What's New and What Works in Mold Manufacturing

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Mold Components
VIDEO: Addressing Data Needs with Mold Component Solutions
The need for data to track information and the history of the mold-building process is ever-increasing, and mold component solutions can help.

EDM
Integrated CAD/CAM Streamlines Electrode Manufacture, Improves Quality
A focus on electrode design and automation helps toolroom improve efficiency, reduce tooling costs and deliver higher quality products.

Maintenance & Repair
VIDEO: Enhancing Data-Driven Decisions with Cloud-Based Mold Monitoring
Steps to improve data-driven decision-making and key features of a cloud-based system for mold monitoring and asset management.

Design & Mfg. Software
Navigating the Future of Mold Design and Manufacturing
What follows is a Q&A with Justin Jagels, an MMT EAB member and owner/president of J Squared Design Services LLC.

Data Management Software
Enhancing Global Manufacturing Visibility: How Digital Moulds Solved SKF's Data Accessibility Challenges
SKF improved global manufacturing visibility and data accessibility through Digital Moulds' cloud-based monitoring system, enhancing real-time machine status tracking.

Business Strategy
Mold Design Review: The Complete Checklist
Gerardo (Jerry) Miranda III, former global tooling manager for Oakley sunglasses, reshares his complete mold design checklist, an essential part of the product time and cost-to-market process.
Build See All

Mold Components
VIDEO: Addressing Data Needs with Mold Component Solutions
The need for data to track information and the history of the mold-building process is ever-increasing, and mold component solutions can help.

Basics
How to Optimize Mold Finishing
Circle segment technology requires fewer tool paths, improving surface quality and increasing cutting tool life.

Tips
4 Cutting Tool Challenges and Solutions
A combination of cutting tool carbide, coating and geometry helps tackle four mold machining challenges and improve cutting performance.

EDM
Integrated CAD/CAM Streamlines Electrode Manufacture, Improves Quality
A focus on electrode design and automation helps toolroom improve efficiency, reduce tooling costs and deliver higher quality products.

Mold Materials
Make Every Shot Count: Mold Simulation Maximizes Functional Parts From Printed Tooling
If a printed tool only has a finite number of shots in it, why waste any of them on process development?

Case Study
In "Hybrid" FIM Process, 3D Printing Complements Injection Molding
Alpine Advanced Materials used a desktop 3D printer and the freeform injection molding process to reduce prototype tooling production time and cost for its customers.
Maintain See All

Maintenance & Repair
How to Overcome Complex Mold Texturing Problems
Key benefits when considering laser technology for mold texturing and repair.

Data Management Software
VIDEO: Enhancing Data-Driven Decisions with Cloud-Based Mold Monitoring
Steps to improve data-driven decision-making and key features of a cloud-based system for mold monitoring and asset management.

Surface Treatment
Technology Review and Sourcing Guide 2024: Mold Maintenance, Repair and Surface Treatment
Utilizing helpful products and services for mold maintenance, repair and surface treatment (MRST) can save moldmakers time and money. Access more information about MRST in this exclusive, online-only content, including a suppliers list, products, services and more.

Inspection & Measurement
Technology Review and Sourcing Guide 2024: Inspection/ Measurement
Inspection/ measurement equipment can include all tools and devices used to verify molds and part dimensions conform to the tolerances required by the part’s design. Access more information about inspection/ measurement in this exclusive, online-only content, including a suppliers list, products, services and more.

Basics
Understanding Diamond Compounds
Diamond compounds, with their varied grades, colors and base options, provide a comprehensive solution for mold builders in need of precise and superior polishing across diverse materials and applications.

Basics
How to Clean and Maintain Molds With Intricate Conformal Cooling Channels
A water-based, eco-friendly plastic mold cleaning system helps Rankine-Hinman Manufacturing restore flow rates and avoid big-ticket failures on complex and costly molds.
Manage See All

30 under 30
MMT Chats: Mold Builder Shares “Raw and Real” Social Media Strategy
MoldMaking Technology Editorial Director Christina Fuges sits down with Murphy Forsyth, GM – Injection Molding and Director Of Marketing for Zero Tolerance LLC in Clinton Township, MI.

Business Strategy
How to Scale Your Moldmaking Business
Identify pain points, tackle each one strategically and maintain flexibility to keep your moldmaking business on a path to growth.

Education
An Academic Analysis of Moldmaking’s Workforce Challenges
Understanding and facing the moldmaking industry’s obstacles to growth requires a strategy focused on increased profitability.

Business Strategy
4 Benefits of Virtual Reality in Mold Design
Virtual reality (VR) can revolutionize mold design training by providing an immersive and interactive learning experience.

Supply Chain
How to Successfully Reshore Tooling
Sloan Valve and Pyramid Molding Group shed light on the dynamics and challenges surrounding the shift toward domestic mold sourcing and the advantages of collaborating with a U.S. supplier to bring tooling back stateside.

Design & Mfg. Software
Mold Design Review: The Complete Checklist
Gerardo (Jerry) Miranda III, former global tooling manager for Oakley sunglasses, reshares his complete mold design checklist, an essential part of the product time and cost-to-market process.
All Topics See All

30 under 30

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- Webinars
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Webinars See All

25 Sep 2024
Efficient Mold Design with Advanced Automation: Core/Cavity Design
Discover how to enhance your mold design process with the right CAD/CAM tool for parting and cavity design. This webinar will explore CAD/CAM capabilities including how hybrid solid/surface modeling can streamline workflow and improve accuracy. Learn how to confidently tackle parting, runoff, and shutoff, ensuring precision and efficiency in your designs. Agenda: Part analysis QuickSplit techniques Parting and runoff strategies Shutoff solutions

3 Oct 2024
3D Printing Design Freedom: Blessing and Curse for Conformal Cooling
When used for conformal cooling in plastic injection, 3D printing opens a wide range of design freedom. This design freedom enables designers to develop highly-efficient thermal regulation networks. However, this blessing also comes at the expense of not only higher manufacturing cost but also higher design cost as the designer could spend weeks to develop optimal cooling channels. This webinar will explore strategies and tools — including SimForm, a front-end thermal simulation app — to help tool designers and tooling managers maximize the benefits of 3D printing while minimizing manufacturing and design costs. Agenda: 3D printing applied to the plastic injection industry 3D printing pros and cons Tools and methods to facilitate the integration of 3D printing

30 Oct 2024
Efficient Mold Design with Advanced Automation: Mold Actions
Discover how to enhance your mold design process with CAD/CAM software specifically tailored for the moldmaking industry. In part two of this webinar series, Cimatron will demonstrate how to intelligently design mold components, such as slides and lifters, using powerful CAD/CAM tools to accelerate the design process. Additionally, it will cover how to avoid errors and ensure design accuracy for ejector pins by checking clearance distances, calculating cutoff heights correctly, and thoroughly documenting all ejector components. Agenda: Slides Lifters Inserts Ejection pins and charts

20 Nov 2024
Efficient Mold Design with Advanced Automation: Cooling
Discover how CAD/CAM functionality tailored for the mold industry can significantly enhance the mold design process. In part three of the webinar series, Cimatron will focus on designing waterlines and cooling components. It will demonstrate how CAD/CAM tools can verify drill line depths for water lines and baffles, ensure that minimum steel requirements are met while placing water lines, and provide a complete list of all baffle cutoff lengths. Additionally, it will explore how to confidently design runners and gates using CAD functionality specifically developed for these aspects of mold design. Agenda: Waterlines and verification Conformal cooling Baffles and charts Runners and gates

On Demand
Demystifying Flow Analysis: Advancing Plastic Injection with Smart Manufacturing
Hexagon peels back the layers of industry jargon to reveal a user-friendly understanding of current trends and the challenges faced in the molding process. Dive into the intuitive design workflow and explore the robust features of VISI Flow that empower manufacturers with warpage control and smart manufacturing strategies. Participants will also gain insights into the comprehensive Hexagon Mold Suite, designed to enhance productivity and innovation. Join this session to transform your approach to plastic injection molding from concept to flawless execution.

On Demand
Using Hot Runner Balance in the Mold Qualification Process
System balance plays an important role in the optimization of an injection molding process and can be the limiting factor in the production of high-quality parts from every cavity. In this webinar, Husky will present the process fundamentals of system and hot runner balance and its impact on mold qualification. They will look at the factors that enable well-designed, balanced hot runners and the causes of unbalanced systems. Attendees will learn about the factors that influence short shot balance, how to measure system balance and how to set system balance expectations based on specific applications. Agenda: Process fundamentals of system and hot runner balance as well as impact on mold qualification How to assess the factors to balance short shot factors How to measure system balance How to set up balance expectations

17 Sep 2024 New & Upcoming
Innovative Tools to Optimize Mold Performance Register Now
Videos See All

Mold Components
VIDEO: Addressing Data Needs with Mold Component Solutions
The need for data to track information and the history of the mold-building process is ever-increasing, and mold component solutions can help.

Sales
MMT Chats: Mold Builder Shares “Raw and Real” Social Media Strategy
MoldMaking Technology Editorial Director Christina Fuges sits down with Murphy Forsyth, GM – Injection Molding and Director Of Marketing for Zero Tolerance LLC in Clinton Township, MI.

In Case You Missed It: Top August Articles
Dive into the most impactful articles from this month, featuring expert advice on guided ejection systems, mold component advancements, business growth strategies and the latest industry trends.

Maintenance & Repair
VIDEO: Enhancing Data-Driven Decisions with Cloud-Based Mold Monitoring
Steps to improve data-driven decision-making and key features of a cloud-based system for mold monitoring and asset management.

MMT Chats: Award-Winning 2024 Mold Repair Technician of the Year
Scott Phipps of United Tool and Mold (UTM) was honored with the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Mold Technologies Div. (MTD) Mold Repair Technician of the Year award.

Mold Components
VIDEO: Mold Component Advancements & Hot Runner Insights
Advancements in mold components, hot runner temperature control and custom manifold configuration that address cycle time, quality and sustainability issues.
Events See All

9 Sep 2024
IMTS 2024

10 Sep 2024
Parts Cleaning Conference at IMTS 2024
Debuting in 2010, the Parts Cleaning Conference is the leading and most trusted manufacturing and industrial parts cleaning forum focused solely on delivering quality technical information in the specialized field of machined parts cleansing. Providing guidance and training to understand the recognized sets of standards for industrial cleaning, every year the Conference showcases industry experts who present educational sessions on the latest and most pressing topics affecting manufacturing facilities today. Discover all that the 2022 Parts Cleaning Conference has to offer!

12 Sep 2024
AM Workshop - 3D Printing for Job Shops
Presented by Additive Manufacturing Media, Plastics Technology and MoldMaking Technology, the 3D Printing Workshop at IMTS 2024 is a chance for job shops to learn the emerging possibilities for part production via 3D printing and additive manufacturing. First introduced at IMTS 2014, this workshop has helped hundreds of manufacturing professionals expand their additive capabilities.

8 Apr 2025
Formnext Chicago 2025
Formnext Chicago is an industrial additive manufacturing expo taking place April 8-10, 2025 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Formnext Chicago is the second in a series of Formnext events in the U.S. being produced by Mesago Messe Frankfurt, AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, and Gardner Business Media (our publisher).
Suppliers See All

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Cutting Tools and Toolholders

EDM Equipment and Supplies

Hot Runner Systems and Supplies

Inspection & Measurement

Machining Centers and Machine Tools

Maintenance, Repair and Surface Treatment

Mold Components

Mold Materials

Moldmaking Equipment and Accessories

Molds/Tools/Dies

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Basics/101 See All

FAQ
How to Optimize Mold Finishing
Circle segment technology requires fewer tool paths, improving surface quality and increasing cutting tool life.

Maintenance & Repair
How to Overcome Complex Mold Texturing Problems
Key benefits when considering laser technology for mold texturing and repair.

Tips
Understanding Diamond Compounds
Diamond compounds, with their varied grades, colors and base options, provide a comprehensive solution for mold builders in need of precise and superior polishing across diverse materials and applications.

Surface Treatment
How to Clean and Maintain Molds With Intricate Conformal Cooling Channels
A water-based, eco-friendly plastic mold cleaning system helps Rankine-Hinman Manufacturing restore flow rates and avoid big-ticket failures on complex and costly molds.

FAQ
How to Customize an Interoperable Software Solution for Your Moldmaking Process
A connected software solution streamlines the moldmaking process by providing a unified source of design data, enhancing efficiency and reducing errors, with five key steps benefiting from this integration.

FAQ
How to Manage a CAD Library
Learn five ways to organize your mold design information.
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Machining 5 Sep 2024

Tungaloy, NTK Toolholding Solutions Improve Efficiency for Small-Part Machining
Mold Components 5 Sep 2024

VIDEO: Addressing Data Needs with Mold Component Solutions
Tool Steel 4 Sep 2024

Machine-Ready Blanks Enable Various Moldmaking Capabilities
FAQ 4 Sep 2024

How to Optimize Mold Finishing
Design & Mfg. Software 3 Sep 2024

Updated Software: Simulation, Optimization and Postprocessing Capabilities
30 under 30 3 Sep 2024

MMT Chats: Mold Builder Shares “Raw and Real” Social Media Strategy
Machining 2 Sep 2024

Erowa Highlights Process-Reliable Clamping and Automation for Moldmaking
Cutting Tools 2 Sep 2024

Mills Line, Cutting Tool Management System Tailored to Machining Optimization
2 Sep 2024

Innovative Technology for Your Mold Shop at IMTS 2024: Part 2
Inspection & Measurement 1 Sep 2024

Breaking Down 3D Scanning in Moldmaking

Published 8/13/2024

MMT Chats: Award-Winning 2024 Mold Repair Technician of the Year

Scott Phipps of United Tool and Mold (UTM) was honored with the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Mold Technologies Div. (MTD) Mold Repair Technician of the Year award.