According to Moulin, around 70 per cent of projects now start from drawings, rather than the epoxy models traditionally used in the glass industry. Cadcam technology is increasingly being used in packaging design as it promises quick, accurate and economically competitive virtual designs that previously could only be realised through models.
The first stage in most Moulin projects is to create a 3D product design in Delcam's Powershape hybrid modeller. This can be used to design a full range of processes - blow moulds for plastic or glass, injection moulds for closures, and punches for cans - which can be generated rapidly and accurately.
Logos, textures and other decorations can be easily incorporated into standard pack designs, such as raised glass logos. The modification of complex designs is also much easier and quicker, making it possible to create a greater selection of alternatives when presenting proposals for new designs.
For the more complex items that still come as models, Moulin uses a Renishaw Cyclone to digitise the shape. Delcam's reverse engineering package, CopyCAD, is used to create surfaces from the data, which are then passed into Powershape.
Once the CAD model has been approved by the customer, tooling designs are produced in Powershape and toolpaths to machine the cavities generated by the Powermill CAM system. While the use of the five-axis machines has reduced the need for electrodes, they are still used when high-quality, textured finishes have been specified.
"Since we have been using Delcam software, our quality has gone up and our lead times have gone down," said company president Jacky Moulin. "Powershape is very powerful. Our crystal moulds often have four or five sections and can even go up to eight parts. They have very complex split lines, which Powershape always handles successfully."
Moulin claims to have invested heavily in packaging technology. The company's tool room contains three DMG five-axis machining centres, two DMU 70 eVolution and a DMU 50V, for cutting the mould cavities, and a Mazak Integrex for milling, turning and drilling the tools.
One DMU 70 has an integrated palette changer for automatic overnight machining. This can produce up to sixteen mould halves overnight, depending on the complexity of the design. As well as enabling this impressive productivity, the use of five-axis machining gives better accuracy and easier accessibility into small details of complex moulds, according to Moulin.
Cadcam, or Computer Aided Design, was developed in the 1960s and '70s specifically for the defence and air industries, and the technology was known as surface modelling. It was highly complex - earlier this year, Peter Dickin, marketing manager for Delcam UK told FoodProductionDaily.com that it took 6 months' training to be able to use the software. In the '80s and '90s, solid modelling technology was developed, which was easier to use but not as flexible.
Delcam believes it has now developed software that combines the flexibility of surface modelling with the applicability of solid modelling. "This gives packaging designers the ability to convert a standard container into a unique design," said Dickin.
This 'total modelling' approach, or hybrid approach, means that logos, textures and other decorations can be easily incorporated into standard pack designs, like the raised glass logo on a bottle of whisky. The modification of complex designs is also much easier and quicker, making it possible to create a greater selection of alternatives when presenting proposals for new designs.