PrintIn an interview with CMM Magazine, Craig Tappe, a seasoned sales engineer at Accumold with 11 years of expertise, sheds light on the intricacies of micro molding. He challenges conventional thinking on micro molding, and cautions comparisons with macro moulding due to its unique considerations like rheology and tooling at the micro-scale.
Tappe emphasized the importance of Design for Micro Molding (DfMM), a process that tailors designs for micro-scale injection molding, ensuring manufacturability and functionality within the micro molding constraints. He notes that DfMM is critical for success, as it addresses the complexities of molding microfeatures which require sophisticated tool designs.
Transitioning from prototype to large-scale production in micro molding
One of the significant hurdles in micro molding is the transition from prototype development to large-scale production. Tappe discusses how Accumold confronts this by maintaining precision and quality through optimized tooling design and process parameters. He points out that many prototype molders often request design changes that eliminate microfeatures due to their inability to achieve the necessary tolerances. Accumold, however, uses hard steel prototype tooling with electrical discharge machining to maintain production-like quality.
When selecting a micro molding partner capable of scaling to large-scale production, Tappe advises considering the company’s expertise, track record, manufacturing capabilities, project management, and communication ability. Accumold showcases its capacity with an extensive onsite toolroom, sustainability initiatives, and automation capabilities, which allow for rapid scaling.
Micro molding expertise for medical companies
Tappe also highlights Accumold’s success in scaling up production for major medical companies, transitioning from single-cavity tooling prototypes to full-scale production with multi-cavity tools, capable of producing hundreds of millions of parts per year.
Vertical integration is another advantage in micro molding that Accumold leverages. By integrating tooling, automation, processing, and quality systems, they ensure control over the production process, reduce lead times, and enhance cost efficiency.
Collaboration between design teams and micro molding experts is vital for optimizing product design. Tappe shares a success story where Accumold collaborated with a diabetes patch maker to redesign a medical micro molded cannula, resulting in a single-piece design that significantly reduced costs and quality issues.
Quality control is paramount, especially when scaling up production. Accumold employs automation to minimize human error and maintains strict maintenance and calibration standards.
Anticipating future demands, Tappe notes that components are becoming increasingly smaller, with more functions integrated into each component. Accumold’s innovation lab is dedicated to tackling upcoming challenges in markets such as wearable medical devices and microelectronics.
Tappe’s insights reveal Accumold’s strategic approach to micro molding, emphasizing the importance of DfMM, the challenges of scaling up production, and the benefits of vertical integration and collaboration in optimizing outcomes.