Any manufacturer of any product needs a way to mass produce the parts that are needed to build the particular products. Equipment has been developed to assist in this process; dies, jigs and moulds are tools that allow raw material (i.e. metal, plastic) to be shaped into the desired parts. Each of these tools is available in countless varieties, designed specifically for the type of materials being used and the types of components being produced. Here are definitions of these three major tools in the manufacturing industry.

Put simply, dies are hollowed out blocks of steel; the hollow is the shape of the part being manufactured. Liquid raw material such as metal or plastic is forced into the mould using a high pressure stream; this creates a stronger end product as it eliminates air being allowed into the mould-air makes a weaker product.

Jigs are components of the machines being used to shape the moulded and hardened part; there are jigs for almost every imaginable purpose, some more common than others. There are jigs for drilling angular holes of all sizes, some for shaping gears, grinding and straightening. Again, this equipment is a component of production machines, not a stand-alone product.

Moulds are similar to dies, both in concept and design, however, materials used to make the moulds and the actual process differ. Moulds are generally made out of softer, more porous material than dies (most commonly used with plastic).

All of these components; dies, jigs and moulds-are integral to the manufacturing industry.

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/software/plm/es/gen_tooling.pdf
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