INJECTION MOLD MAKING
OUR ROOTS LIE IN MOLD MAKING
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Since 1979, Craftech has been a leader in injection mold making. With over 250 years of combined mold making skills Craftech continues to be the company that engineers feel confident choosing for design, manufacture, validation, production and maintenance of complex molds and assemblies.
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Throughout the years our toolroom has offered state of the art technologies. Craftech's reputation has been built on the foundation of our mold making skills and ingenuity. We were pioneers in Electrode Discharge Machining (EDM) for injection mold making and are sought out for our expertise.
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Today we offer both in house tooling as well as offshore tooling for the right applications. We are ready to help you get your products to market in the most cost efficient way possible.
Our commitment to you - As your trusted advisor we will guide you through all of the steps of the manufacturing process and get you results that will leave you more than simply satisfied.
OFFSHORE TOOLING
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Not all offshore molds are created equal
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It takes a talented team to guide offshore sources to design and construct molds that will perform as warranted. If a mold is not designed correctly many times no amount of work can be done after-the-fact to correct the substandard design. To ensure your molds perform contact us for a no-obligation project consultation.
Craftech has formed alliances with key offshore tooling and mold making companies. These alliances now in their 22nd year have proved to be key to the success that Craftech enjoys today and we leverage these relationships extensively to save our clients time and money. Craftech has already gone through the "learning curve" when it comes to breaking down the communication and other barriers that are not typically thought through when companies make a decision to go offshore.
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With the advent of Solidworks and other 3D TM modeling platforms, sophisticated machine tools, availability of premier materials and components we have seen a vast improvement in mold making standards and quality.
Together with our extensive injection mold making expertise and an openness to both teach and learn a few things ourselves, Craftech has helped guide and train these resources.
Despite all efforts to design both the part and mold correctly there is still optimization required once the mold arrives to the manufacturing facility for qualification. Craftech’s complete in-house tooling capabilities allows us to fine-tune and make engineering changes without compromising timelines or losing control.
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Let Craftech educate and guide you through all your options as we work together to determine your best solution.
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Your project will also benefit from expert single point of contact project management including weekly updates and progress reports.
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There are still molds that should not be built offshore but the majority of them can and are today. Craftech still builds molds in house as well, staying true to its roots and the people who founded the company more than 40 years ago.
TM
SPI MOLD CLASSIFICATIONS (STANDARDS)
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SPI's book, "Classifications of Injection Molds for Thermoplastic Materials" was created over 40 years ago in the mid to late 1970's. The purpose was to level the playing field for both mold makers and those wishing to purchase molds for their specific production requirements.
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TM
Prior to the standards being written there were no guidelines that stipulated what was considered to be a "Class A" mold or any other class for that matter. As an example there were mold makers that would say they could build a "Class A" mold from aluminum while most would say it had to be made from hardened tool steel using the highest and best manufacturing techniques. This of course presented a problem for those gathering quotes as well as the competitive nature of the business.
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Now that standards are in place for the construction of injection molds those looking to purchase tooling can get quotes based on the number of cycles they need the mold to last as well as what materials they will be made from. This enables an "apples to apples" vs "apples to oranges" approach to the quoting process.
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These standards are to be used as guidelines but do not ensure you will get the "perfect" mold. They do not cover very real design issues that can and will effect part quality and or cost. For example every mold will require individual gating scenario's, balancing of runners and potential hot runner designs. For these you need to be sure that you are using the experienced mold makers and molders who will be your trusted advisers guiding your through the ideal scenario for you and your injection molding requirements.
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Click to download a copy of the SPI Mold Classifications.
You can also go to the Plastic Industry Association Store Product Search “Classifications of Molds for Thermoplastic Materials” for the complete publication.
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A long awaited revision to this document is underway, see Plastics Today Article for details.
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