Customer Case Studies

Our company manufactures molds with a pressure capacity of 400 to 1000 tons. Our greatest feature is that we design and manufacture not only the molds but also the fingers. Generally, press molding involves four to five processes to create a product, including molding, drilling, and cutting. Between the molds for each process, there is a device called a finger that sends the product to the next process. Because we manufacture these fingers as well, we can easily adjust the entire system, including the molds and fingers, which contributes to cost and delivery time.

I remember that I decided to introduce it because one of our clients, an auto parts manufacturer, was talking about moving away from 2D drawings and toward using only 3D data for ordering. I think it was around the time I returned to my family's company from my training at the auto parts manufacturer.

It wasn't a problem, but it started when our business partners started providing 3D data. Our job is to first review the 3D data of the molded product ordered by the customer to confirm whether it is possible to mold it. Next, we discuss the customer's budget, process, and production line status to determine whether we can create a mold that meets their needs. Sometimes we also need to negotiate the need for adjustments in other processes. For automotive molds, ingenuity in ensuring long-term use (high number of shots) is also an important element. Therefore, we introduced the system because we needed to thoroughly check the 3D data.

We started using 3D standalone drawings, but since we're a mold manufacturer, we rarely needed 3D annotations in the data (lol). Rather, the function I used most often was the ability to convert 3D into 2D drawings. At the time, we sometimes manufactured using 3D data of molds modeled by our clients. Our CAD software couldn't properly import this data, but 3DTascalX was able to import it properly, including the hierarchical structure. I remember using it very conveniently to disassemble the parts and create part drawings.

The situations in which we use it have changed since then. Each part of a press mold is first formed by casting and then finished by machining. We order 3D data from a foundry to use as the material for the parts, and 3D annotations are very useful when checking this casting 3D data. We check the structure, machining allowance, dimensions, etc.
We also value considering manufacturing using 2D design and 2D drawings. As 3D design progresses, it continues to play a role as software that can convert 3D to 2D when necessary. By the way, I have now introduced and am using "3DFovi". I use it to measure the depth (height) of the drawing of the product shape and the external dimensions when making a quote, and I like how easy it is to use.