Byrne Tool + Design
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TRANSFORMS THE TOOL SHOP AT BYRNE TOOL + DESIGN By Dianna Brodine, managing editor, The American Mold Builder
pplications for additive manufacturing grow on a daily basis. A From custom shoes to complex aerospace applications to medical interventions, new technologies in both machines and materials are expanding the realm of possibility for a process that’s been around for more than three decades, even as its popularity has exploded in the last five years.
Byrne Tool + Design, a tool and die shop in Rockford, Michigan, has had more than six years to explore the applications and advantages in additive manufacturing, starting where all manufacturers start – jigs and fixtures – and transforming its skill sets to increase the value to its own organization and its customers. Whether modeling prototype parts, building fixtures for internal processes, reverse-engineering damaged molds or exploring small-scale production, Byrne Tool is embracing what 3D printing can do for the mold building industry. FROM EXPLORATION TO STANDARD PROCESS In 2014, Byrne Tool invested in its first additive manufacturing machine, driven by the desire to speed turnaround time for customer projects by insourcing work that was being sent to outside vendors. “We do a lot more than injection mold building,” said Marc Mitchell, additive manufacturing business 14
development manager. “We also do development work for our customers. We were outsourcing a lot of the printed parts or fixtures that our customers wanted done, but we realized we could get parts for them faster if we had our own machine.” The first purchase was a Stratasys Fortis 250MC, a 3D printer using fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. During FDM, a thermoplastic material is melted and then deposited in layers to “build” the desired part. With a capacity for parts up to 10x10x12-inches, the equipment functioned as an introductory model that allowed the team at Byrne Tool to explore the additive manufacturing space. Now, the company has three machines on site and uses the assets to provide “additive manufacturing (3D printing) for printed molds, parts, fixtures and end-of-arm tooling,” according to the Byrne Tool website. As with almost any new equipment or process introduction, there was some resistance from employees who were initially unimpressed with the technology. “The learning process to actually understand how to use the equipment wasn’t too bad – the machine has excellent software that is easy to use, so we pretty quickly understood how to take a part and print it out,” page 16
the american MOLD BUILDER | Issue 2 2021
