b'Design for Manufacturing process, he said For instance, inearlier or later? There are always the automotive industry, air bag cov- a lot of questions, and answer-ers have to meet specifications foring them in advance eliminates components of different materi- appearance andeven more im- misunderstandings.als are all elements to be taken intoportantfor function. We must as- Tooling represents a significant account. certain how the part can be molded,factor for part designers. If a part Itsessentialthatweunder- how the cooling process works andcan be generated with conven-stand what the customer is tryingwhat temperature the part will betional tooling, costs can be sub-to do, and there are many ques- checked at. To answer those andstantially less than if special tooling tions that have to be asked, Ditostootherquestions,wesometimesis required.said. These would include: Canmust talk with the customers sup- There are times when its im-we achieve the desired finish? Canplier about the characteristics of thepossible to avoid specialized tool-we minimize the cycle time? Whattypes of plastics that will be molded.ing, Siegel said, and that has to are they using now? And if this is aIts a matter of knowing both ourbe taken into account in calculating modification of an existing design,business and our customers. the cost of the job and the value of why do they want to alter the cur- Siegel mentioned the importancethe part.rent design? of tolerances and the sequencing ofEifel emphasizes knowing the ca-Hecker also cites the necessity ofoperations in defining a manufac- pabilities of CNCs, EDMs and tool-extensive dialogue, not only withturing strategy. ing and how each injection mold fits a customer but sometimes with itsWehavetoaskourselvesinto the machining process.suppliers. whetherapartorcomponentFive-axis machining provides a We have to understand the im- should be heat-treated first or aftergreat amount of flexibility, Hecker portance of the part, as well as manyits produced, he said. Also, ifsaid. We want to use the shortest of the elements of the moldingbores are required, do we do thatcutter possible in order to achieve Macro Tool & MachineA pallet is shown for a specific customer application. Macro Tool & Machine also dedicates vises and chucks on pallets to fill particular needs.34SEPTEMBER 2020DesigningParts.indd 34 8/17/20 10:24 AM'