ZW3D announced on January 21 that it has been selected by Habitat Industries for its powerful integration of CAD and CAM to boost the design and manufacture of blow molding.
Based in Cape Town, fully networked Habitat Industries is a CNC only tool-room, specializing in the manufacture of blow mold tooling from Extrusion to PET blow molds. This dynamic and innovative company uses the latest technology in order to consistently achieve above standards.
The Requirements
Based on a strong local and international customer base in the packaging industry, Habitat Industries stays competitive and always looks to improve. In a bid to optimize their workflow with a budget-friendly solution, they were trying to find an all-in-one CAD/CAM package with timely technical support.
The Solution
Habitat Industries benefits from the introduction of ZW3D CAD/CAM in the following three main aspects.
Optimization of Operational Costs
To reduce the operating costs of the CAD/CAM system, one should take into account the initial purchase price, annual renewals, and training and implementation costs..
- ZW3D is the most cost effective and fully integrated CAD/CAM system in South Africa.
- ZW3D license is permanent and does not expire.
- ZW3D training manuals are free and targeted to the “do-it-yourself” designers.
- Onsite training and complete installation is provided by the highly skilled local ZW3D partners.
“ZW3D seems to be the best all-round package thus far,” said Donovan Barnes, the owner of Habitat Industries. “It is fast, easy to pick up and learn to use, offering the best value for money. Additionally, the backup service is the best I’ve come across in the past 16 years, and any software problems get solved almost instantly,” he added.
Design Process Optimization.
Habitat Industries relies on ZW3D to boost mold design in the following aspects:
- ZW3D embeds a powerful file translator to work seamlessly with mainstream file formats in the industry, avoiding any miscommunication with customers or suppliers.
- ZW3D provides versatile and powerful modeling technologies, like unique Solid-Surface Hybrid Modeling, parametric modeling, assembly simulation and sheet metal design with nesting, in a bid to speed up the modeling process.
- ZW3D also includes complete mold design with standard templates, design libraries and associative drafting, maximizing data reuse to simplify designing.
“From a design perspective, mold design is simplified and is about 50% faster,” said Donovan, “I’m also impressed that ZW3D is capable of taking a point-cloud scan and simply generating a surface to the points within seconds,” he added.
Manufacturing Process Optimization.
- ZW3D is a fully integrated CAD and CAM solution in terms of a transition to 5 axis machining, eliminating data conversion between design and production departments.
- ZW3D includes various handy operations, such as QuickMillTM technology, template programs, tool and machine Libraries, enabling maximum flexibility in creating tool paths.
- ZW3D comes standard with a great variety of Post Processors to edit directly in Post Script, allowing full compatibility with any machine.
“I believe that ZW3D will take on a leadership role in its industry, because they adjust the software to problems encountered and react almost immediately. Based on customer feedback, the software will develop really fast in the near future,” said Donovan.
