Looking Back and Planning Forward
A review of a decade of global challenges and change. Ten years ago, U.S. moldmakers were not by-and-large aware of the upcoming wave of competition about to hit our shores. Sure, we’d seen tool...
Author Archives: Mu Ju
Do Eight Years Matter?
Data and analysis results of a North American plastics industry study on the mold manufacturing industry call for change. With all the change that has occurred in the industry, let’s take a look...
Taking the Guesswork Out of Surface Treatment
Using x-ray spectrometry to help ensure superior mold performance. Finding new ways to ensure superior mold performance is a goal most people share. The technologies that are available are impressive,...
Lowering Tooling Cost by Using Low-Friction Coatings
There are many components to the mold manufacturing process, but from a cost benefit approach to productivity, tooling technology is going to yield the biggest return, and coating technology is key. A...
Tooling for Zero Stock Machining
Machining to net shape relies on proper end mill selection. Zero stock machining (ZSM)—also referred to as net shape or negative stock machining—is the practice of producing mold component...
Work Smart: Balancing Price and Productivity
Cutting tools are unique in their effect, as relatively small investments can result in tremendous cost reductions.’ Today’s moldmaker faces a constant barrage of challenges from customers...
Using TiN Coatings to Protect Your Knock-out/Ejector Pins
Proper surface treatments for enhancing corrosion resistance of mold components in molding situations. Making a better product to survive has never meant more than in today’s global manufacturin...
Solving Mold Alignment Problems with the Right Alignment Lock
Correct alignment lock selection will reduce maintenance costs, molding downtime and increase part quality over the mold’s entire life. Molders, moldmakers and mold designers should all take a s...
Delcam Customer Wins MWP Grand Prix
Delcam plc has congratulated FSG Tool & Die, a producer of high-quality high-volume moulds, on being presented with both the Best Toolmaker Award and the overall Grand Prix Award at the MetalWorki...
Bookings for Asiamold 2008 Up Sharply
As of May, so many companies had confirmed their participation as exhibitors at Asiamold 2008, the second edition of the Guangzhou International Trade Fair for Moldmaking and Tooling, Design and Appli...
Exhibitor Council for K 2010 Starts Work
Preparations for K 2010 are under way. With the recent first meeting of the exhibitor council, the wheels were set in motion. The 18th edition of the world’s No. 1 trade fair for the plastics an...
SolidCAM2008 Training in Frankfurt
More than 40 SolidCAM support specialists from Europe and Asia gathered at the Frankfurt Airport recently for a train-the-trainer seminar about the new version of the company’s advanced manufact...
First Commercial Recycling Process For Electronics Waste
A 23-year-old Dutch plastic recycling firm, Plastic Herverwerking Brabant (PHB) BV has become the first supplier in the world of a complete commercial altered-density-media system tailored to separate...
Sequential Hard/Soft Injection Molding with Water Assist
In 2004, the value of pairing two-material injection with water assist was demonstrated in production of two-layer automotive pipes and ducts (see Learn More). Further potential for this combination o...
How to Minimize Problems With Gravimetric Blenders
The first and best way to avoid blending problems is to choose the right gravimetric blender for the application. Today’s plastic products are required to have a wide variety of special properti...
Plastic Bottles Face Slower Growth
Plastic bottle demand will pick up gradually in the second half of this year as the U.S. economy, particularly consumer spending, slowly regains momentum. Conditions look favorable for more rapid grow...
Injection Molders See Growth For Packaging & Disposables
Mastio & Company’s most recent Injection Molding Markets Study reports modest but respectable growth for 2008. Based on interviews with North American molders, the study includes seven major...
PUR Machinery Gains in Versatility & Economy
Polyurethane equipment at K 2007 in Dusseldorf showed incremental advances in cost-effectiveness and ability to handle a wide range of applications. New high-pressure mixing and metering machines are ...
Thermal Cycling of Injection Molds Boosts Surface Quality
In the injection molding process, tool temperature is an important factor in achieving high-quality parts. It is generally believed that higher tool temperature often results in better surface quality...
Faster Turns and Higher Accuracy with CAM
The right CAM software package investment paid for itself in less than a year and contributed to one mold builder’s ability to produce complex molds quickly and accurately. Dynamic Tool & De...