CAD/CAM revives mould and die making interest

Mould and die students get an exposure to manufacturing practices while manufacturing students get an exposure to the design process all within one software package.

Specialising in CAD/CAM for plastics products and molds, the VX Corporation is to supply software to the Erie Institute of Technology for use in their new manufacturing and technology programmes.

** Revival of the mold and die making industry in north west Pennsylvania - Erie, Pennsylvania and the northwest corner of Pennsylvania in general, once considered to be the heart of the US mold and die making industry, suffered a downturn in the 1990s.

Much of the mold and die business moved offshore.

However, with the adoption of advanced technology and software, local mold makers are proving they can successfully compete with offshore mold makers, said VX to manufacturingtalk, and are experiencing a revival of the industry in the area.

As part of the revival, the Erie Institute of Technology, , has recently added six new manufacturing programs and a new 50,000ft2 training center in Erie that includes computer labs for running CAD/CAM software and machine tools for providing hands on training.

"VX CAD/CAM will have a big impact on our mold design and mold making programmes.

With VX mold design software, students will learn how to import models, fix undercuts, gaps and poorly defined draft angles while realizing the advantages of using software with built-in plastic processing know-how," said Kit Carson, CNC program director to Manufacturingtalk.

"For machining molds, VX's QuickMill will help students learn roughing and advanced finishing techniques, how to optimize machine tool utilization for reducing wear and tear, and how to produce high quality finished molds that minimize polishing time.

Erie Institute of Technology also has a plastics molding laboratory adjoining the machining center where students can confirm fits, functions and dimensional sizing of their plastics parts.

"Since VX has such a short ramp-up time for getting started, students are able to focus much more of their time on learning good design engineering and machining practices as opposed to having to spend an inordinate amount of time learning the software," said Bob Fischer, VX vice president of sales and marketing.

"The beauty of VX in an educational setting is that design students get an exposure to manufacturing practices while manufacturing students get an exposure to the design process all within one software package, and this ultimately increases the value of the students to the work force".

* About VX Corporation - VX Corporation is a pioneering developer of CAD/CAM solutions for industrial designers, engineers and CNC programmers.

VX enables speedy design with fully integrated, accurate manufacturing.

Using a blazing fast hybrid modeling engine, engineers can take advantage of the speed of solids with the flexibility of Class A surfaces.

Designers can create, modify, visualize, document and machine a vast array of parts and assemblies.

From the entry-level Modeler, to the complete End-to-End, VX delivers power, performance and productivity.

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