IWAKI DIECAST Co., Ltd.

Industry: Die casting and MIM
Location: Yamamoto-cho, Watari-gun, Miyagi-pref, Japan
Website: www.iwakidc.co.jp

The Company

IWAKI DIECAST Co., Ltd. was established in 1968 and specializes in high-quality die cast products, including die cast molds, aluminum die cast, and zinc die cast. It offers design solutions for a variety of industries including automotive, medical equipment, and more.
The company employs two prominent manufacturing methods: die casting and metal injection molding (MIM). With an integrated production system, all processes for die cast products, from design to production, are conducted in-house, ensuring high-quality and cost-effective products. The company is committed to responding to changes in the industry and pursuing sustainable development; in line with this goal, it has taken actions such as installing solar panels and wastewater treatment equipment.

The Challenge

IWAKI DIECAST was previously using a different 3D CAD that was not able to meet the company’s engineering needs regarding fillet modeling capabilities. Fillets are very important for designing parts because they simplify the casting process by creating smooth transitions between surfaces instead of sharp internal corners. This helps reduce stress concentrations and the likelihood of fractures in both the part and the die, thereby improving the strength and durability of the parts.
For this reason, this aspect was a significant factor in their decision to switch to a more cost-effective and capable CAD solution that better met their design and manufacturing needs.

ThinkDesign as a Solution

After evaluating several CAD solutions, IWAKI DIECAST has selected ThinkDesign because it offers all the required functionality for mold design and includes several powerful fillet features for die-cast mold modeling.
At the company, ThinkDesign is mainly used for manufacturing components for the medical and automotive industries, including parts for advanced vehicle safety equipment. The company's designers and engineers find it easy to manage assemblies using ThinkDesign and appreciate its user-friendly interface. Additionally, the extensive e-Learning area has allowed them to quickly learn how to use the software at their own pace.

CUSTOM PARTS LIBRARY

With ThinkDesign's ThinkParts catalog, users have the ability to create and manage their own custom parts library for assembly components. ThinkParts is a versatile library creator and manager, specifically designed to handle custom-built parts that are frequently used and adhere to company standards. This tool makes it easy to organize, store and access these components, ensuring consistency and efficiency across various design projects. A spreadsheet-like table allows users to input and modify dimensions as needed, providing a centralized way to manage part data.

ANALYSIS TOOLS AND SPREADSHEET

IWAKI DIECAST has chosen ThinkDesign also for its ability to provide detailed information about interferences among solids, components and sets of solids and components. This functionality offers an efficient and comprehensive way to identify parts - whether solids or components - that collide with one another. The company frequently uses this capability to check for interferences between components within an assembly. Among others analysis functionalities that IWAKI DIECAST finds very useful during their design process are Volume and Mass Properties. By calculating the volume of the mold and its components, they can precisely estimate the amount of material required for manufacturing the mold. This helps in reducing waste and optimizing material costs. These functionalities can enhance the accuracy of mold designs, optimize material usage, improve manufacturing efficiency and maintain high-quality standards, ultimately leading to cost savings and better product performance.

ThinkDesign’s Spreadsheet capabilities also enhance parametric modeling strategies. This makes it possible to design more flexible and adaptive models, optimizing the design process and improving overall efficiency.

Adopting ThinkDesign has decreased our modification time by 60% and reduce maintenance costs.
This efficiency allows us to offer top-quality products at more competitive prices.

Mr. Masatsugu Murakami, Section Manager

INTERACTIVE SOLID MODELING

In addition to solid modeling capabilities in ThinkDesign, IWAKI DIECAST recognizes the value of using Interactive Solid Modeling (ISM), which provides powerful tools for offsetting and removing fillets. ISM offers the advantage of direct modification, allowing users to perform free-form editing without being restricted by the parameters that typically govern the shape of a feature or the entire model. This approach enables users to easily make topological modifications to a solid model without accessing its history or parameters, providing higher levels of flexibility. This capability is particularly useful for tasks such as offsetting surfaces or removing fillets, as it simplifies the modification process and provides a more intuitive and flexible approach.

SURFACE MODELING

The Capping command is essential for filling holes in surfaces and creating surfaces through curves. For example, when working with a "wireframe" structure that needs to be covered with surfaces, this command ensures that gaps are seamlessly filled, resulting in a smooth, uniform surface. In mold manufacturing, this is critical, as any imperfections could lead to defects in the final product. The Lofted Surface command further enhances surface modeling capabilities by enabling the creation of complex, smooth surfaces. It automatically selects the best surface type - whether Ruled, Proportional, Stretched, Connect, or Grid - based on the input parameters. This automation ensures that the most appropriate surface is generated for the design requirements, improving efficiency and reducing the potential for human error. ThinkDesign’s accurate surface creation and modification directly contribute to the precision and quality of the company’s mold designs. By automating complex surface generation tasks and providing intuitive tools for surface modification, the Surface commands in ThinkDesign reduce the time required to design and refine molds. This efficiency leads to shorter development cycles and a faster time-to-market.

2D AND 3D INTEGRATION

IWAKI DIECAST designers and engineers also appreciates that ThinkDesign allows 2D drawings to be seamlessly transformed into 3D models. In this way, they can streamline the design process, improve accuracy, and reduce the time required to develop complex models.

 

DOCUMENTATION

The company also employs ThinkDesign in the Technical Sales department to create detailed quotations, enabling customers to easily place orders for mold parts. By generating precise and accurate drawings, ThinkDesign provides the necessary specifications and dimensions needed for manufacturing molds, ensuring that all requirements are clearly communicated and understood.

Conclusion

Since implementing ThinkDesign, DIECAST has significantly reduced the time spent generating and modifying their projects, resulting in a 60% reduction in modification time and greatly improving the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the CAD system. Thanks to ThinkDesign and their integrated production system, IWAKI DIECAST can deliver higher-quality products at lower prices. This combination of low costs and high product quality provides a competitive advantage that sets the company apart from its competitors.

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