WorkNC machines a winner at P15 Plastics

Point of sale displays are the specialisation of Leicester based P15 Plastics Ltd. Department stores and high street chains up and down the country use display units manufactured by the company. It offers a range of processes including injection moulding and toolmaking, vacuum forming, sonic welding, acrylic fabrication and hot foil blocking, all techniques aimed at providing the best services and products for its customers. P15 works with individual design agencies, which in turn produce the concept for the end customer. It takes the concept design and interprets it for manufacture, working closely with the agency to retain design intent while considering the practicalities of production.

<< WorkNC does what you expect, it has eliminated rework, and because it is much quicker, we can now explore different machining methods to establish best practice. >>
Paul Gamble Managing Director, P15 Plastics Ltd.

The company, formed in 1979, has been using CAM software since 1994 to programme its Cincinnati Dart and Hurco KM3 machining centres. However, it found that its existing software was not suitable for the increasingly complex 3D forms it needed to produce. Reliability and gouging problems made delivery times and cost of manufacture of its aluminium injection moulds unacceptable. Paul Gamble, Managing Director of P15 Plastics, decided to carry out extensive benchmarking over 18 months to make sure that he chose the most appropriate software as a replacement. Initial tests which required successfully importing his CAD data greatly reduced the range of systems to choose from. The next stage was on-site cutting trials, where he used the short listed systems to cut live jobs, comparing programming times and the time to create a cutter path, which in some cases varied by a factor of 3. He then considered ease of use, and the service and support offered by each system. Paul Gamble commented, “Overall WorkNC came out best for us. We are extremely pleased with the decision we made, and have absolutely no regrets.” He considers the time and trouble he spent selecting a new system as very well spent, as its performance is crucial to the smooth running of P15 Plastics.

He continued, “WorkNC does what you expect, it has eliminated rework, and because it is much quicker, we can now explore different machining methods to establish best practice.” P15 has further benefited from the improved surface finish achieved by WorkNC, seeing machining times reduced by 50%, as well as similar reductions in hand finishing. The accurate machining times predicted by WorkNC have also been very useful, enabling it to reliably plan its workload. It is so accurate that for out of hours machining, the programmer uses the information to calculate when he needs to return to the factory to restart the next job.

WorkNC and WorkNC-CAD are used next to the machine tools in the toolroom, and enable designs to be imported from CAD. Any tweaks to the design for production purposes can then be carried out locally, speeding up the toolmaking process. One of the first tools made with WorkNC was for a retail display stand for Parker Pens. P15 worked with D & A Design in Leicester who created the Sonnet 12 pen display unit for Parker. D & A Design went on to win a 2004 European Gold Award at POPAI (Point of Purchase Advertising International) with the Sonnet display unit manufactured by P15. The company has also used WorkNC to manufacture a tool for a 4 times life size promotional Parker Jotter pen, to commemorate 50 years of its production.

P15 has been very pleased with the support provided by Sescoi, who actively gave advice and resolved questions. It also benefited from ongoing training at one of Sescoi’s advanced courses aimed at improving skill levels and gaining a better return on the investment in WorkNC.

Toolmaking is a relatively small but vital part of the business at P15 Plastics, so getting reliable programmes produced right first time from WorkNC was particularly important. The company offers a problem solving service to its customers, so eliminating uncertainty in its toolmaking has helped to develop and improve those relationships, and allowed it to predict delivery times with confidence. Paul Gamble said, “Time that was previously spent resolving delays in toolmaking can now be usefully spent on building new and profitable business. The reliability of WorkNC has enabled us to reinforce our good relationships with our customers.”