Delcam software used at all stages by mouldmaker

Argentinean plastics company Argul y CIA SA began its involvement with Delcam’s CADCAM software in a small way with a single seat of the PowerINSPECT inspection system. However, the company was so pleased with the results that it now uses Delcam systems at all stages of the design, manufacture and inspection of its moulds in its factory in Buenos Aires.

The company is more than 50 years old, and is now managed by Rafael Argul, the son of its founder. Its strategy is to provide customers with a global solution, cooperating from the very first stage of the design of a new package, through the manufacture of the moulds and then to provide high quality injected parts, without depending on any third parties.

Argul aims to be equipped with the latest, and highest-quality, technology to ensure that it stays ahead in a competitive market. Within its mouldmaking division, it includes high-speed CNC machines from leading suppliers like Mori Seiki, Agie-Charmilles and C.B. Ferrari, while its injection moulding division has recently be refitted with the latest generation of Fanuc machinery.

As part of his focus on improving on all the areas of the company’s processes, Mr. Argul initially contacted Delcam’s Argentinean reseller, MultiCAM, to look at its inspection needs. "We were having serious problems,” Mr. Argul remembered. "Our existing co-ordinate measuring machine was too slow and the results were unreliable.”

The installation of the PowerINSPECT software on a new CMM was an immediate success. "It is so easy to measure with PowerINSPECT, and so fast and so reliable,” said Mr. Argul. "We can now take measurements in seconds that were extremely time consuming or impossible to do before.”

MultiCAM explained that PowerINSPECT could also be used to collect data for reverse engineering, so Mr. Argul recommended an investigation by the design division that had overall responsibility for product design, mould design and NC programming. This initial review of the reverse engineering capabilities soon widened into a demonstration of the complete range of Delcam software.

The PowerSHAPE modelling software proved to be the most impressive program for the design team. Even though the group contained many experienced CAD users, they were surprised at the way that PowerSHAPE could create designs with very few points from the CMM. The team was also very impressed with tools such as "Morphing”. By using these techniques within PowerSHAPE, they could easily make design modifications in seconds, on tasks that were almost impossible to do, or extremely time-consuming, with the company’s other software.

The next stage in implementing Delcam software was a comparison of the time needed for mould design. Using an existing part as the benchmark, MultiCAM showed the strengths of the Delcam Toolmaker tooling design software by completing the project in one day, compared with two weeks that had been needed with the previous design system.

Finally, MultiCAM explained the benefits of using Delcam’s PowerMILL CAM system for NC programming. As well as demonstrating how the Delcam CAM system could produce excellent surface finish, MultiCAM also recommended using the software on the shop floor. This improved not only the time needed for programming but also the quality of the machining files.