Designing for the Future

By Lodent Precision Ltd
schedule29th Jan 13

Lodent Precision, one of the largest tool makers in the UK, based in Brownhills, West Midlands has invested in their future. Over the past years Lodent has out sourced their Press Tool designs, as do many Press Tool makers .

After working closely with their chosen Tool Designers, Lodent accepts the designs, presents them too their customer for approval and then commences tool manufacture. This has worked to our satisfaction for many years commented Paul Riley a Director at Lodent and, in future, if we cannot satisfy the demand with our own facility then we will sub contract some work again,  managed by our Design Manager.

However, having our own designer allows us several benefits. We are able to establish our own standards and work to those standards throughout the company not only from Design but also Machining and Inspection. Our Toolmakers will be able to work closely with our Designer and Machinist’s to resolve any issues which arise during tool assembly and try out.

Over the past twelve months Lodent has seen the benefit of Simulation to prove the “Process” before tool design and so have our customers. We use the simulation to establish the tool layout and exactly how many stages are required to produce the part, the machining surfaces required to allow for spring back etc. The past twelve months has shown us, by using Simulation up front we are able to deliver quality tooling on time. By adding in house Design to Simulation we are closing the loop for our customers and controlling all aspects of our responsibility after accepting the customer order.

We have invested in Visi – Progress Professional Tool design suite from Vero. After investigating the market place we chose the Visi product commented Paul. However, purchasing the software is only part of the investment, the major part is the Designer. We have appointed Bill Hogg as our Design Manager. Bill comes with a wealth of knowledge having worked in the industry for more than 30 years. Bill’s knowledge of Single op, Progression and Transfer tools of plate or cast construction is extensive and well regarded and matches our core tooling products perfectly.

Our current enquiry levels for new tooling is good, this is giving us the confidence to invest in our future. The next plan is to increase our CNC Milling facility with the installation of new machines and technologies.