Advanced software helps to bring tyre mouldmaking in-house

Belshina is one of the largest producers of the tyres in Europe, both in the number and the size of the tyres it manufactures.  The company makes more than 200 different types of the tyre in three plants: one for mass production of car tyres; one for tyres for buses, trolley-buses, lorries and tractors; and one for the largest tyres for vehicles for earth-moving and quarrying.  A fourth plant manufactures and repairs moulds for the other three sites.

The company has been using a range of Delcam’s CADCAM software to help the Belarus tyre company bring all its mouldmaking in-house despite a significant increase in production volumes. The company first invested in Delcam software in the 1990s, buying Delcam’s original DUCT system to give it the ability to program the first five-axis machine tools used in the mouldmaking plant.  At that time, the plant only produced around 60 moulds each year, with the remainder of the company’s needs met by subcontract manufacturers.

At the turn of the century, Belshina made the transition from DUCT to Delcam’s PowerSHAPE CAD software and PowerMILL CAM system.  The company steadily added more seats of both programs as it increased its manufacturing capabilities and the number of moulds being produced.  It has now reached sufficient capacity to be able to manufacture all its moulds in-house and no longer uses subcontractors.

During the same period, the company investigated ways to improve its quality and consistency.  In 2006, Belshina added a Cimcore inspection arm, together with PowerINSPECT for inspection and PowerSHAPE Pro for reverse engineering.

The most recent addition to the mouldmaking plant was a special four-axis machine tool from Taiwan, purchased in 2011 to mill inscriptions and trademarks onto the surfaces of moulds.  Belsina added an extra seat of PowerSHAPE and PowerMILL, plus PowerINSPECT On-Machine Verification, for this machine.

At the start of 2012, Belshina undertook an evaluation of its complete set of CADCAM software as part of a continuous development review.  Following this review, the company ordered four seats of the FeatureCAM feature-based machining software and its first seat of ArtCAM for artistic applications, such as engraving of logos and trademarks.

When asked about his company’s long relationship with Delcam, Valery Saprykin, the Manager of the technology bureau at the plant, commented, “As soon as we started working with the Delcam staff, we realised that the company had very professional software developers.  We have received exceptional support in solving the problems within our manufacturing plant.  Whenever we have a problem, we can always find a solution from Delcam and Adequate Systems, the company’s representatives in Belarus.”

“Until now, we haven’t found any complex technical problems that we couldn’t solve with their help,” he continued.  “We appreciate greatly such cooperation and partnerships.”

Currently, the factory produces more than 300 moulds each year, with the growing demands of the parent company constantly requiring an increase in the number of moulds to be manufactured.

“The reliability of the software, plus the variety of machining strategies, allows us to optimise the productivity of our equipment and meet the increase demand for moulds each year, and to ensure that our quality levels are maintained,” said Mr. Saprykin.  “We believe that the cooperation with Delcam gives us a solid foundation for our further development and makes us confident about our future.”