Micro mold industry is promising

Microsystem technology has become one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and there is a large demand for industries that need to manufacture extremely small, high-precision parts. The inherent complexity of micro-components also opens up new opportunities for moldmakers. When simple and moderately complex mold manufacturing is transferred to countries with low labor costs, moldmakers in the United States and Europe can turn to more advanced technologies such as micro-molds and micro-milling to maintain their competitive advantage.

One of the main challenges in machining molds for small parts is the machining of micro parts. Both the direct milling of the active area of ​​the mold and the manufacture of small EDM electrodes place very high demands on the milling process.

Challenges associated with micro-milling include the use of micro-cutting tools that are reduced in diameter to 100 micrometers (μm) or less and operate at very high speeds up to 150,000 rpm. The surface quality (Ra) needs to reach 0.2 micron. And since polishing is not practical for such small parts and minute details, micro-milling requires no polishing.

This shows that the progress of plastic rubber molds and stamping molds has been significantly improved. It still maintains a relatively high level of development, and the contribution rate to mold exports remains high. In addition, large-scale, sophisticated, complex, long-lived high-grade molds and mold standard parts develop faster than general mold products; the number of professional mold factories increases, the ability improves rapidly; “three foreign capitals” and private enterprises develop rapidly; the state-owned enterprise joint-stock system reform accelerates .