In 2004, with the the clear prospect of opportunities for growth in the plastics injection-molding sector, the new INglass division, from which the company now takes the name, was created. This new division is dedicated to injection-compression technology for the production of large panoramic polycarbonate sheets as a replacement for glass in the automotive sector (“Plastic Glazing”). Thanks to the revolutionary technology adopted in Plastic Glazing, and to the continuous technological and quality-related research carried out on its products, INglass is currently the only Italian company able to claim absolute leadership in this segment of the automotive sector. INglass supplies mold and hot runner solutions to all the major car manufacturers like Honda, BMW, Daimler-Chrysler, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Volvo and Ford.To serve its customers´ needs for shorter lead times, INglass introduced in 2001 SolidWorks as the 3D CAD system for the design of the molds and the hot runner systems. Shortly later, SolidCAM was added as the integrated CAM solution for the CNC programming and simulation of the CNC machines. The SolidCAM application covers 2.5D and 3D milling of the mold cavities and other complex 3D parts including the machining of ejector holes and cooling channels. INglass has also developped its own software which supports the transformation of the SolidCAM APT-file to the G-Code of the machine, scheduled for a specific job. The generated G-Code runs on various CNC machines from manufacturers like Mazak, CB Ferrarri and Parpas.
The combined SolidWorks+SolidCAM solution enables INglass to manage the data flow from the design to manufacturing without using any drawings. This avoids human errors and reduces time and cost of production. Because of the single-window integration, NC programmers on the shop floor can apply design-for-manufacturing operations in their own environment by editing the mold geometry as problems arise. The full associativity between SolidWorks and SolidCAM guarantees that modifications in the mold geometry automatically update the corresponding NC programs.Gentilini Denis, Manager of the INglass´ CAM department, states: ”Solidworks and SolidCAM enable us to optimize the design and production of our products, and further - thanks to the high flexibility of the application - we have customized the application to improve our internal work process. We are looking forward to the XML-based user documentation of the new version SolidCAM2007 R11, so that we can further improve our shop floor documentation.”
