Rapid Tooling offers the potential to develop better quality products and to slash product development times from months to weeks or days. It also provides real opportunities to cut the overall costs of a product launch and considerably increase the chances of its commercial success.

There is a growing range of rapid tooling technologies. Each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages. So how do you pick the right route for your particular application Rapid Tooling conference provided the information that you need to make such decisions. Experts with considerable experience of using these techniques provided an in-depth insight into the full range of rapid tooling options.

The conference programme presented practical information specifically relevant to the plastics industry. Case studies supported the presentations. These will be equally relevant to companies with rapid tooling experiences and to those which have yet to try such technologies.

List of Papers
SESSION ONE: SETTING THE SCENE AND NEW RESEARCH

Time, costs and durability of blow mould tools
Robert Hansell, Warwick Manufacturing Group, UK

SESSION TWO: RAPID TOOLING IN ACTION

Fast tools - methodology or mythology
Richard Brown, Hi-Tech Mouldings, UK

Q-drive rapid product development
John White CTP Davall, UK

Injection mould tool manufacture in less than five days
David Jacobson, CRDM, UK

SESSION THREE: CAD AND HIGH SPEED MACHINING

Automated mould design
Roger Onions, Delcam, UK

Metal spray tooling for composite forming
Greg Gibbons, Warwick Manufacturing Group, UK

High-speed machining in toolmaking
Philip Kilburn, Materialise, UK

SESSION FOUR: RAPID TOOLING OPTIONS COMPARED

Rapid cast tooling for moulding in thermoplastics
Bob Bennett, MCP Equipment, UK

The breakthrough to 20 micron layers - increasing precision and efficiency in direct metal laser-sintering
Mike Shellabear, EOS, Germany

Rapid tooling: the shape of things to come
Martin Forth, 3D Systems, UK