CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
8 September 2004
Implementation Investments
MSC.Software and Moldflow Help Australian Tooling Group Save Time and Costs and Dramatically Conserve Energy Resources
MSC.Software Corp. and Moldflow Corporation announced the completion of a joint project with Austool Limited and the Department of Environment and Conservation, New South Wales, Australia related to the use of computer simulation technologies to reduce the time, cost and energy involved in the design and manufacturer of plastic products. By using a combination of technologies from Moldflow and MSC.Software, Austool was able to demonstrate savings of more than AUD $75,000 in tool development, 250 hours in labor, a 75% decrease in development time and a reduction of more than 16,000 kilowatts of electricity.
"MSC.Software is very proud of our relationships with other PLM and VPD companies and is always looking for ways to work together on joint projects that can demonstrate the value of simulation," said Frank Perna, chairman and chief executive officer of MSC.Software. "This project with Moldflow and Austool is a perfect example of both the quantitative and hidden benefits of using VPD and simulation tools. Not only were we able to show a tremendous time and cost savings by eliminating design and manufacturing time, costs and materials, but we were able to do it with far less energy usage than traditional methods. If companies can develop innovative products in less time, for less cost and do so with less natural resources, they can be competitive and environmentally sensitive at the same time."
"Moldflow is very pleased to have been a part of this joint project with Austool Limited, the Department of Environment and Conservation, New South Wales, Australia and MSC.Software," said Roland Thomas, president and chief executive officer of Moldflow Corporation. "The results attained in this project clearly demonstrate the significant cost and development time savings utilizing analysis provides companies working with injection molded plastics. Further, this project shows that reducing the amount of material and time required to mold a plastic part can reduce the impact of manufacturing on the environment through the elimination of scrap and lower electricity usage, allowing companies to still produce world class products in an environmentally responsible manner."
The traditional approach for tool manufacturing is a trial-and-error method that wastes considerable resources and time before the tool is perfected. By using virtual product development (VPD) techniques, this project was able to predict major core flexing problems thereby saving four re-work cycles that amounted to a significant reduction in rework costs; $75,000 in the cost of the tool's development, a saving of 250 hours in labor time, 16,464 kWh in electricity (which can power 4 family homes for 1 year) and 1,100 kg of steel.
A more detailed paper on the joint project with Austool, MSC.Software and Moldflow will be available later in 2004. For more information on this project and working with MSC.Software and Moldflow, please email MSC.Software at www.au@mscsoftware.com or visit http://www.mscsoftware.com.au
Austool Ltd is an Australian-based, not-for-profit public company dedicated to advancing the development of the Australian tool making industry. Austool offers a variety of support programs and services to assist its members and showcase expertise, innovative ideas and know-how for the benefit of Australian manufacturing. For more information, visit http://www.austool.com.au
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