Geometric Cost Drivers for Assembly Molding

GCDs in the Assembly Molding process group include all GCDs in the Plastic Molding process group (see GCD Extraction for Plastic Molding). Assembly Molding also includes two important, additional GCD types:

• Subcomponent: each Subcomponent GCD represents either a molded portion of the part or a non-molded insert. Each part can have one or more molded Subcomponents and one or more inserts. A Subcomponent's Is Molded property is true for molded Subcomponents and false for inserts.

Note: If you want to override aPriori's classification of a Subcomponent, you can edit the value of Is Molded in the Geometric Cost Drivers pane.

Prior to injection, some non-molded Subcomponents must be held in place in the mold by a retention tool, that is, either an action (slide or lifter) or a fixed tool. A Subcomponent is bundled onto a SlideBundle or LifterBundle when the tool required to hold the Subcomponent in place prior to injection would prevent the mold from opening, were it not withdrawn by the motion of an action after cooling and prior to opening.

Each Subcomponent GCD appears in the Geometric Cost Drivers pane either under Component (if it is not bundled) or under a SlideBundle or LifterBundle GCD (if it is bundled).

Note: If you want to override aPriori's assignment of a given Subcomponent to a bundle, you can edit a Subcomponent's Excluded From Bundling property. If you set this property to true, the Subcomponent will not be assigned to a slide or lifter bundle.

• Region: a Region GCD represents a portion of a non-molded Subcomponent that is exposed to air (that is, not surrounded by molded plastic). If a Region GCD represents a portion of a given Subcomponent, it bears the Lies On relation to that Subcomponent.

Each Region has exactly one associated non-molded Subcomponent. Each non-molded Subcomponent has one or more associated Regions.

Regions appear under Other in the Geometric Cost Drivers pane.

A Subcomponent’s associated Region GCDs are used as candidates for the regions of the Subcomponent that are held by a retention tool. aPriori analyses the accessibility of these regions, in order to determine the tool's likely orientation. The tool's orientation helps determine whether the component requires bundling onto a slide or lifter, and which other Subcomponents it should be bundled with (see Subcomponent, above).

Note: if you want to exclude a given Region from consideration as the region of contact between a retention tool and an insert, you can edit the Region's Excluded From Bundling property. If you set this property to true, the Region will not be chosen as the region of contact for a retention tool; aPriroi will determine the tool orientation based on the choice of a different Region that lies on the same Subcomponent.

Note: if you edit Is Molded or Excluded From Bundling properties, you must be CAD-connected; geometry re-extraction is required for GCD property edits to affect costing.