The operation at Molrio always ran like clockwork however, its inability to program the CNC machining centers to utilize all five of their axes led to problems such as tool crashes, toolholder malfunctions, workpiece damage and downtime. Typical processes can include welding, milling and polishing mold interiors with segment holders, segments and sidewalls (the faces of the tire legends), in addition to mold engraving for letters and numbers. “After inspecting the damage and disassembling a mold, we repair the mold through various processes, depending on what is required,” said López. Molrio receives the damaged tire molds, 3D CAD models of the parts the mold makes and information on the damage to the tooling. Much of the work Molrio does is servicing and machining a wide range of tire molds it receives from tire manufacturers, and making spare parts for the molds as needed. The shop uses hyperMILL to maximize its machining process, reduce scrap, save time and increase Molrio’s throughput. headquarters in Needham, Mass., and an office in Mexico City. Then Molrio discovered hyperMILL, a CAM software solution developed by Open Mind Technologies, which has U.S. But there was one problem: The shop was only able to use two or three axes on its five-axis machines. The five-axis machines certainly hold the key to productivity and expansion at Molrio. Molrio has found hyperMILL CAM software easy to use and reliable while assuring the shop’s five-axis machine tool runs perfectly, using all five axes. Three of these are five-axis models acquired in recent years with the goal of increasing shop efficiency and expanding the parts manufacturing Molrio does for customers in other industries. It is fully equipped with vertical and horizontal lathes, milling machines, drills, CNC lathes and eight CNC machining centers.

The 35,000 ft² (3,251.6 m²) shop, founded in 1972, is run by Heriberto López, staffed by 36 employees.

Extensive tool manufacturing is also driven by this growth, including moldmaking, and Molrio, a Guadalajara machine shop focused primarily on the manufacture and repair of tire molds, has benefited. Mexico’s tire market has been growing substantially, fueled by an aggressive increase in automotive industry manufacturing across the country. With hyperMILL CAM software from Open Mind Technologies, CNC machining operations at Molrio, a Guadalajara machine shop, have been operating at peak performance.

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