Can 3D printing replace traditional mold manufacturing?(A)

The mold is known as the “mother of industry”, and its application can be traced back to ancient times. In the past few decades, as the wheels of the scientific and technological revolution roll forward, the mold manufacturing industry has opened a new chapter, and technology has made rapid progress Has made a huge contribution to the processing industry. Today, although the traditional manufacturing industry around the world still uses molds as the main production force, the development of molds has been impacted by 3D printing technology.

In recent years, with the development of Industry 4.0, China’s manufacturing industry has been developing from “manufacturing” to “intelligent manufacturing”. The 3D printing technology has been widely used in China’s manufacturing industry. Design and manufacturing provide efficient, low-cost support. Even with the rapid development of 3D printing technology, in some areas, it has gradually begun to overturn mold technology and form a direct competitive relationship with it.

 

It is understood that compared with 3D printing technology, traditional mold manufacturing requires more steps and processes, and the mold production cycle is longer. When a mold maker launches a new product, the new product must pass stringent international standards and certifications before going on the market, and the certification of many parts will take a long time. This will put new products in a very disadvantaged position in terms of time to seize the market. The 3D printing injection mold is an efficient solution. Well-known manufacturer Schneider Electric does this. In their open laboratory, they use 3D printing technology to make injection molds.

According to relevant personnel from Schneider, under normal circumstances, it takes several weeks to two months to produce a mold, and 3D printing technology can be used to complete the mold prototype within several hours, and it can be modified immediately according to the test results. The final product sample is then injection molded. These product samples can be directly sent for certification. At this time, traditional mold manufacturing may still be in production, and even before the mold is finalized, the 3D printed product has passed certification, which greatly shortens the development cycle.