Metal Additive Manufacturing Machine Series Enables High-Volume Mold Component Production

Matsuura’s metal 3D printing via its Lumex series enable the production of high-volume mold components with conformal cooling and integrated porous venting, minimizing the need for traditional EDM processes and reportedly providing significant savings for the production of molded plastic components.

The implementation of the Lumex machine emphasizes its success. Matsuura notes a metal injection molding customer added the Lumex Avance-25, a metal laser sintering hybrid milling machine to its new product development group, and reportedly reduced its market-entry tooling lead time from four weeks to four days.

Similarly, a high-volume consumer packaging producer utilized the Lumex technology to address replacement parts and spare component inventory for high-production molds. The company, which originally stocked $100,000’s of inventory for its molds, has now currently reduced its inventory requirements to only the most critical components.

Finally, Matsuura says a liquid silicone injection molder employed the controlled porosity technology on the Lumex system to reduce tooling development time, and now provides venting without the risk of flash. Further, the company avoids the previous trial and error, reducing its initial tool development in most cases by more than 80%.

Matsuura also offers production services, which benefits tooling, injection molding, CNC machining and die-casting processes and operations. The Lumex team works with users throughout the entire process, including design to help customers fully realize the benefits throughout the life of their products.