Software has clear advantages for glass maker
A
Delcam product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Mar 22, 2004
Delcam's Total Modelling CADCAM software has helped the Barnsley factory of Rexam Glass to offer total freedom of creative expression to its clients.
Delcam's Total Modelling CADCAM software has helped the Barnsley factory of Rexam Glass to offer total freedom of creative expression to its clients.
The embossing and debossing opportunities given by the software provide the latest addition to the extensive range of in-house decorative opportunities, which give Rexam's customers more ways to express their creativity and reinforce the personality and values of their brands.
Adding relief onto the glass is one of the most distinctive decoration methods available, enabling customers to not only see but also to feel a key message or device, such as the trademark.
The process adds an extra dimension to brand communication, providing a tangible expression of the brand and an overall impression of quality.
Before Rexam invested in Delcam's software, all engraving of the bottle moulds to generate the reliefs was undertaken by hand.
Like all manual processes, hand engraving was slow, and, therefore, expensive.
It was also very difficult to maintain consistency over a long run of moulds.
"Adding the Delcam software has been a great leap forward", said Roy Illingworth, who manages the CADCAM systems in the mould manufacturing unit.
"We can complete designs more quickly and can produce critical decorations like trade marks more accurately and with greater consistency.
It has taken a lot of pressure of us and means that we can offer a far better service to our customers".
The first stage in the process is to create a model of the bottle in Delcam's PowerShape CAD system.
For the majority of bottles, the underlying shape is a simple round.
This can be produced by importing a profile, either from the customer or from Rexam's two-dimensional drawing software, and rotating it to create the bottle surface.
The decoration can be supplied either as artwork or text.
This is scanned into PowerShape, and then the wrapping tools in the software are used to project the shape onto the bottle surface.
The combined model is sent for customer approval.
Once approved the bottle design is inverted to give the mould design.
Toolpaths are created with Delcam's PowerMill CAM system to drive the five-axis Haas machine tool that engraves the decoration into the surface of the mould.
As well as giving distinctive packs, the engraving process is also used as an important part of Rexam's quality control systems.
A series of numbers and letters are embossed near the base of every bottle, giving information such as the size and height.
One of these numbers indicates the mould in which the bottle was made.
Thus, if any faulty products are found during quality control, all other bottles from the problem mould can be identified and removed from the packing lines automatically.
The addition of Delcam's CADCAM software has been part of a major investment programme at the Barnsley site to increase productivity and quality.
This has increased the capacity of the site to over 1.3 billion bottles per year, helping to consolidate Rexam's position as one of the world's top five manufacturers of consumer packaging.
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