Texturing Molds – Green evolution
Interview with Eng. Ruggero Canova – Business Development Manager
When it comes to texturing of molds worldwide, the leading company is Standex Engraving Mold-Tech: 46 factories around the world, 1500 employees, 70 years of history.
Standex Engraving Mold-Tech, Mold-Tech for short, historically deals with chemical embossing on injection molds and calendering rolls. In the last decade Mold-Tech has acquired a position of market leader in the field of laser embossing and the manufacture of nickel molds for Slush and IMG molding.
In the various market sectors of plastic molding, primarily automotive, but also furniture, medical, sportswear and many others, industrial designers and CMF (color, material, finishing) experts are concerned with the appearance and consistency of printed surfaces. plastic. Mold-Tech collaborates with the designers and engineers of the main OEMs to develop and create textures and finishes able to excite and enrich the perception of car interiors and any plastic surface.
Not only the aesthetics, but also the functionality of the objects and their comfort are engineered to give them an added value in terms of User Experience. This concept has been taken to the extreme in the R&D and commercial fields with a catalog of Functional Textures, which overlap the aesthetic textures to give antibacterial or self-cleaning properties to plastic surfaces, or modulate the transmission or reflection of light, for example in the lighting. , or finally to improve the technical part of the molding process, for example by favoring the flow of the polymer or by avoiding stains and molding lines.
Mold-Tech is evolving from a green perspective by exploring new textures to improve the performance of recycled plastic. The company is paying particular attention to the energy market and the possibility of applying functional textures to increase efficiency in energy collection.
Esedra’s support was requested regarding a very ambitious project in this area, focused on the USE OF RECYCLED MATERIALS and on the design and engineering of LIGHTWEIGHT, RESISTANT AND RECYCLABLE end-of-life products.
From initial sketches, to 3D modeling and photorealistic rendering, passing through the simulation of the mechanical properties of the product according to the relevant standards: a job, as reported by Eng. Canova, Business Development Manager of Standex, which was carried out by the Esedra studio in an accurate and timely manner, but above all flexible, responding promptly to requests for changes in progress.
Now Standex, working alongside Esedra with great confidence, looks to even more ambitious future projects in the field of energy efficiency and improving the quality of life on the planet.
