Moulding software shortened time-to-market

Software, with seamless CAD integration, allowed the testing of every part and mould concept for manufacturing feasibility before a tool was cut, when the cost of change is minimal.

A recent Black and Decker project is testimony to the effectiveness of Moldflow Plastics Advisor software - a tool that can test every part and mould concept for manufacturing feasibility before the tool is cut, when the cost of change is minimal.

The Black and Decker Workmate product has been on the market for about 30 years.

It is traditionally known as a large, stationary piece of industrial equipment that typically is kept and used in a garage, shed or other workspace.

Recently, however, Asian competition has been taking away profits with smaller, cheaper Workmate clones.

In response, designers at Canadian company DW Product Development created a redesigned Workmate - one that features handles and wheels to make it easy to move around and folds flat for quick and easy storage.

The new generation portable Workmate 375 can be used in living rooms and kitchens, as well as workshops and garages.

Because DW designed the parts as injection moulded parts instead of the traditional wood laminate, the team added other moulded-in features into the design, such as colour, measuring rulers, tool storage holes and pocket recesses for nails, screws and other materials.

DW Product Development uses Moldflow Plastics Advisers (MPA) software for plastic injection moulding analysis, and SolidWorks and Pro/ENGINEER products for 3D CAD modelling.

MPA software allows users to test every part and mould concept for manufacturing feasibility before the tool is cut, when the cost of change is minimal.

Seamless integration with CAD solid models enables users to perform simulations and view results directly on the solid model.

"We use the Moldflow Plastics Advisers (MPA) software to reduce trial and error, improve part design and quality, and slash time-to-market," says Aldo Balatti, DW's senior product designer and plastic applications specialist.

"It's a powerful tool to optimise parts and improve plastic processing conditions.

We have been able to save time and money by reducing or eliminating tool rework.

We use MPA on the majority of parts that we are designing to obtain fast feedback on wall thicknesses, weld-line placements, material selection and gate locations." He continues: "We want to make sure that the new part is designed correctly and ready for production prior to being sent to the mould maker, because there is typically no time to make changes with the mould.

Using MPA and our expertise, we have eliminated the mould trial and error phase from the moulding process." MPA allows DW's designers to have a virtual moulding machine on their desktops, allowing them to rapidly make and test prototypes.

Balatti says: "We tested the jaw parts we designed by quickly creating CNC machined polypropylene prototypes.

In the end, because of plastic creep, we felt it was necessary to put a small metal stiffener inside each jaw to resist creep that could occur, if for example a heavy object was left on the Workmate for a long period of time." For the gating solution, MPA indicated that the handle area, rather than the end of the jaw, was the ideal location.

This cut the flow length in half and eliminated any knit lines and cosmetic issues.

The DW design team, working closely with PolyOne, the polypropylene resin supplier for the new Workmate plastic parts, also requested more advanced simulation performed by Moldflow Plastics Insight (MPI) software, and this was used to perform mould filling and warpage analysis.

The MPI results were nearly identical to DW's MPA calculations, confirming that the handle gating location was the best option.

Camalor engineer Marc Fortin says: "In terms of the vice jaw, when we first considered it as a plastic part versus a wooden part, we initially thought that it would run as an 80-90 second cycle time.

That was unacceptable from a capacity point of view.

We couldn't produce enough vice jaws in the time frame required with the tooling that we had budgeted for.

Moldflow helped to reduce the cycle time to one minute to meet the capacity and delivery requirements." In conclusion, Colin Dyke, Black and Decker's Global Vice President of Engineering, saw the Workmate project as a great example of suppliers working together with the company's project managers.

Dyke says: "DW and Camalor's expertise in product design, CAD and simulation software applied to metal components and high performance plastics resulted in a long-time B and D product line moving forward to a new level in a very short time frame.".

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