Rapid hard tooling process selection using QFD‐AHP methodology

Purpose – To provide a systematic framework for mold designers, that can be used for rapid tooling (RT) process selection and prioritization of process parameters.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a QFD‐AHP methodology which has three phases. The first phase involves prioritizing the tooling requirements (driven by customer preferences) against a set of die/mold development attributes (such as product material, geometry, and die material and production order) through pair‐wise comparison using analytical hierarchal process (AHP). These priority ratings are used for selecting the most appropriate tooling process using quality function deployment (QFD) in the second phase. Finally, QFD is used again for identifying critical process parameters (such as layer thickness, scan pitch and laser power) for the selected RT process.Findings – The QFD‐AHP methodology has been illustrated with industrial examples on RT for molded parts. The molds were fabricated using direct metal laser sintering and s...

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