Mantle introduces new tool applications and customers

3D printer manufacturer Mantle announces new customers using Mantle technology, including Spectrum Plastics Group, a DuPont company, Heyco Products, a Penn Engineering company, and General Pattern. The manufacturer also reports on the customer Westminster Tool, which reduced the lead time for a steel prototype tool by 50% thanks to Mantle.

Westminster Tool, a specialist in the construction of injection molds in the medical sector, has been successfully using a 3D printer from Mantle since June 2022. The company was able to use the flexibility of the technology to print complex mold inserts for a leading medical device manufacturer. This significantly shortened the customer’s product development process from eight to four weeks, saving over 110 hours of labor and machine time.

In addition, Mantle has gained new customers such as Spectrum Plastics Group and Heyco Products, both of which are integrating Mantle’s metal 3D printing technology into their tooling workflows. This demonstrates the growing confidence in Mantle’s technology for producing high-quality molds.

“At Heyco, we pride ourselves on taking products from design through to volume production, which includes in-house prototype and production tooling. Mantle allows us to increase our toolmaking capacity and project speed by automating a portion of our toolmaking process, helping to maximize our skilled resources”, adds Danny Anthony, Vice President of Operations at Heyco Products.

Across the manufacturing industry, particularly in toolmaking, the shortage of skilled labor is a major challenge. General Pattern, an injection molder with its own tool shop, is using Mantle’s 3D printer to address these challenges and increase capacity.

“Introducing Mantle into our operations has elevated our approach to toolmaking. With the simple press of a button, we can now effortlessly create tools, which completely changes our ability to tackle labor challenges and enhances our capacity to better serve our customers. Recently with a slide for a transportation trim component, for example, we skipped the finishing process entirely. Instead, we printed it, assembled it into the mold, and immediately began molding parts. This not only saved us the 40 hours of traditional toolmaker time typically required to build this slide, but also freed up my team to focus on other critical projects”, says Denny Reiland, CEO at General Pattern .

With these developments, Mantle confirms its role as a pioneer in toolmaking. The technology not only offers a reduction in production times and costs, but also effectively addresses the labor shortage. The successful integration of the technology at well-known companies such as Westminster Tool, Spectrum Plastics Group and Heyco Products is testament to the efficiency and growing confidence in Mantle’s metal 3D printing solutions.

“Mantle’s technology remains a game-changer in the toolmaking industry, consistently driving reductions in lead times and costs while addressing labor shortages. The latest deployments, with Spectrum Plastics Group, Heyco, and General Pattern, coupled with the ongoing success of our existing customer, Westminster Tool, underscore the growing adoption and effectiveness of our technology”, comments Ted Sorom, CEO and Co-founder of Mantle.