A web-based model for developing: A mold base design system

In the age of networking and digitalization, operations of dealing and production process can be accelerated through a World-Wide-Web collaboration, integrating designs and manufacturing management of products and molds. Molding is the most commonly used method of production for modern products, while a mold manufacturer today should connect firmly, through the supply chain system, to all the points, so as to increase service performance for the customers. A web-based sharing system of mold base design and ordering is considerable, being built whereby a customer will get the design with price information quickly and the order shipped more conveniently. This paper provides to the plastic mold industry a developing process of a web-based parametric design system of mold bases. First of all, contents of the related information and data are analyzed and expanded by the method of IDEFO, and are finely structured into design procedure and all sorts of database. A three-tiered mold base design model with distributed database is presented to reduce the expense of software building and the renewal of the system database. The system interface uses maps plus parametric and feature-based database to make the processes of design smoother, and also edition and viewing of the results. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.