3D printing is taking on a next level evolution as the barrier to entry has dropped dramatically in the last 5 years. Take a look at this article in The Economist to see what the future holds for making one part or small runs. 3D printing truly empowers the individual designer in all of us.
Let us help you develop your product from concept right through to full production all under the roof of Casting Solutions.
To be a WCS (world class supplier), a company needs to be constantly evolving, thinking, investing and adapting to market needs. Click on the link for a prime example of that mindset at Premier Aluminum. This link takes you to a snapshot of the most recent investments made by one of the “premier” permanent mold foundries in America.
Is your company pushing the casting envelope using like-minded suppliers? Call us!
Casting Solutions originally purchased a 3D printer to help our customers better understand our new design proposals for their casting applications. It has worked very well for that. If the part is quite large, we can scale it accordingly, as presented in an earlier blog entry.
Another very significant use has surfaced that helps both the customer and supplier and that is tooling lead time reduction. Here is how it works.
3D parts
The picture shown represents a die cast project we are currently tooling up that needs the following: a die cast die, a trim die and machining fixtures. Before using the approach of making plastic 3D printed parts as shown here, the tool shop would need to wait for a casting from the die cast tool before starting the trim tool, as does the shop building the machining fixtures. In our process, the trim tool and the machining fixtures can be made in parallel with the die cast tool utilizing the 3D printed parts. This shaves WEEKS off the tool development timeline!
Our goal at Casting Solutions is to continually push the envelope for lead time reduction. This is just another example of how we can make your business faster and smarter.
The above attached article details out why MIM (Metal Injection Molding) technology has been so well received in the medical field. Advanced Forming Technology (AFT), who Casting Solutions has worked with for over 15 years, has constantly been at the forefront of the MIM revolution. AFT also offers Thixomolding of magnesium, another material/process that has been very well received by the medical industry.
Call us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you.
3D Model
At Casting Solutions we have recently added in-house 3D modeling for a number of reasons. While developing a new part, we thought it would be helpful to present a physical part showing the attributes of our design. We were able to downsize this 300 pound casting into an 8 x 8 model showing all proposed features (see photo). This was offered at no cost to the customer. In addition, the 3D modeling is helpful for reducing lead times for casting. We can produce samples to be used to build the trim tools for die casting as well as machining fixtures and painting fixtures simultaneously with the production tooling. This cuts weeks out of a typical start up at a very small cost.
We will keep sharing other success stories for improving your business and look forward to talking with you.
http://www.china.org.cn/business/2011-02/12/content_21904835.htm
As mentioned earlier, we at Casting Solutions are spreading the good word about Thixomolding in magnesium. One of the challenges we have been up against is the tariff imposed on imported magnesium. You will see via the attached article link above that the tariff has been reviewed and lifted on Russian produced but not Chinese magnesium. This does not help the industry much due to the lack of availability of the Russian magnesium.
NADCA is considering a push to reopen the discussion to drop the tariff on the Chinese magnesium. We will keep you posted on these developments.
Have casting questions? Give us a call.
Thixo molding of magnesium is one of the processes we work with at Casting Solutions. The magnesium casting industry has been challenged by an anti-dumping duty imposed in 2005. If the order can be lifted, US casting facilities can once again become competitive in a world market. Magnesium as a cast material has such unique properties, it would be a shame to see US casting facilities continue to be undercut by this antidumping protection. It is in everyone’s best interest to see this anti-dumping duty revoked.
Casting Solutions has seen casting users move to make Mexico their new low cost center option. All casting processes are being considered. However, customers are finding a limited supply of vertically integrated foundries, thus causing many to come to the states for tooling. Read the following article from Reuters for more information.
