Changing its CAM system enabled a mould and die shop to reduce delivery times of parts by as much as two days when machining cores and cavities, as the toolpaths were ready for machining.

CAM helps die shop speed up deliveries Changing its cam system enabled a mould and die shop to reduce delivery times of parts by as much as two days when machining cores and cavities, as the toolpaths were ready for machining. Since becoming established in 1993, Korean company Daeil Mold Co has been awarded a number of prizes for exporting of goods, including an award from the Korean Prime Minister. Daeil Mold produces mold tools mainly for the home appliance, small gear and automotive parts sectors, producing parts for clients including Samsung, LG Electronics, Halla climate control Corp (HCC) and Schefenacker.

In 2001 Daeil Mold decided to adopt a Total quality control philiosophy throughout their organisation, which included reviewing the cam software that they used.

The initial introduction of DEPOCAM to the Mold Tool Department enabled Daeil Mold to combine the cam programming Department with the CNC Machining Department.

This change reduced delivery times of parts by as much as two days when machining cores and cavities, as the toolpaths were ready to be machined, avoiding the modifications that had to be made after they were received from the Programming Department.

Following the success of the DEPOCAM software, its use was extended to the Electrode Machining Department.

By again combining the CAM Programming Department with the CNC Machining Department, operators could then be utilised in other areas such as for the modeling of electrodes, reducing the delivery times by yet another day, as well as the cost of labour.

Byung Jin Kim, CAM and NC manager at Daeil Mold Co explained: 'Before we used DEPOCAM, our NC Operator would wait until the CAM program finished processing, but they can now start on the next manufacturing process as soon as the 3D model data is ready.' He continued: 'It is also very easy to make changes when repairing mold tools, as the NC Operator can find the problem directly without waiting on an additional department.' Kim added: 'We were using PowerMill software a few years ago in the CAM room, but it was not easy for the NC Operator to learn.

We decided to purchase DEPOCAM because it is very suitable for the NC Operator to learn and extremely easy to use.' He concluded: 'We currently use two seats of DEPOCAM software, but we have plans to set-up each NC operator with their own seat,' concluded Kim.