MATERIALS • PROCESSES • FINISHES
transparency at this stage of the product development process. Once again, the differences between
macro moulding and micro moulding are stark when it comes to the moulding process per se. Every stage of the product development process in a micro manufacturing scenario is driven by an obsession with the attainment of micron and sub-micron tolerances, and when it comes to micro moulding it is key that OEMs engage and work alongside a micro moulder that has the business acumen and experience necessary, an expert team of engineers, an understanding of the correct manufacturing methodologies, and the tooling and processing expertise to ensure optimised outcomes. Finally, when dealing with miniaturised plastic parts and components, the assembly part of the product development process must be discussed and considered early in the design cycle, again demanding a collaborative and pragmatic relationship between OEM and micro moulder. When dealing with micro scale parts and components, the cost of manual assembly is prohibitive, and often requires levels of preciseness when dealing with sub-micron tolerances that are impossible to achieve. Automated assembly is therefore a must in most micro moulding scenarios, requiring that OEMs select a micro moulding partner that is able to understand the methodology of micro assembly, and achieve the extreme positional accuracy required.
PARTNERSHIP & COLLABORATION So far we have looked at how collaboration and transparency are vital at each stage of a micro scale product development process from design, through tooling, moulding, and assembly. It is important to understand, however, that this level of collaboration and transparency is not just required between the micro moulder and the OEM customer, but also between the different teams within the micro moulding facility, which is why working with a truly vertically integrated company is so important. To a greater or lesser extent, OEMs
are relying on the micro moulder to be their trusted guide in areas that they themselves are not best equipped to
32
www.engineerlive.com
When dealing with miniaturised components, assembly must be considered early on in the product design cycle to ensure successful development of the end products
understand or exploit. But it is still a project that belongs to the customer, and it is always the customer that should be central to all conversations and reviews that take place during the product development process. Te outcome, in other words, needs to be something that the OEM customer is fully invested in and satisfied with, not a micro product or component that is fit-for-purpose, easy and inexpensive to mould and assemble, but bears no resemblance to the customer’s vision. Here, transparency is absolutely vital, ensuring that the OEM customer is always on the same page, understands the decision-making process, and works with the micro moulder to problem solve and optimise outcomes while always ultimately being in control. Internally, all teams involved in
the product development process must also work with such clarity and transparency as well as collaboratively. As we have already seen, producing a plastic product with micron or sub-micron features, repeatably, economically, and on time means that the “over the wall” approach has to be abandoned. Success in micro moulding requires a true inter-disciplinary approach, as it is only in this way that the ultimate goal – an optimised product made to specification repeatably – can be guaranteed.
Effectively, product development teams working collaboratively from project inception allow for a singular focus on quality assurance, which begins with design for manufacturability reviews to ensure the project sets off on the right foot, and extends all the way through to the development of control plans to assess critical part features, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) results, high-resolution in-line vision systems, and high magnification microscopic measurements to verify tool and finished part dimensions.
SUMMARY Success in micro moulding is predicated on the forging of a truly collaborative and transparent relationship between micro moulder and client. Decisions made at the early design stage will have effects when it comes to micro tool fabrication, micro moulding and micro assembly. Because of this – and the need to have an unswerving focus on the achievement of extremely tight tolerances and to validate design intent – all departments involved in the development process must work together from the inception of a product design to ensure successful outcomes.
Roger Hargens is CEO/president of Accumold.
www.accu-mold.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
