AutoForm’s DieDesigner® is software used by die designers and others to design pre-production or prototype draw dies used in sheet metal stamping. DieDesigner® automates a number of die design processes and reduces significantly the time needed to complete a die design. When used with the simulation tools previously developed by AutoForm, DieDesigner® allows many iterations of a design in a relatively short time, permitting rapid exploration and then optimization of the design.
DieDesigner® is a powerful tool that can be used to evaluate the manufacturability of sheet metal parts, to suggest modifications to the parts which will enable or enhance manufacturability, to test alternate die designs quickly, to optimize die designs prior to fabrication. and to complete the design of prototype dies with the data being exported directly to CNC milling machines.
In the evaluation of manufacturability and the suggestion of modifications of part design, DieDesigner® changes what was an art to a science. In the testing of alternate die designs, DieDesigner® is so fast and powerful that it permits exploration of multiple alternatives to an extent that was not possible before. In the completion and optimization of designs, DieDesigner® reduces the work of days to hours and the work of weeks to days.
When a die design has been optimized using DieDesigner®, the dies can typically produce parts from the first hit with no major problems and minimal rework. DieDesigner® significantly reduces die tryout time and has earned the confidence of the die designers.
Although simulation programs for die design and die design programs using CAD have existed before, this software takes a new approach based upon the toolmaker’s point of view using unique algorithms. It has a power and speed several orders of magnitude better than anything seen before and is viewed in some tool and die shops as “indispensable” and “the most important software we have”.