An area required a lot of water and cooling, but it was so small the only solution with traditional manufacturing was to create a fragile piece of steel because the walls were so thin. Over the process of injection molding in a high-pressure, fast-moving system, the steel was cracking and required frequent replacement. This replacement required the line to be stopped.
With metal 3d printing, it is possible to thicken the walls of the insert while still ensuring it would fit in the same area, including conformal cooling channels. This meant that not only is it possible to cool it more effectively, but the inserts are no longer breaking and with multiple molds now in the facility, there has been a cycle time reduction of 10%.
