Case Study
Mann+Hummel
Here at RP Technologies, we’ve manufactured lots of complex aluminium tooling over the years.
We thought we’d seen it all.
That was until Mann+Hummel approached us and asked us to make one of the most intricate tools imaginable.
Not only would this particular tool need to be precision engineered, with complex contours, features, and geometries, it would also need to be fully automatic with hydraulic cylinders.
Read more about how we responded to this complex manufacturing challenge…..
Mann+Hummel, a family-owned manufacturer of liquid air filter systems, intake systems, and cabin air filters, asked us to create a highly complex aluminium tool with steel inserts.
It’s a rare thing when the very titans of global engineering, the Germans, come to England and ask a British company for help with a complex engineering problem.
But that’s exactly what happened to RP Technologies.
With headquarters in Ludwigsburg, Mann+Hummel needed a manufacturer who could create a very complex aluminium tool that would be robust, durable, and capable of producing high quality plastic injection moulded components.
There were a number of key considerations. Mann+Hummel needed a tool that would produce lots of plastic parts quickly and accurately. However, they also wanted the tool to be low cost and to guarantee production of a large volume of plastic parts over time.
Our expert team realised that a tool with manual cores would not be dynamic enough to produce a substantial volume of parts within a tight timeframe. Therefore, a more enterprising alternative would be required.
RP Technologies manufactured a fully automatic tool with hydraulic cylinders. This would allow for greater speed of production of repeatable plastic moulded components.
A rack and pinion method was implemented to enable the core to rotate around the arc.
This innovative tool was made for an incredibly competitive cost for a tool of its complexity. It required a lot of imagination and creative problem solving to bring it to fruition.
The tool was also manufactured in under six weeks. This is an extremely quick turnaround for such an inventive, precise, and challenging tool.
The tool is guaranteed for 60,000 plastic injection moulded components, and, to date, it has produced in the region of 80,000 parts, thus exceeding its original expectations.
RP built a highly complex tool very quickly and at low cost. We also built a tool that was made to last, and which could be relied upon to produce high quality plastic injection mouldings for many years to come.
