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GW Plastics Installs State-of-the-Art Laser Machining Center In Royalton, Vermont Plant

New process to cut costs and improve production lead times

Bethel, Vermont – GW Plastics, one of North America (NAFTA region)’s most advanced manufacturers of precision injection molds, announced a major technology upgrade that will significantly reduce mold costs and cut production lead times in half. The company has recently completed installation of a Laser Machining Center at its world-class prototype and production mold making facility in Royalton, Vermont.

Increased Efficiency and Productivity

The new equipment applies high speed, multi-axis CNC technology to achieve controlled pulse-laser vaporization of a targeted material, resulting in highly accurate molds that are produced without the laborious, time-consuming operations of traditional EDM machining. Further economies are also realized by greatly reducing material costs, power usage and minimizing maintenance overhead.

According to Scott Rosen, GW Plastics’ Mold Making Division Plant Manager, "Cavity machining with a conventional EDM process requires layers of design, CNC programming, machining of electrodes, setup, positioning… all tasks performed by a human operator. Each activity costs time, money and introduces the opportunity for error. With the laser process, an STF file is imported directly into the 3D LaserSoft programming package. Once the parameters are set, the machine is turned on and the technology does the rest."

Validated Results

The new system is fully installed and currently being performance tested before being made available to customers. Rosen added, "This is one of only five such machining centers in the country and it furthers GW’s long-standing history of pursuing advanced mold making technologies to reduce cost and lead time for our customers."

In addition to conventional molds, GW Plastics’ Mold Making Division produces multi-shot, insert and precision gear molds for customers in the Healthcare, Automotive and Consumer Industrial Markets.

The company has also entered into strategic alliances with select offshore Asian mold makers to further complement its time and cost reduction efforts for customers worldwide.

GW Plastics is a global, high-precision injection molder, mold builder and contract manufacturer specializing in single-source responsibility for medium-to-high volume, close-tolerance components and assemblies. Ranked among the top 100 molders in North America, GW Plastics’ leading-edge technologies, total quality commitment and pursuit of innovation have driven its steady growth since the company was founded in 1955. The financially strong, closely held organization services a portfolio of Fortune 1000 customers in the Healthcare, Consumer/Industrial and Automotive markets. In addition to the China facility, GW has four U.S. plants (two in Vermont; San Antonio, Texas; and Tucson, Arizona). GW also has a full-service production facility in Queretaro, Mexico.