas, NPE offers six technology zones, keynote speakers, workshops and opportunities to build partnerships.

9 Sep 2024
IMTS 2024

10 Sep 2024
Parts Cleaning Conference at IMTS 2024
Debuting in 2010, the Parts Cleaning Conference is the leading and most trusted manufacturing and industrial parts cleaning forum focused solely on delivering quality technical information in the specialized field of machined parts cleansing. Providing guidance and training to understand the recognized sets of standards for industrial cleaning, every year the Conference showcases industry experts who present educational sessions on the latest and most pressing topics affecting manufacturing facilities today. Discover all that the 2022 Parts Cleaning Conference has to offer!

12 Sep 2024
AM Workshop - 3D Printing for Job Shops
Presented by Additive Manufacturing Media, Plastics Technology and MoldMaking Technology, the 3D Printing Workshop at IMTS 2024 is a chance for job shops to learn the emerging possibilities for part production via 3D printing and additive manufacturing. First introduced at IMTS 2014, this workshop has helped hundreds of manufacturing professionals expand their additive capabilities.

8 Apr 2025
Formnext Chicago 2025
Formnext Chicago is an industrial additive manufacturing expo taking place April 8-10, 2025 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Formnext Chicago is the second in a series of Formnext events in the U.S. being produced by Mesago Messe Frankfurt, AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, and Gardner Business Media (our publisher).
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Basics/101 See All

FAQ
Pinch Valves: An Uncomplicated Valve With an Important Purpose
Used in on/off or throttling applications, choosing the right style pinch valve depends on the application.

FAQ
Obscure CNC Features That Can Help (or Hurt) You
You cannot begin to take advantage of an available feature if you do not know it exists. Conversely, you will not know how to avoid CNC features that may be detrimental to your process.

Basics
Best of Fattori, Tooling Know How
In this collection of articles Jim Fattori offers his insights on a variety of molding-related topics that are bound to make your days on the production floor go a little bit better.

FAQ
How to Configure Your Twin-Screw Extruder for Mixing: Part 5
Understand the differences between distributive and dispersive mixing, and how you can promote one or the other in your screw design.

Basics
How to Customize an Interoperable Software Solution for Your Moldmaking Process
A connected software solution streamlines the moldmaking process by providing a unified source of design data, enhancing efficiency and reducing errors, with five key steps benefiting from this integration.

Automotive
4 Tips for Staying Profitable in the Face of Change
After more than 40 years in business, this shop has learned how to adapt to stay profitable.
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TASC 2024

September 11, 2024