Preview that mould: you've designed it, but can you build a mould round it? Clive Maier explores a program that pre-plans a mould layout to show you the pitfalls before you drop into them.(Software)

British Plastics & Rubber, March, 2005 by Maier, Clive

THERE is a lot to go wrong in injection moulding. Some things you can put right, like poor process conditions. Others are more intractable, if the problem is not seen early, you could be stuck forever with a bad product design or an ill-conceived mould.

You find yourself fire fighting, working around, patching up for as long as the moulding contract lasts. That punches a large hole in the bottom line, to say nothing of credibility and reputation. If you took a vote for the one thing that has the greatest impact on quality and profit, most people would go for the mould.

That is why mould design and manufacture is a job for experts. As far as the mould concept is concerned, that used to mean someone who could visualise a flat component drawing in 3D,...