Reduction of lead-time from 10 weeks to 4
SPEEDING PRODUCTION FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR
PROBLEMS FACED
For our automotive customer, their injection mould tool failed due to wear on the main core; this formed a bore in the injection moulded component. The company was quoted a 10-week lead time for a replacement part from their original supplier. Due to production requirements, this proved unacceptable, especially as our customer would need to build adequate buffer stocks before they could take the tool offline.
SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS
By using our rapid metal additive manufacturing process and injection mould tool-making skills, we were able to manufacture a new core in under 4 weeks. At the same time, we reviewed the internal design of the injection mould tool insert and were able to make improvements to the cooling characteristics, by incorporating conformal cooling channels. This has resulted in both better part quality and faster cycle times.
PROCESSES USED
Hybrid Additive Manufacturing
Find out about OGM’s unique Hybrid Metal Manufacturing process
