There
are companies that provide services on design and build tooling and
patterns for molding processes. These processes include blow molding,
compression molding, die casting, die forging, extrusion, injection
molding, investment casting, lost foam casting, permanent mold casting,
powder metal molding, rotational molding, sand casting, thermoforming,
and transfer molding. Mold making processes for metals include permanent
mold casting, die casting, and die forging. Mold making processes for
rubber and plastics include injection molding, extrusion, and
thermoforming. Mold making services provide CAD/CAM support, design assistance, model making, model texturing, production facilities, and rapid prototyping. Computer aided design or drafting (CAD) is used to design products quickly and accurately. Computer aided manufacturing (CAM) is used to fabricate products directly from CAD outputs. Mold making services that provide design assistance can help with concepts, manufacturing costs, manufacturing techniques and material considerations such as sourcing. They may also be able to assist with upgrading, redesigning, reevaluating or modernizing existing products to increase performance and/or reduce manufacturing costs. Some mold making services create models of finished products before investing in hard tooling. Others can add textures for functional or cosmetic purposes. Mold making services may also offer on-site manufacturing of production quantities, or produce prototypes for visual or tryout inspection.
Mold
making services provide several types of certifications. ISO 9001:2000
establishes requirements for company quality management systems and
covers standards ranging from manufacturing to services such as design,
development, production, and installation. AS 9000 is a set of quality
guidelines and requirements published by the Society of Automotive
Engineers (SAE) in cooperation with major aerospace manufacturers.
AS9000 is based on ISO 9001 but maintains a particular focus on the
aerospace industry. QS 9000 is a quality standard for suppliers of
DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors
Corporation. QS-9000 is based on the 1994 edition of ISO 9001, but
contains additional requirements that are particular to the automotive
industry. Specifically, QS 9000 applies to suppliers of production
materials, production and service parts, heat-treating, painting and
plating and other finishing services. Mold making services also provide tooling to a range of industries that includes aerospace, automotive, food processing, optical, medical, and pharmaceutical companies. Mold making services also manufacture products for companies that provide electric and electronic components and semiconductors.




