BioPlastics

Challenge:

BioPlastics, the leading manufacturer of coated webbing products. In the past, BioPlastics used a 2D system to design customized extrusion dies used for applying plastic coating to webbing. The die designs would then be sent to an outside vendor for machining. The  vendor needs to start from scratch and re-create the design using their CAD/CAM program. “It was inefficient and it cost us money,” Sherwin says. “There would always be these extra expenses for ‘engineering time’ on invoices from the tooling shop.” 

Solution:

ZW3D appeared to have an easy learning curve plus it had all the capabilities that BioPlastics needed.” Now, using ZW3D, BioPlastics creates 3D models of the extrusion die and sends them directly to the tooling shop where the models are used as-is with no need for translation or re-creation. This speeds the process of creating the die. It also saves money since “engineering time” is no longer needed to re-create the design in a form the tooling shop can use. Finally, cutting the time needed to produce dies allows BioPlastics to be more responsive to customers. 

Testimonial:

"I was surprised that ZW3D was so easy to use. The learning curve was really quick, and if I need to make changes to a design, it takes just seconds to change a dimension and update the whole design, including drawings."

— BioPlastics