MLC Helps CapTech Automation Reduce Production Times
“In the old days, people used to say I was smart for being able to figure all this stuff out. They were right. These days though I leave it up to the CAD/CAM. I don’t tell them that. The CAD/CAM does the work and I get the credit.”
Introduction
MLC CAD Systems helped Captech Automation implement and use SOLIDWORKS and Mastercam to reduce production times by up to 90%. Captech Automation is now able to produce a quote and a sample container in the time it takes the competition to put out just a quote. This has enabled them to expand and win more business causing them to grow rapidly.
CapTech is a technology and management consulting firm with over 25 years of experience partnering with Fortune 500 companies, mid-sized enterprises, and government agencies. Their core expertise includes:
- help clients modernize their systems and adopt emerging technologies—such as cloud, DevOps, AI, and data analytics—while aligning these changes with business strategy
- With a human-centered approach, they design intuitive digital and mobile experiences—emphasizing accessibility, brand identity, and emotional connection—for both consumer-facing and public sector clients.
- Enable organizations to govern, manage, and engineer their data effectively, allowing for advanced analytics and actionable insights to drive performance and decision-making.
CapTech works across a diverse range of sectors, including consumer retail, energy & natural resources, financial services, healthcare, hospitality & travel, industrials & transportation, sports & media, public services, and private equity portfolio companies
The Challenge
They wanted to produce a blow molded sample container along with a quote in less time than it takes for a competitor to produce a single quote. Producing a physical product to accompany the quote gives the customer something tangible and helps them gain a competitive advantage.
The Solution
When meeting with a new potential customer, their sales engineers will work with them to produce a CAD model of their designs. In order to do this, they needed a user-friendly software that can quickly produce high-quality models that their potential clients can see. SOLIDWORKS is excellent for factoring in all the vital information necessary to produce a working prototype from the beginning. Then Mastercam handles all the heavy lifting required in manually programming CNC machines.
Once the CAD model is created, it is then forwarded to the mold shop. In the mold shop, the CAD model will be adapted to the pre-machined blow molds already installed (setting the mounting holes, cooling channels, locking rings and tapers). Then the shop will take the model and add shrink and decide a parting line placement in the block. From there, they turn it over to Mastercam to do all the machining strategy, which would normally take hours of programming if done manually. With Mastercam it takes a fraction of the time.
Mastercam figures out the most efficient way to machine it, and then they let it run. Lathe jobs can be done in less than 20 minutes with almost mirror finish right out of the lathe using diamond tooling. Also, complex 3D surfaces can take as little as 8-10 hours using very small stepovers on the finish passes. This time savings allowed them to create a sample cavity and give the customer a real bottle with a quote in as little as two days. The quick turn around time allowed them to gain more business, and at one time, Accurate Machine made, “almost every P.E.T plastic bottle you saw in Costco” according to the owner, Tom Kieran.
Implementation
Facing the challenge of delivering a sample container alongside a quote faster than competitors could produce a quote alone, Captech needed a powerful yet user-friendly solution. With SOLIDWORKS, their sales engineers could quickly create accurate CAD models during initial customer meetings, capturing all critical details for prototyping. These models were then refined in the mold shop and sent to Mastercam, which dramatically reduced CNC programming time through efficient toolpath generation. This integration allowed Captech to produce high-quality, machined prototypes in as little as two days—a process that once took up to two weeks. Thanks to MLC’s implementation and support, Captech achieved up to a 90% reduction in production time, enabling rapid growth and helping them win more business in a competitive market.
Results
Major time savings. Tom says, “Over the years, our design and build times have been reduced from 2 weeks minimum to 1 day for simple prototypes; a 90% reduction. The SOLIDWORKS models give all the feedback to the designer that he needs in real time such as weight and volume. Then we can scale it in SOLIDWORKS or Mastercam for the final production shrink calculation.” The time savings Accurate Machine has experienced led to them being more competitive in the market and increased business.
