With time being the critical success factor in the world of die design, new features in 3D design software have this Canadian shop shaving days off of lead times, particularly when developing complex dies featuring cam-trim and restrike stations. Henry Ford once said that "most people get ahead during the time that others waste." In that light, consider Tier Two design house Dilast Tool Die Ltd., in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, which feeds a steady diet of tooling to the region's automotive suppliers. The lethal combination of increased stamped-part complexity and shrinking lead times has Dilast president and part owner Gerald Claus searching for antidotes. Lead times for new projects are as short as 14 weeks, Claus says, down from 24 weeks just a few years ago. Also, customers often look for early-hit parts from hard tooling and laser trimmed in as little as 7 weeks. Meanwhile, part tolerances that once averaged ±0.040 in. have shrunk to as tight as 0.010 in., particularly for parts assembled via robotic welding.
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