Manufacturing example: Cable holder tool
Success through combined technologies
ARaymond is one of the world's leading manufacturers of advanced fastening and assembly systems, especially for the automotive industry. Many of these fasteners have to be extensively tested to meet the stringent requirements of vehicle production. For this purpose, near-series components made from the original material are required.
The cable holder in question is a test series with a batch size of 3,000 pieces, which was produced by FIT using a combination of additive manufacturing and conventional technology. Metal 3D printing was used for the injection mold. The small batch production is realized via injection molding.
Additive manufacturing of the injection mold
The starting point for the mold design was the 2D drawing as well as the 3D data set of the cable holder, which were provided to the mold experts at FIT by ARaymond. The feasibility check yielded a positive result, so that the CAD design of the injection mold could be started directly. After completion of the design, the mold was coordinated with ARaymond in terms of mold separation, sprue concept and ejector positions and final approval by the customer was given.
The mold was produced by laser melting (LM or PBF-LB/M) from maraging steel (1.2709 or M1) within 3 working days. This was followed by the finishing steps of milling, polishing, eroding and touching, so that the mold was available for injection molding after 7 working days.
Injection molding production of the cable holder
Before the production of the small series started, a sampling was carried out at the request of ARaymond, i.e. a production of 100 test parts. In the quality labs of FIT, the properties of the test parts were determined by:
- a tactile measurement as well as
- a false color adjustment by micro-CT scan
After approval of the test parts by ARaymond, 3,000 cable holders from PA 6 GF15were produced using injection molding. FIT has various injection molding machines with a clamping force of up to 150 t.
The small-batch production was monitored during production in accordance with the quality specifications so that the near-series properties of the cable supports were fully met at all times.
The special process requirements
The components were used by ARaymond for functional tests and design verification as part of the product development process. The quality of the cable holders allows conclusions to be drawn for the optimization of the design and the final series tool. The faster this iteration takes place, the sooner the product can be launched on the market.
The benefits of rapid tooling for ARaymond:
- 40% cost savings by 3D printing the tool.
- 50% time savings in delivering the parts for functional testing.
Would you also like to benefit from low tooling costs and fast delivery? Then contact us. Together we will find a solution.
Send request >
Contact us >
Steps to your injection molding tool and parts
Our services
Content
Results
Technical facts about the cable holder tool
| FIT solution: | Rapid tooling |
| Scope of services: | Tool design
Additive manufacturing and post-processing Sampling Injection molding of small batch series QA documentation (material test certificates, material certificates, measurement reports) Packaging and shipping |
| Delivery time: | 15 working days |
| Par dimensions: | 95 x 40 x 15 mm |
| Part weight: | 12 g |
| Lot size: | 3,000 pc |
| Material (tool): | Maraging steel (1.2709 resp. M1) |
| Technology (tool): | Laser melting (LM resp. PBF-LB/M) |
| Material (parts): : | PA 6 GF15 |
| Technology (parts): | Injection molding |
| Quality control: | Tactile 3D coordinate measurement
Micro ct scan (false color) |
| Certificate: | ISO 9001 |
Learn more here!
Innovation guide
Your indispensable compendium on all aspects of 3D printing. Here you will find everything about the various 3D printing processes, finishing options, machine data and application examples from numerous industries.
Free download >
