Details

Our team assisted in the short-run production of this Wireless LAN Device. This is being used to retrieve patient information from a hospital’s database. The master pattern of this part was made using SLA resin and a total of 4 Silicone RTV Moulds were made for each part. A typical RTV Silicone Mould can make up-to 25 pieces of a given part. After this, the mould is discarded. Vacuum Moulding was used for this project as it helps in short run production without the use of a metal mould.

Conventional technologies (such as injection moulding) are ideal for high volume low value parts but the tooling costs can get quite exorbitant for smaller batches. In this case, a single cavity aluminum mould would have costed the end-customer over USD 12,000 in tooling costs alone. The same part could be made using vacuum casting technology in ABS material with an average cost of USD 25 per set. This means a total project cost of less than USD 4500 (including master pattern and silicone moulding costs), an over 60% reduction compared to conventional manufacturing techniques!