Transfer Dies, Quoting Accuracy, and Change Management: The Cimatron Die Advantage

Another is a progressive die shop running Cimatron. But the dice-world is larger than that. Transfer dies, compound dies, single station tools each with its own design logic and therefore the potential for its own set of challenges when you are trying to quote accurately, design efficiently and manage changes without losing track of what is current.

This is how Cimatron Die Design addresses some of the least talked about, but very real challenges in a stamping tool shop.

Transfer dies: same pressure, different logic

Transfer dies use a transfer mechanism, fingers or rails that pick up the part and carry it—to move the part from station to station. This is often the case with larger parts that cannot be carried on a strip, or where the progressive method would require too many stations to be practical.

The design challenge is that each station has to be designed not just for the forming operation that it does but for the transfer geometry – how the part arrives, how it sits in the station and how it gets picked up and moved to the next one. Cimatron handles transfer die design in the same environment as progressive work, so shops that run both need not change tools depending on the type of job.

Quoting: Where You Need Accuracy Before You Make Any Money

Every die shop knows the pain of getting a job, and then finding out it costs more than you quoted. This quote is about the decisions you make regarding the appearance of the die before the design stage — and mistakes made at this stage can eat up the margin on the entire job.

Cimatron’s strip layout and station planning tools allow designers to quickly rough out the die concept, even at quote stage. You don’t have to guess by experience, you can do a quick layout and get a realistic picture of:

• The number of stations the die will need
• Estimate of the size and weight of the die set
• What standard components will be required
• Any features of the part that will necessitate special forming approaches
• With a rough Cimatron layout and a quote, you have a better quote, you have a more confident quote.

Change Management The Real Cost of Part Revisions

Parts vary. Sometimes the customer sends you revision 2 the day after you finished the die design for revision 1. How your design system deals with that revision determines how much of the design work has to be redone.

Cimatron’s associative model connects the die design to the part geometry. When the part changes, the software tells you what is impacted and updates it where it can automatically. For changes that require manual intervention – a forming sequence that no longer works, a station that needs to be added – Cimatron calls out what needs attention, rather than making you discover problems during tryout.

This is more than just a time saver. It’s about control – knowing that the die design you are working on is the latest version of the part, not three weeks ago.

The Unspoken Price of Re-Work
Re-work is the margin killer in any tool room. If a die returns from tryout with problems that can be traced back to the design—incorrect clearances, sequences that did not consider springback, interference that was not detected—the cost is deducted directly from the job profitability.

Cimatron does not completely eliminate re-work. None at all. But it does cut the category of re-work that comes from things that could have been caught at the design stage: interference issues, issues with formability, revision errors. That’s the sort of thing a specialist die design tool has to win on.

Is Cimatron a Good Fit for Your Shop?

If your shop does mixed die work – progressive, transfer, single-station – and you’re finding quoting to be more guesswork than analysis, revisions to make more re-work than they should, or design time eating into your margins, Cimatron Die Design is worth serious evaluation.

PELF Engineering works with stamping tool shops to evaluate the investment in Cimatron. If you want to have a no-obligation discussion about your current workflow and where a specialist solution could help, get in touch.