Molds and their role in product development
What is a mold
A mold is a tool used in product development. A mold offers the possibility to mechanically produce several copies of a product. Mats are used in injection molding and can be used in various machines.
The Pezy Group has all available machines for making, detailing, and injection molding the mold. We also have specialist knowledge and experience in the field of mold making.
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How are molds designed?
The design of molds is specialist work. A 3d CAD drawing of a product is converted by our engineers into specialist mold software. This design program offers the possibility to display all specific parts of the mold in detail. To prevent air entrapment or intrusion, it is important to maintain an even wall thickness. The wall thickness depends on the material used and usually varies between 0.5 and 3 millimeters. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. A lot of experience is needed to estimate these exceptions. During the design process, we are constantly looking for improvements in the design together with our technicians and injection molders.
When the design is largely finished, it is checked by means of Moldflow® simulation software. Some colleagues within Pezy Group are specialized in this. Hilde Seip:
“When you finish the engineering, you can run small tests to see which parts can be improved. You can also demonstrate with a final check that the product can be produced within certain limits. That is why Moldflow is part of our standard approach to the development process within Pezy Group.”
Within Pezy Group we make molds for various purposes. We make specific molds for small series for (market, product, user) validation, but production molds can also be manufactured within our tool shop. We look for a suitable material for each mold, in general, our molds are made of aluminum or tool steel.
How do molds work?
A mold is the negative shape of a part of a product. The cavity in the mold is filled under high pressure with the material from which the product is to be manufactured. At Pezy Group, this is mainly (recycled) plastic. But there are also techniques in which aluminum is used to inject into the mold. The material is injected into the first part, while the finished product is ejected from the other side.
The first part of the mold, also called the pre-mold, is placed against the injection unit of the machine. This part does not move during the production process. The ejector side is the movable side of the die. During the injection molding process, it moves to the other side until the mold is closed and then moves away again to unload the product. Of course, it is also possible to injection mold several products at the same time with a larger mold. This is possible with a so-called multiple mold.
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Molds in our toolshop
By using our in-house equipment, execution is guaranteed throughout the entire development process and fast iteration for a fast and reliable time-to-market.