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New product releases and innovation are inevitable actions for the growth of the company. And not only this. During the period of the pandemic, fast and resilient companies contribute to the long-lasting fight against covid-19 with their solutions. Recently, "Micromolds" has had a contract to mould plastic components for our client's Bacteo newly developed product - a portable UV lamp. About our client During the first hit of the coronavirus, three entrepreneurs noticed that there either is a deficit of a disinfecting technology - Ultraviolet Light (UVC) - against covid-19 in the market or existing UV lamps are not efficient enough. To solve this problem Bacteo company was established to create safe and user-friendly UV lamps that would help disinfecting large areas during the global pandemic. Disinfection lamps kill harmful microorganisms with a short-wavelength ultraviolet light and it is scientifically proven that this method is also effective for inactivating viruses, including coronavirus. These UV lamps may be used in various public institutions to clean the infected surfaces and reduce the spread of the virus. We are proud to have contributed with such an innovative and socially responsible company to turn its ideas into reality and we will soon explain how. Plastic Spacer and The Cover After we had received CAD drawings of the part, our engineers had already started to design the moulds for injection molding and optimize for manufacturability. The material used is ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate). This plastic is similar to ABS but has better weather, especially UV resistance, thus this material is widely used for outdoor products. The picture below shows the part and the mould together still in the design phase. ASA material was also used for the plastic cover as well as for cover undercuts. Since the project was on a strict schedule there was a lack of time for testing and prototyping. Tooling process was also done rapidly. Since the estimated production levels were not large, we decided to use manually operated inserts to form undercuts instead of inclined ejector pins. It was difficult to guess how tight the undercuts should hold the cover in position. We were told that the cover should not be easily detachable as it will be used as an exterior component, however, it must be detachable if service for the product would be needed. We decided to go through empirical practice and prototype “on the go” within the mold itself because we had an opportunity to cut deeper into the core to shape higher ribs which would increase rigidity of the undercuts. After the first try we immediately noticed that the hooks were too loose, thus we agreed to increase the height of the ribs by milling a deeper mold section marked in red. After the second trial the undercuts were successfully shaped in required tightness and the production launched. We are happy that we are able to help companies to maintain their resilience and ability to rapidly adapt to the market changes and capture given opportunities, moreover, to contribute to the overcoming of this COVID pandemic period and the improvement of people's health.

It’s worthless to repetitively talk about how electrical appliances take up more and more space in our daily lives - electrification is a real boom these days. Electric scooters, robots, electric bicycles, electric cars - the list is endless. It seems only now are we beginning to see the real potential of electric vehicles. However, electrification faces one very important and still not fully solved challenge – energy storage. "EMUS" company is taking this challenge by improving batteries’ management systems and thus extending batteries lifespan. Founded in 2010, "EMUS" company has been working on various control systems for electric vehicles. Over time, "EMUS" has become an exclusive manufacturer of lithium battery management systems. Housing of any electronic gadget supports PCB’s and other electronic components inside, insulates and gives form, design and branding for the final product. This power management system device was not an exception – housing for new product was needed. We are glad that "Micromolds" team was able to provide "EMUS" company with full range of services for this project. We have successfully performed all stages of new product making: Designing and prototyping Optimizing for manufacturing Mould manufacturing Parts production – injection moulding Why did "EMUS" choose us? We halved the tooling costs and time to market in respect of traditional plastic injection moulding. Our mould is 5-6 times smaller than the traditional one, has less cavities, thus it is made much faster and cost of production is significantly smaller. We also use “Babyplast 6/12” injection machine which has low running costs and is made for micro-injection moulding. We do not talk only about numbers. We have CNC milling machines and team of mechanical engineers all under one roof – thus we are able to optimize CAD designs for manufacturability, consult and save by not subcontracting other manufacturers. As expected production volumes were up to 100k pieces per year, our quotation appeared really favourable for EMUS company and we made a contract. What were the main challenges? In order to form PCB fixation hooks with injected plastic, lifters are usually used sliding diagonally in mould plates. This manufacturing technology is relatively complex and thus expensive. In order to keep the costs low our team of engineers used ejectors to form fixators. In this case, the work pieces had to be ejected manually. For a relatively small production volume, this method really paid off. Prototyping For making prototypes we used SLA (stereolithography) - 3D printing technology. Prototypes are manufactured in a layer by layer manner using photochemical processes by which light causes resin to solidify. A total of 3 prototypes were made to look for best functionality and design type. We selected the most suitable product design, performed minor tweaks and jumped straight away into mould making. Material selection and mould manufacturing Choosing the right materials for new product making is no less of importance. Most frequent choice of thermoplastic polymer for electronic housings and enclosures is ABS ( Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene ). It also works perfectly for plastic injection technology due to its relatively low melting point and good casting properties. ABS material also is favourable because of its low cost. CNC milling machines were used for aluminium mould making. Aluminium moulds work just fine when production volumes do not exceed approximately 100k cycles. EDM technology (electrical discharge machining) was used to create a high-quality surface finish of the outer surface of the product. EDM technology allows to machine work pieces non-mechanically - the product is machined without mechanical force but is exposed to heat treatment, which allows to finish surfaces of complex shaped products. Digital manufacturing is happening now Not only have we become subcontractors for EMUS company and succeeded with this project but also we established lasting relationship by demonstrating advantages of digitalization when two modern companies work together. Sometimes we hear it called online manufacturing – this is what 4th industrial revolution is all about – minimal human intervention. We exchanged our sketches and CAD drawings online, discussed on optimization for manufacturability, also, online and final components were shipped as soon as production was finished. We did not make any physical contact with our client which made everything more automated, faster and safer if taking into account COVID-19.

"Reform" is a Danish modern furniture company designing and manufacturing smart carpentry kitchens. Most of their production is custom-made and sold worldwide in more than 30 countries. The word 'custom' immediately implies that low-volume and fast manufacturing may be the key to a successful work flow. To react fast to the market needs and remain resilient manufacturing partner may be the perfect solution. ''Reform'' and ''Micromolds'' partnership has lessen the risks occurring from changes in the market by supplying on-demand made plastic kitchen cabin spacers. The Design In this case we were able to deliver first batch of spacers in 2 weeks. We used CNC machine for milling aluminium moulds for injection molding. EDM was used for surface finish and logo engraving in the mold. For spacer's manufacturing we used ABS thermoplastic material.

„Ruptela“ - one of the fastest growing high-tech companies in Lithuania, providing transport management solutions. The company, which has been operating since 2007, manufactures integrated transport telematics equipment. These devices consist of GPS tracking devices, real-time monitoring and control systems. The company works with partners and clients in 127 different countries and helps companies optimize transportation processes. This is not a first time „Ruptela“ has chosen us, as reliable sub-contractors. We have been designing 3D CAD models optimized for manufacturing for their products’ positions for several months. This time we have been contracted to design the new housing of the „Pro5“ vehicle tracking model. “Micromolds” was responsible for product design, its optimization for manufacturability, mould design and prototype production. Design Constraints The main design constraint of this project was that the designed housing had to conform SAE J1455 recommendations for vehicles. These recommended areas of practice cover variety of concepts, affecting electronic equipment for heavy vehicles. Some environmental factors that had to be considered during product development are: Temperature; Moisture; Atmospheric effects; Mechanical vibration and mechanical shocks. The most challenging thing was to create an extremely tightly closing housing which could be opened without any tools. The housing had to be without any additional components - everything had to be integrated. We have decided to design external hooks to fulfill this need. It was possible to open the housing box by hand, without any additional tools. The housing also had to be a good electrical insulator, fireproof and impact resistant. For these specifications and design requirements we have chosen to use PC Lexan (Lexan® Polycarbonate) plastic material. One more design requirement was to integrate LED indicators inside the housing. The material we chose was semi-transparent so it was possible to let the LED indicators light directly through the wall of the housing. Prototyping Like in every our previous similar projects we used 3D printing FDM (fused deposition modelling) technology for prototype manufacturing. It was used for the initial evaluation of the product. After we had indicated the flaws of the prototype and made some design tweaks we went for second trial. Second prototype made with SLS (selective laser sintering) 3D printing technology was used for more accurate functionality and user experience testing. To get more realistic look and feel of the final product we made third prototype with another one 3D printing technology – SLA (stereolithography). Third prototype was also painted black to resemble final product we were striving for. Rapid prototyping technology made it possible to quickly check the functionality and the look of the product. These 3 iterations of prototyping made our team and contractors confident to scale for the serial production of this housing. SLS 3D Printed Prototype Manufacturing Plastic injection molding was the only manufacturing technology solution for mass production. Even though these housings were outside our micro-mould size limits, we successfully designed this product, optimized it for manufacturability, produced prototypes and manufactured moulds with our CNC machines. We are glad that we are trusted by such innovative companies like “Ruptela” and could strongly contribute to their new product development. Final Injection Moulded Housing