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Mold Flow Analysis – is it worth it?

SPE NY Section – March 7th 2001Presented by Timothy B. Austin of Symbol Technologies, Inc.

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– Introduction

This presentation is:

– Not about selling Moldflow™ or any other software

– Not about how the software works– It’s just about my experience in introducing

injection molding analysis

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Is it worth it? – Quick Quiz

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does my company have a corporate website? (Score 1)

2. Does my company use a 3D CAD system? (Score 2)

3. Does my company seek a ‘partnership’ with its customers? (Score 3)

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Is it worth it? – Score = 6

If you scored 6…

…Congratulations your company is probably interested in keeping its current customers and bringing in new ones by investing in technology

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Is it worth it? – Score = 3 to 5

If you scored between 3 and 5…

…stay tuned, this may be something that you can benefit from, but it will probably take some commitment to make it work

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Is it worth it? – Score = 2 or less

If you scored 2 or less…

…You will probably have a lot of difficulty in justifying this investment, it’s time to order some drinks and relax for the rest of this presentation

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– Agenda

• Advantages

• In-House?

• Following Recommendations

• Time

• The Analyst

• Implementation

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Is it worth it? – Advantages

Reducing Time to Market• Concurrent Engineering

• Lead Times

• Product Releases

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Is it worth it? – Advantages

Improving Quality• Scrap-Rate

• Customer Quality

• Production Headaches

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Is it worth it? – Advantages

Saving Money• Cutting Current Expenditure

• Avoiding Future Costs

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Is it worth it? – Advantages

Gaining Business• Think like a Marketeer

• Sell your Company’s Technical Advantage

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Take-Away #1

Customers are continually demanding higher standards of quality, while squeezing their

suppliers on time and money. The use of this type of software has helped lots of companies

make products faster, better and cheaper, and it can probably help you too. The key

here is that the software must be used to get these advantages.

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Is it worth it? – In-House?

Why not sub-contract?• Control

• Time

• Knowledge Gained

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Take-Away #2

Bringing the analysis in-house works out both faster and cheaper while increasing the

expertise of your own people.

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Is it worth it?– Following

Recommendations

Crazy Ideas• Sometimes Against Traditional

Approach

• Team Work & Experience also Needed

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Is it worth it?– Following

Recommendations

Communication• Reports to the Right People

• Make Sure They Read Them

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Is it worth it?– Following

Recommendations

Modification• Can solve a problem (Occasionally)

• Hands are Tied (More Likely)

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Take-Away #3

Know what you want before you start an analysis, understand the story behind the results and make sure you are both willing

and able to implement them.

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Is it worth it? – Time

First Priority• Addition to Other Work

• More than Just Analysis

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Take-Away #4

If you’re going to make the most of this investment you have to ensure that the

analyst is spending most of their time on it.

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Is it worth it? – The Analyst

The Type of Person• Intelligent

• Interested

• Friendly

• Experienced

• Committed

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Is it worth it? – The Analyst

The Number of Analysis• Four Products a Month?

• Customer Meetings

• Modeling

• Reporting

• Tool Trials

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Take-Away #5

Any reasonably intelligent person can perform an injection molding analysis, but, as with most jobs, to be really great at it you need

knowledge, experience and good communication/people skills. The actual

analysis is only a part of the job. Don’t expect one person to be able to analyze 200 parts

per year.

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Is it worth it? – Implementation

Year 1• Start Simple

• Devote 60% of Time

• Estimate Cost Avoidance

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Is it worth it? – Implementation

Year 2• Consider In-Depth Analysis

• Devote More Time to Analysis

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Is it worth it? – Implementation

Year 3• Consider Rolling out Simple Analysis

• Look at Additional Analysis

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Take-Away #6

Start slowly and build it up, but don’t do things half-heartedly. Make sure that you are

measuring the benefits and making people aware of them.

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– Final Word

• Right People

• Gaining Experience

• Time to do Work

• Measure Benefits

• Set Targets

• Strong Forward Looking Management

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– Questions