The Engineering Resource Center LLC (ERC), Germantown, Wis., now is operating as a stand-alone business offering prototype molds, components and bridge tooling separate from Plastic Components Inc., the custom injection molder that ERC used to serve as a captive mold maker.
The business has been purchased and is being operated by President Ryan Duffey, to provide steel prototype tooling and components that also can be used in production, if needed. Matt Sweeney serves as manager and Kyle Morris as primary engineer. The shop is searching for an experienced journeyman toolmaker.
"We have run everything here, from prototype tools that have made 30 parts in total, to prototype tools that essentially became production tools that make a quarter of a million parts," Duffey said during a tour of the facility in August. "Everything we build here, we build out of steel. Another prototype shortcut is to use aluminum; that can work if you only want a couple thousand parts. But a lot of times [our customers] want 5,000, 8,000 parts and [if] they use really, really aggressive resins, aluminum can wear quickly."
The company's machines — a Haas CNC steel cutter, Hurco CNC steel cutter, Hurco graphite cutter and Mitsubishi electrical discharge machine (EDM) — were busy on the day of the tour. The EDM is designed to achieve tight tolerances.
"The way you get that really tight tolerance is to burn it in as opposed to cutting it," Duffey said of working with the EDM machine. "Most prototype houses don't burn because it just takes so long. This is one of the things we tell engineers — we're going to be a week longer, but you're going to get it exactly how you want it. You are going to know that we achieved the sharp curve, we achieved the corner, we achieved the radius."
One of the most complex projects that ERC has handled is the mold design of an acetal hook seal that is 6 inches wide but has a flatness tolerance of just 0.12 inch for a customer that specializes in airway clearance technologies. That flatness tolerance was the tricky engineering task. Exact details are confidential, but the customer was having the part machined from plastic, rather than molded, prior to what ERC did on the project, which meant a higher price per piece. Using Moldflow simulation and their knowledge of machining, ERC's engineering team analyzed many factors, including how much warp the part could have.
One of the company's other services is called Virtual Engineer, which offers customized engineering support for clients during each stage of product development. The service allows clients to pay for services as they need them. ERC has developed packages for short-term or long-term engineering support.
Under Duffey's direction, ERC now also has added an injection molding machine, a Toyo 55-ton model, to be used as part of a testing cell. The company can also test some resins for customers.
"Everything can pretty much be done in this cell," Duffey said. "Prototyping is the best time to do testing. We'll get resins, two to three, to test, and customers love that. Especially in the last year, when there have been some resin shortages, to get multiple materials on a print, that is a really big deal. It's getting to be an even bigger deal. We have a lot of people who might not know what resin they should use. So we'll say, do you really need that $8-per-pound resin? Here is one for $4 per pound, and it will give you the same characteristics."
ERC also has 3-D printing capabilities via a Stratasys uPrint model that processes simple ABS. By January, it plans to add a five-axis machining center.
Angie DeRosa, managing editor
Contact:
Engineering Resource Center LLC, 262-532-5873, www.engineeringresourcecenter.com
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