In the past two decades, China’s mold manufacturing technology has made a qualitative leap, and the mold industry has risen rapidly from small to large. With the development of China’s automotive industry, independent brands have entered the middle and high-end, and new energy vehicles have sprung up, making China a world mold power.
The mold powers in the world are China, Germany, the United States, Italy, Australia, Singapore and Japan. Today we will analyze the mold advantages of each country.
1、 German mold technology is exquisite
Germany has always been famous for its exquisite processing skills and the production of precision machinery and tools, and its mold industry also fully reflects this feature. For mold, an industrial field with complex connotation, after years of practice and exploration, German mold manufacturers have formed a consensus: that is, the whole industry must coordinate, work together, tap the development potential, jointly carry forward the spirit of innovation, make common technological progress, learn from each other, and give full play to the overall advantages in order to achieve the success of the industry. In addition, in order to meet the needs of today’s rapid development of new products, not only large companies have established new development centers in Germany, but also many small and medium-sized enterprises have done so, taking the initiative to do research and development for customers.
Germany has always been very active in research, which has become an important basis for it to remain invincible in the international market. In the fierce competition, the German mold industry has maintained a strong position in the international market for many years, and the export rate has been stable at about 33%. According to the statistics of the German tooling and die industry organization VDMA tooling and Die Association, there are about 5000 mold enterprises in Germany, and the output value of German mold reached 4.8 billion euros in 2003. Among them, there are 90 member mold enterprises (VDMA), and the output value of these 90 backbone mold enterprises accounts for 90% of the output value of German mold.
2、 Italian mold is high-quality and efficient
The production technology level of Italian mold enterprises is first-class in the world. According to Luo Baihui, the executive secretary of the International Association of mold and hardware and plastic industry suppliers, the application of high-tech in mold design and manufacturing has become a powerful guarantee for the rapid manufacturing of high-quality molds in Italy. In Italian mold enterprises, cad/cae/cam, high-speed machining technology, rapid prototyping technology and rapid tooling technology have become widely used technologies.
1. The wide application of cad/cae/cam shows the superiority of using information technology to drive and improve the mold industry
In the application of CAD, it has gone beyond the primary stage of getting rid of drawing boards and two-dimensional drawing. At present, 3D design has reached 70% – 89%. Pro/e, UG, Cimatron and other software are widely used. The application of these software can not only complete 2D design, but also obtain 3D models, which provides a guarantee for NC programming and cad/cam integration. Using 3D design, you can also check the assembly interference during design to ensure the rationality of design and process. The universal application of CNC machine tools ensures the machining accuracy and quality of mold parts. Mold enterprises with 30~50 people generally have more than ten CNC machine tools. The parts processed by CNC machine tools can be assembled directly, which greatly reduces the number of fitters. CAE technology has gradually matured in Italy. In the design of injection mold, CAE analysis software is used to simulate the stamping process of plastic, analyze the cooling process, and predict the possible defects in the molding process. In die design, CAE software is used to simulate the metal deformation process, analyze the distribution of stress and strain, and predict the defects such as fracture, wrinkling and springback. CAE technology plays an increasingly important role in mold design. After the application of CAE technology by Italian Comau company, the mold test time has been reduced by more than 50%.
2. In order to shorten the molding cycle and improve market competitiveness, high-speed machining technology is widely used
High speed cutting is a machining technology characterized by high cutting speed, high feed speed and high machining quality. Its machining efficiency is several times or even more than ten times higher than that of traditional cutting technology. At present, Italian mold enterprises widely use CNC high-speed milling in production. There are many three-axis linkage, and some five axis linkage, with the number of revolutions generally ranging from 15000 to 30000 R / min. Adopting high-speed milling technology can greatly shorten the molding time. After high-speed milling and finishing, the mold surface can be used only with a little polishing, which saves a lot of time for grinding and polishing. Italian mold enterprises attach great importance to technological progress and equipment renewal. The depreciation period of equipment is generally 4-5 years. Increasing the number of CNC high-speed milling machines is one of the key points of equipment investment in mold enterprises.
3. Rapid prototyping technology and rapid tooling technology have been widely used
Due to the increasingly fierce market competition and the accelerating upgrading of products, rapid prototyping and rapid tooling technology came into being and quickly gained universal application. At European and American mold exhibitions such as Italy, rapid prototyping technology and rapid tooling technology occupy a very prominent position. There are various types of rapid prototyping equipment such as SLA, SLS, FDM and LOM, as well as institutions and companies specializing in prototype manufacturing services.
Many Italian mold enterprises apply rapid prototyping technology and rapid tooling technology to mold manufacturing, that is, they use rapid prototyping technology to manufacture prototypes of product parts, and then quickly manufacture molds based on prototypes. Many plastic mold manufacturers use rapid prototyping to cast silicone rubber mold, which is used for a small number of plastic parts, and is very suitable for the trial production of products.
The Italian plastic and rubber processing machinery and mold manufacturing industry is one of the 10 special machinery manufacturing industries of the Italian machinery manufacturing alliance, and the Italian plastic and rubber processing machinery and mold manufacturing industry has more than 500 European patents, with a high degree of specialization, leading technology, diverse products, and providing customers with various value-added services. According to Luo Baihui, the annual sales per capita of Italian mold enterprises is more than 100000 US dollars. At present, the output value of Italian plastic and rubber processing machinery and mold manufacturing industry accounts for 16.5% of the total output value of 10 industries of the machinery manufacturing alliance. At the same time, the export destination of Italian plastic and rubber processing machinery and mold products is still the European Union, and the export amount accounts for 47% of the total export share.
Italian mold enterprises have advanced technology and management, so that their large, precise and complex molds have played an extremely important role in promoting the development of automotive, electronics, communications, household appliances and other industries, and also brought good economic benefits to mold enterprises.
3、 American mold faces change
There are about 7000 mold enterprises in the United States, more than 90% of which are small enterprises with less than 50 people. Due to the high development of industrialization, the American mold industry has long become a mature high-tech industry, ranking in the forefront of the world. American die steel has achieved standardized production and supply. Cad/cae/cam technology is widely used in die design and manufacturing. Advanced equipment is provided for processing technology, inspection and testing. The development of large, complex, precise, long-life and high-performance dies has reached a leading level. However, since the 1990s, the U.S. economy has faced major adjustments and changes in the post industrial era, as well as strong international competition – from cost pressure, time pressure and competitive pressure.
4、 Japan master core technology
Japan’s mold industry has always maintained the status of the world’s largest mold country and mold power. At its peak in 1998, its total domestic mold output reached 1895.4 billion yen. However, in the 10 years since then, although the annual output value has increased or decreased, the overall situation has stagnated, and has not recovered or exceeded the level in 1998. The number of mold production enterprises has also shown a decreasing trend year by year. According to Luo Baihui, Secretary General of the International Association of mold, hardware and plastic industry suppliers, Japan not only controls the core technology in many fields, but also controls the most profitable link in the industrial chain, leaving only the profits of assembly links for most joint ventures in other markets around the world. This economic model of “building a country by industry” is also worth learning from Chinese enterprises. At present, what needs to be vigilant is that international hedge funds and capitalists exaggerate losses by creating public opinion and take the opportunity to withdraw funds, which will have a serious impact on the development of the global economy. If Japanese capital is withdrawn, the global industrial associations will be greatly impacted.
Due to the impact of the global financial crisis and the devastating earthquake, the automobile industry and semiconductor industry, the major users of Japanese molds, will be in a decline. At present, the order volume of many enterprises is only 20-40% of that in the best year. Many factories are under construction, only 3-4 days a week. Some have begun to close down, and the number of enterprises is decreasing month by month. Faced with this situation, people in the Japanese mold industry are very worried about the brain drain, especially about some older and experienced talents flowing abroad. The brain drain will bring disadvantages to the future development of the Japanese industry. How to actively deal with the current difficulties has become a major topic in the Japanese mold industry. Japan’s mold industry and even the relevant government departments have given much consideration to the future development direction of its mold industry.
From the perspective of non-governmental organizations, Japan has proposed six main development directions:
① Adopt high and new technologies as much as possible to improve the level of digitalization and informatization;
② Develop new fields of mold use, such as various new energy, new materials, medical treatment, aerospace and other fields;
③ Extend the mold industry chain;
④ Carry out diversified operation;
⑤ Update knowledge;
⑥ Do a good job in development and the combination of industry, University and research.
At the government level, the Ministry of economy, trade and industry of Japan has organized the “plain wood technology strategy discussion committee” and issued the “plain wood technology strategy” which is a guide. The goal of implementing this technology strategy is very clear, which is to “grasp the lifeline of the world manufacturing industry by mastering the important technology of plain materials”.
5、 New requirements for the application of mold manufacturing equipment in China
On April 10, 2018, at ccmt2018 exhibition, Qin Ke, Secretary General of China mold industry association, made a thematic report on “the coexistence and development of China’s mold industry and modern manufacturing industry”, involving mold market conditions, mold equipment conditions, future development direction of mold industry and its demand for equipment.
The pace of mold innovation and technological progress has accelerated. New technology, new materials and new forming have driven the new structure and new products of molds. The driving characteristics of technological innovation are obvious. The innovation of mold industry has shifted from tracking to a new stage of tracking and parallel operation. Refinement, automation, informatization, integration, networking and intelligence will accelerate the improvement of quality and efficiency, optimization and upgrading of the industry. Mold products will continue to develop in the direction of large-scale, precision, high-performance and integration.
Mold manufacturing puts forward new requirements for itself and equipment application. Through equipment utilization evaluation, manual interference evaluation, collaborative evaluation, product quality evaluation, mold processing is developing towards high precision and efficiency. In mold manufacturing, we pursue modularization and standardization of non-standard products, technical specifications and process management, and strive to achieve the integration of precise control, intelligent monitoring, stable production and quality testing.
Mold enterprises have put forward application level index requirements for mold manufacturing equipment: ① improve the utilization rate of equipment and optimize the human-machine ratio step by step; ② Benchmark, knowledge base management, parts and modular manufacturing; ③ Machining unit automation; ④ A large number of special equipment are put into mold manufacturing, such as multi axis and multi-path intelligent special equipment; ⑤ Implement manufacturing process control and result management.
6、 Singapore focuses on developing it moulds
Singapore is a small country with a population of only 3million. From the 1980s to 1990s, the government attached importance to and supported the development of precision molds and issued many policies, which made the mold industry grow rapidly and promoted the rapid development of Singapore’s economy. Singapore has more than 1000 enterprises related to various types of molds and precision machining, with an annual output value of more than 4.5 billion yuan. It has a very important influence and role in the mold industry in Asia. There are more than 10 mold enterprises listed. More than 65% of the molds produced by Singapore enterprises are supporting it electronics related industries. The molds produced are not large-scale, but high-precision and high-level molds. Singapore mold enterprises mainly focus on semiconductor frame / packaging mold, metal stamping mold, plastic mold, silicone rubber mold and other fields.
7、 Australian automobile stamping die available
Australia’s economy has developed rapidly in recent years and will continue to grow in the coming years. However, as a basic industry, the mold manufacturing industry, especially the manufacturing capacity of stamping dies, cannot meet the needs of economic development. Therefore, it is urgent to import stamping die manufacturing technology and capacity from abroad, and China’s mold industry happens to have great advantages in this regard, and the market prospect is promising.
Most of the software used in the design and manufacturing of Australian automobile molds are UG, Pro-E, CATIA and Euclid, which are basically the same as the software used by Chinese mold enterprises and can be shared. CAE analysis software and simulation molding analysis software have similarities. This has provided good conditions for us to carry out Sino foreign cooperation.
Australian Mold Association, Adelaide mold office and Melbourne Mold Association all place great hopes on China’s mold Market and manufacturing enterprises. This will create favorable conditions for China to export molds to Australia.
About Huizhou Dj Molding Co., Ltd
Dj Mold is a China mold maker of plastic molds- injection mold, die casting moulds, plastic blow molding, rotational molding, medical plastic injection molding, two shot plastic injection molding, insert molding, overmolding, metal injection molding, micro injection molding, powder injection molding, ceramic injection molding, liquid injection molding, husky injection molding, household mold, casting mold, die mold tool, custom molds, china moulds, rapid prototyping tooling, plastic prototyping tooling, punch press tooling, die and tooling for mobile/ cell phone parts, automotive parts, vacuum cleaners, rechargeable tools, telephones, copiers, computers, multimedia speakers, and many other electronic products and household appliances. And also a plastic product manufacturer, mold manufacturer China– plastic parts, plastic water tank, plastic balls, plastic containers, plastic buckle, plastic anchor, plastic hanger, plastic spoon, plastic pipe fitting, plastic tumble, plastic tableware, plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic tray, plastic cosmetic container, plastic case, plastic food container, plastic chairs, plastic caps, plastic cap closure, plastic tubes, plastic water pipes, plastic knobs, plastic tubing, plastic utility boxes, plastic racks and so on.
Contact:
Person: James Yuan
Company: Huizhou Dj Molding Company Limited
Add: LongGang Village,LongXi Town,BoLuo County,HuiZhou City,GuangDong Province, China
Tel: 86-752-6682869
Email: [email protected]
Site: https://www.jasonmolding.com/custom-injection-molding/
