ABSTRACT
Tool engineering constitutes an important branch of manufacturing engineering as any direct improvement of existing tooling processes or an introduction of novel processes could significantly improve the production efficiency, product quality and reduce design and processing time. This would enhance the competitiveness of a manufacturing company and maintain its leading edge over its competitors. Tooling design is as an important topic as the manufacturing process itself. Without suitable tooling, manufacturing processes are often crippled or rendered totally inefficient. The trade of a tooling designer, however, has been traditionally linked to long years of apprenticeship and skilled craftsmanship. There appears to be more heuristic know-how and knowledge acquired through trial-and-error than deep scientific analysis and understanding. With the increasing use of computer tools and technology, this scenario has changed rapidly since the introduction of CAD/CAM/CAE tools in the early 1980s. It is to the authors' beliefs that CAD/CAM technologies will play more and more important roles in the tooling industry to shorten the design and manufacturing time.
