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Seuffer - Streamlining Injection Molding with 3D Printed Tools
Seuffer, which began in Germany in 1766 as a spoon-making smithery, is today a leading manufacturer of parts for the automotive and household appliances industries.
Always on the look out for new technologies that will improve efficiency and profitability, Seuffer adopted 3D printing to produce injection molding tools.
In this short video you will see how 3D printed tools are helping Seuffer revolutionize product design and manufacturing. Don't miss the last segment where you see a 3D printed tool side by side with a conventional CNC milled tool.
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Stratasys
3D_Printed_Injection_Mould_Tool
Stratasys additive manufacturing compared to CNC tooling: 3D printed injection mould and resulting part next to steel tool of identical design
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Stratasys 3D printed injection mould
“With Stratasys 3D printing, we can design first drafts of the injection mold within a few days and 3D print them in less than 24 hours for part evaluation"
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Part from a 3D printed injection mould
Stratasys 3D printed sample part produced from 3D printed injection mould
Robert Seuffer, GmbH & Co. KG (Seuffer), a German supplier of parts for household appliances and commercial vehicles, has incorporated Stratasys 3D printing in its manufacturing process to significantly reduce the time and cost of producing injection moulded sample parts.
The injection moulding process is used by manufacturers all over the world to produce parts in a variety of materials, most commonly thermoplastics. Prototype parts are required to evaluate the part design for performance and fit before mass production. The ability to dramatically streamline the tool creation process for producing these prototype parts is another concrete example of how Stratasys 3D printing is revolutionising manufacturing.
"Working with the automotive industry, sample parts need to be tested in the environment of moving mechanical parts as well as in high temperature environments," explained Andreas Buchholz, Head of Research and Development at Seuffer. "With Stratasys 3D printing, we can design first drafts of the injection mould within a few days and 3D print them in less than 24 hours for part evaluation. Traditionally, it would take eight weeks to manufacture the tool in metal using the conventional CNC process. And while the conventional tool costs us about 40,000 euro, the 3D printed tool is less than 1000 euro, a saving of 97%."
Using Stratasys 3D printing technology, Seuffer also produces 3D printed moulds for its hot melt process. These moulds, which are used to overmould low melting point polyamide over electronic circuit boards, are created with Stratasys' rigid, opaque Vero materials.
"Companies worldwide are looking to introduce significant efficiencies to their manufacturing processes when introducing new products, and are discovering the many benefits of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing," said Andy Middleton, General Manager, Stratasys EMEA at Stratasys. "More and more manufacturers are adopting 3D printed tools as a complimentary injection moulding solution — not only to cost-effectively test products before mass production, but also to produce customised parts."
