Design for Manufacturing

Our engineers ensure the following information is correctly added to your Pro/E models:

• Tool shutoff: The shutoff angle will be great enough to reduce tool wear across the entire parting line as well as any crossover shutoffs.
• Lifter or slide angles: The angle of interface for lifters in the core will allow proper interface with the core surfaces.
• Lifter Travel: Plastic parts will be evaluated for the design of the lifter as well as the lifter travel.
• Parting Lines: When possible, radii will be left off parting lines. This includes cores for castings and lifter parting lines for plastic parts.
• Wall Thickness: The wall thickness of primary features will be uniform, if possible.
• Wall thickness at secondary features: Secondary features will have a thickness small enough to ensure minimal sink marks.

Many modelers wait until the end of the design to determine parting lines, slide, lifter and core locations, or ask their supplier to add these details. Subsequently, supplier changes are not always relayed back to your engineers with a 3-D model. Tooling considerations can affect a large number of design criteria: draft and radii affect FEA results, can create interference to mating parts, or reduce the amount of clearance for assembly.

Tooling Design
We follow many of our designs all the way to production and design the tooling to create the parts. Our strength of surfacing and our understanding of manufacturing help to reduce the time needed to produce tooling.