May 29 / 3 years after installing CAM software, Pentas Moulding B.V. certainly didn't regret the decision to purchase EdgeCAM. Not only has it saved them time but it also enables them to retain full control of the rotational moulding process by machining all parts in house.

Prior to purchasing EdgeCAM, moulds were made in the traditional manner, whereby a wooden pattern is made and then a casting from the pattern is produced to make a mould tool. This process has now been rationalised and is now handled in-house using EdgeCAM. The moulds are cut directly into the aluminium tool, without loosing data integrity through misinterpretation of 2D drawings.

Pentas needed a CAM system to integrate with its incumbent solid and surface design package. EdgeCAM was chosen as it has a wide variety of machining strategies, a short learning curve, excellent solid integration and local support from the Dutch reseller WIA b.v. in Rhoon.

The introduction of EdgeCAM has seen the quality of the finished products dramatically improve, most noticeably with better surface finishes, as the initial casting process is no longer required. Pentas found that external toolmakers did not have the same expertise in the rotational moulding process. Quality and time often suffered as a result.

By producing tools in-house the knowledge base within the company is applied intelligently to production methods. This ensures the tooling is manufactured efficiently and with a high quality surface finish.

The time saved from both the shorter manufacturing process and from machining in house is significant: from 8 - 10 weeks down to 4 - 6 weeks. A further saving is achieved with a significant reduction in polishing time by using EdgeCAM's advanced surface finishing strategies.

"EdgeCAM has given us significant advantage over our competition as we have in-house mould manufacture and production complimented with high quality components and shorter lead times," states Managing Director, Mr Ruud Koorn. "EdgeCAM has given us the confidence to seek more complex parts. Nothing is a problem for us anymore!"

Pentas Moulding has the capacity to make rotational moulding products up to 5 metres long and 2.2 metres in diameter. They produce around 1500 different products a year at their factory in Almelo, Holland.

Pentas generate a 7.5 million Euro turnover from the Dutch, German, Swiss, Danish and French markets.

Even though Pentas had never used a CAM system before, they found it simple to navigate, efficient and easy to use. Features such as creation tools, EdgeCAM Simulator, unlimited undo-redo functions, drag and drop, the ability to multi-task while in EdgeCAM, means the new systems have been enthusiastically received by the company's programmers.

Pentas is continually improving and innovating to stay ahead of the competition. Creating new moulds is an integral part of this process and EdgeCAM helps by being fully associative to CAD models, thereby assuring that the toolpaths are automatically updated when a modification is made to the design.

The company believe its market share is maintained through using its specialist expertise and technical knowledge in rotational moulding, and by manufacturing everything in house. Pentas controls the complete process from mould making, production and trimming of plastic components, to the full assembly of the product.

Examples of this include fuel tanks for refrigeration units, whereby Pentas fit sensors and other thirds party components before shipping it to the end user to go directly to the production line. Pentas believe this complete product service is the future in Germany and Holland.