The technology is developing more strongly and more progressively which helps people work more easily and efficiently. Along with this development, mould industry is also developing strongly and improving itself. Here we will study the development trend of some major mould manufacturing powers (other than China):
1. Japan
Nowadays, Japan is still a leader in mould manufacturing technology in the world. According to statistics of MITI, currently there are about 10,000 mould manufacturers in Japan, and most of them are small and medium enterprises. Mould manufacturers in this country focus on professional, completing mould design with high quality. Since then, although most of them are small and medium-sized enterprises, but the "Made in Japan" mould brand is very popular and highly-rated.
In recent years, Japan mould industry has a significant development with plastic mould, powder metallurgy die, die-casting mould, while stamping dies and forging dies are tending to subside. Similar to other countries in Asia, this industry in Japan is also facing problems when the customers need shorter delivery times, lower production costs, higher quality and accuracy of the mould. The labor shortage is also a big problem at the moment. To overcome these problems, many Japanese manufacturers are actively expanding investments in equipment.
In processing, they are using extensively unattended processing units, or via computer online controlling. In design and manufacturing, most of these manufacturers are using CAD/CAE/CAM for motion stimulation analysis, DNC in machining. They also develop mainly die technology to high-precision, high-speed, long-life, complex, large-scale, integrated and high-performance aspects of development.
2. USA
Currently there are over 7000 mould manufacturers in the US, over 90% of which are small businesses with fewer than 50 people. From the peak development of the industry, American mould industry has become a professional high-tech industry in the world. US mould steel has standardized production and supply, mould design and manufacturing with wide usage of CAD/CAE/CAM, processing technology and advanced inspection equipment. The manufacturers here focus on manufacturing with large-scale and complex, high-precision, long-life moulds. The development of high-performance moulds has reached the top level. But since the 1990s, after major adjustment of the industrial age, the US economy is also facing the problem of international competition strongly: cost, time and competition.
3. Germany
Germany is well-known for processing techniques, and production of machinery, precision tools, and the popularity of the industry mould is well enough to express this. In this complex mould industry, after years of practice and exploration, German mould manufacturers had a consensus: The whole industry must be closely coordinated, have teamwork support, exploiting the development potential with the spirit of innovation, advanced technology, learning from each other and promoting the overall advantages to achieve the success of this industry.
In addition, to let the new products meet the needs of rapid development, not only big enterprises have been establishing R&D centers but many small businesses also. They take the initiative to do R&D for their customers. Always researching developing the products has become an important basic for the development and international competitiveness of Germany. Currently, the rate of German mould exports is stable at around 33% for years. According to statistics, in Germany there are over 5000 mould manufacturing enterprises.
(Source: Mouldsnet.com)