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Chicago White Metal’s High-Pressure Die Casting process is the perfect solution for high-volume manufacturing projects – especially if you are concerned with cost, efficiency, repeatability, and producing high-quality parts. High-volume manufacturing, via the high-pressure die casting process, involves an investment in tooling. Still, the benefits are that parts can be converted from raw material to finished parts quickly, with minimal part-to-part variation and significant cost savings. Because manufacturers can produce parts more efficiently, high-volume production decreases the cost of production per unit. In the case of high-pressure die casting, parts can be converted from raw material to finished parts in seconds.

High-volume production is also the most efficient way to quickly turn around a large order of parts or products, allowing products to get to market faster and organizations to stay on the leading edge of innovation. In a competitive economy where companies continually introduce new items, the time and money saved with high-volume production can set an organization up for success.

Past vs. Present

In the past, a manufacturer might have only been able to produce a small number of parts per day. Machinery advancements enabled output to increase. For example, the first documented use of the die casting process was in the mid-19th century. It involved manually pouring molten metal into a die that opened and closed using a primitive machine. When employing state-of-the-art machinery and a skilled team, today’s manufacturers can produce thousands of units daily, if not more.

Modern high-volume die casting uses automation, including robotics, sophisticated controls, camera systems, sensors, and other technical advancements. These innovations offer many benefits, including repeatability, higher quality products, and lower (and more predictable) long-term costs of operation. However, successfully scaling to high-volume manufacturing requires foresight and planning to streamline the production process and minimize changes.

Scaling – Best Practices

Scaling up a product from the prototype or low-volume production stage (such as a machined part) to a high-volume manufacturing environment (such as high-pressure die casting) can be one of the most exciting stages of the production process. The decisions made during this transition will have significant implications for all aspects of a product, from tooling and manufacturing process control to packaging and user documentation. That’s why having an experienced team around you is crucial to help guide you through the process.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before considering scaling up to a high-volume manufacturing process such as high-pressure die casting:

• Are you confident you’ll need enough parts to justify the tooling investment required for high-pressure die casting?
  • The typical quantity for high-pressure die casting is 5,000 pieces per year for several years (often much higher). There are exceptions, but the higher the volume, the more likely the high-pressure die casting process would be the right choice for your product.
• Will the alloy offered by the die caster be suitable for your application?
  • Some common die casting alloys include A380 aluminum, AZ91D magnesium, and Zinc #3.
  • Ferrous alloys are not an option for high-pressure die casting.
• Is your design appropriate for high-pressure die casting?
  • Die casting is likely the right choice if the design is three-dimensional and not quickly stamped or extruded.
• Is the design optimized and stable?
  • To maximize the payback from the tooling investment, optimizing the design and ensuring it is relatively stable before building tooling is crucial, as making changes to tooling after it is constructed can be expensive.

Partnering with the Right Die Caster

Suppose you think your part is eligible for high-pressure die casting. In that case, it’s vital to seek out a reputable die caster with enough experience to guide you through selecting an appropriate alloy, optimizing the design, building robust, high-quality tooling, and developing an optimized set of processing parameters. There are numerous areas where an experienced die caster can help your organization ramp up to higher-volume production.

Engineering Design Services, for example, offer tremendous value to the customer because the greatest opportunity for cost savings comes in the design phase before the tooling is built. As part of their design service, CWM uses sophisticated modeling and simulation tools such as Magmasoft and SolidWorks—a solid modeling computer-aided design and engineering application—to help design parts and tooling of the highest quality and lowest cost.

When you collaborate with a die caster who utilizes this state-of-the-art technology, your part is manufactured efficiently over the entire product lifecycle—that’s why having a team of experts to work with you throughout the process is essential.

CWM & High-Volume Production

CWM’s approach to high-volume production is the same in everything we do: Excellence is expected. Our engineering and manufacturing processes are streamlined to benefit our customers’ needs. For example, if high-pressure die casting makes sense, we will provide accurate estimates of the cost of tooling and parts, including complete finishing, coatings, etc., and we will work with your team to ensure the part’s success.

Chicago White Metal specializes in the high-volume production of Aluminum, Magnesium, and Zinc die cast parts. We supply numerous industries with parts that are used in everyday products worldwide. Don’t hesitate to contact us to learn more about our high-volume die casting services.