In this post we are going to see how the involvement of zinc die caster supplier can lead to improvements in the diecast quality and from a cost point of view, thanks to the following activities: co-design, simulation and the choice of zinc.

VAVE analysis is a systematic and organized method to drive down the product cost and improve profitability of products. The first step of cost reduction is to decrease material and production costs: it is important to choose the right material, the most useful assembling process and to use a prototype and a simulation tool to avoid any problem during the production cycle.

Involving zinc die caster in your VAVE

The supplier has the chance of using simulation, prototyping, testing and process optimization. The supplier can suggest which can be possible problems before the production and suggest ideas to avoid them.

Is difficult to find and choose the right zinc die caster, but having the right partner may be what makes the difference. In fact the right supplier helps to reach goals and can help to optimize an already developed process. It has knowledge of the entire process and knows how to optimize and improve it.

Below three areas to improve thanks to the right zinc die caster:

• Co-design
• Simulation
• Benefits of Zinc

Improving ideas with co-design activity

Co-design is the relation established between zinc die caster and client. It is really important that they collaborate and share information since the first phases of a project, both for new product or existing component.

This activity sustains the client in terms of morphological innovation, minimizing risk, mass production and saving.

In fact the right die caster is able to support its client in all phases of this process such as simulation, prototyping, testing, time to market, process optimization.

If the client does not share with the supplier the entire production process the product could be weakened in its performance and function.

For this reason the right choice of a zinc die caster allows the client to have an engineering department fully dedicated to analysis and simulation tasks, just to guarantee the best support during the product design phase from the beginning.

After this phase the perfect supplier should also have the possibility to do rapid prototyping inside its structure, directly using pilot tool, with no need of sub-contractors for the testing operations. Rapid prototyping enables a direct connection to the next production stage: the construction of the mould. This makes the whole process faster defining standards of quality that will remain constant at each stage of the production process.

Once these starting phases are concluded the experience and expertise of the right die caster will be on challenge during the mass production phase and during finishing or machining phases.

Benefits of simulation tools

Using simulation tools is possible to improve quality of a product and reduce scraps in cost and material saving terms.

Using MAGMASOFT simulation software brings many benefits such as improving aesthetic quality, reducing the number of rejected products, a faster production cycle, higher process efficiency and cost reduction due to elimination of secondary manufacturing.

The benefits of die casting simulation are really important because thanks to these analysis it is possible to modify the parameters of different variables such as injection curves and mould temperature.

Die casting simulation technologies allow to modify both the product design in the start-up phase, and the ongoing process performances. The simulation software can help the specialist analyzing real time data to identify critical points in a mould already in use and avoid non-compliant.

The casted product can be non-compliant for different defects which now can be identified before production thanks to simulation technologies. A proactive approach can anticipate problems such as flow marks and blisters, cold laps, porosity, shrinkage porosity, lakes and shot to shot inconsistency.

Avoid non-compliant, as a better product optimization in co-design phase in terms of product design, helps to avoid material waste.

The optimization of the correlation between scrap material and material that compose the item allows sure economic savings, thanks to virtual proofs obtained with the simulation.

In terms of saving thanks to simulation the customer can save time and resources avoiding empirical tests: the use of simulation software can help companies  cutting costs and reducing sampling phase as it allows to work on different variables before the production.

Choosing Zinc instead of other materials 

With zinc die casting is possible to develop and manufacture a product with thicknesses and conformations that are not possible with other materials, without any secondary operation or additional components. In fact one of the most important benefit of zinc is its accuracy, zinc alloys allow closer tolerances than any other metal, aluminum or magnesium over all or molded plastic.

Zinc allows a higher casting fluidity than other materials, with it is possible to eliminate extra machining, scrap rates and cut costs, processes are faster and tool wear is minimized. In addition to this Zinc alloys can be casted with less draft angle than other materials, that is an advance during the moving mechanical process. All these steps are cost saving.

Regarding the maintenance of moulds, using low casting temperatures allows to extend life for die casting tools. In addiction maintaining a mould in good conditions enables a consistent saving due to scrap elimination and material waste.

Moreover is important to say that with zinc is possible to diminish the number of components in a product and diminish the weight, in a cost saving way.

In addition to this zinc allows to reach a better surface quality, in terms of sliding of other components, thanks to its smooth surfaces. It is hard to reach the same roughness rate with Aluminum die cast components compared to zinc, that is why very often secondary operations are necessary to reach the same target of smoothness. This means cost.

Optimizing products and processes means to create innovative and creative solutions together with customers.

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