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Tooling
DESIGNING AND PRECISION ENGINEERING FOR MANUFACTURE
DESIGNING AND PRECISION ENGINEERING FOR MANUFACTURE
A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE
Since our start in 1965, tool making has been at the heart of what we do. For over 50 years, RGE have been providing turnkey tool and mould making solutions, partnering with customers across numerous sectors to complete more than 400 injection mould tooling projects each year.
Our vast industry knowledge and years of experience means that we are able to manufacture injection mould tooling with multiple cavities, gas injection capabilities, fast cycling, bi-injection, and over-moulding moulds.
Made to assess the tooling requirements for the project
Designs are generated and validated before work begins
T1, T2, and T3 samples are made before manufacturing
CREATING HIGH QUALITY FINISHED PARTS
Our design and engineering teams work closely together to ensure all of our high quality tools are tried, tested, and made to your exact requirements every time.
The constant reinvestment we have made within this area has seen our tooling capabilities expand across the globe, becoming true centres of manufacturing excellence, from our toolmaking facility in Shenzhen, China, to our onsite toolroom at RGE Whittlesey, which gives us the ability to service mould tools and run production under the same roof.
The investments we have made to this crucial area of the business allowed our tooling capabilities expand, as we take on more varied and complex projects.
OUR SPECIALISED TOOLING FACILITY
In 2001, RGE opened our toolmaking facility in China. RGE has had a presence in China since 1998, but decided to open a dedicated injection mould tool production site, based in Shenzhen. The site has the capability for bi-injection, gas assisted, high cavitation, and hardened tools up to 15 tonnes.
The facility is capable of producing 250 mould tools each year, using local expertise alongside UK based project managers.
THE TOOL MAKING PROCESS
Our engineering team works closely with our design engineers to collaborate with customers when adapting any initial designs to make the project suitable for injection moulding. We use only the latest technologies to utilities the best of both the surface and solids systems of CAD modelling.
Our team works closely with each customer to understand the quality requirements of the mould tool and end product. Prototypes of the product are made to test the functionality of each design, and allow us to work on the tooling requirements for the project. This helps to highlight any areas that may need adapting to improve the functionality of parts, and ensure that each part will be made to the highest quality.
Working with RGE toolmakers at our facility in China, tool designs are generated and sent back to us to validate before work begins on producing the tools. A number of different tests are carried out on the tools before the manufacturing process begins.
Test mouldings are made to allow us to check that the tool works correctly, and to test the mould flow in practice, which helps to eliminate any potential weak spots within the moulding. This can sometimes lead us to make changes to the tools, or change the design of the product itself to ensure the best functionality. T1, T2, and T3 samples of the product are manufactured using the tools, and then are approved by the customer ahead of production to ensure that they are satisfied with the look, quality and functionality of each part.
RGE works closely with the customer, reviewing each step and each sample before production progresses. Sometimes, modifications to the tool are needed – a complex process, but one that is essential to meeting the quality expectations of the customer. Using lots of inserts as part of a tool makes it easier to modify, as they can be changed without having to alter the whole tool. The initial tooling tests are performed to avoid the need for any modifications.