Room 811-812, 8/F, 16 Science Park West, Pak Shek Kok, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong

Abuot Egar

Egar Tool and Die Headquartered in Canada, it is a leader in the production of automotive stamping dies, stamped parts and welded assemblies. The company has supplied North American Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive companies for more than 40 years.

Challenges

The automotive industry is made up of a vast network of suppliers and suppliers, producing millions of parts for the thousands of components and subassemblies installed in every vehicle on the road. While some of these components are cast, forged or machined, a large proportion are stamped or formed from various types of sheet metal using large stamping machines capable of bending, cutting, forming, stamping and perforating the raw material. To cope with the constant iteration in vehicle design and the need for a large number of parts, suppliers must be able to quickly retool and retrofit production lines to minimize downtime.

For many companies, this is where Egar Mould comes in. At Egar Tool and Die, the challenge is twofold. First, the company must be able to quickly produce molds that meet customer requirements. But as a producer of more than 15 million stamped and welded components per year, Egar, like many of its customers, must be able to quickly retool for different jobs. To that end, the company is investing in state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies, including metal 3D printing.

Powerful tools

For Egar engineers, 3D printing has proven to be a powerful tool for overcoming these challenges - enabling them to rapidly produce end-of-arm tooling for punch presses and custom mold prototypes for in-house and customer use. Today, the vast majority (up to 80%) of Egar's 3D printing capacity is dedicated to producing end-of-arm tooling for its high-volume production punches. Using just one Studio system, employees can design, iterate and integrate components into their production lines in less than a week - minimizing manufacturing downtime. Another 20 percent of Egar's additive manufacturing is focused on prototyping and developing die components, specifically using materials such as H13 tool steel and 4140 chrome steel, which are commonly used in stamping dies.

Like end-of-arm tooling, 3D printing allows engineers to print and test multiple prototype end-of-arm tool dies with subtly different geometries and quickly refine designs to final parts. In addition to faster production, 3D printing allows engineers to create more complex parts—such as optimized end-of-arm tooling that traditional manufacturing cannot demonstrate high performance—while avoiding the increased cost that often accompanies highly complex designs. Using the Studio system, Egar engineers are able to produce end-of-arm tools and prototype molds with complex geometries, such as internal cooling channels, that cannot be fabricated by casting, machining, milling or other traditional methods.

Additive technologies also open the door to lightweight components such as the transfer arm of a press to optimize performance and reduce machine stress, as well as combine multiple components into one (assembly integration). Additive manufacturing also allows the use of generative design tools, enabling engineers to access new design spaces and create parts with organically inspired geometries to create parts optimized for their application, but lighter and less expensive to manufacture. In addition to the Desktop Metal™ products already in use, Egar engineers are eagerly exploring possible uses for upcoming materials, especially copper, for resistance welding applications. Egar has also invested in the Desktop Metal™ Fiber™ printer, which is expected to begin printing parts such as sensor brackets for gas metal arc welding systems in late 2020.

Why choose Desktop Metal™?

After exploring various systems, Egar engineers chose Studio System™ because of its powerful printer design and furnace capabilities. While other metal 3D printing systems employ similar sintering solutions, their furnaces are smaller, resulting in lower yields. In contrast, Desktop Metal™ furnaces have a unique vacuum chamber design, the ability to use chamber gas, and a larger volume that allows for larger parts and more parts per run, reducing the cost of printing each part.

Message from customers 

“I am very excited about the future of additive manufacturing in metals and plastics. There have been and will continue to be tremendous advances in both areas. In my opinion, Desktop Metal™ is at the forefront of these advancements and I look forward to seeing them next What kind of printer or technology will come out.”

—Colin Kools Director of Additive Manufacturing Egar Tooling Ltd.