Two companies have joined forces to offer original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) a comprehensive 'one-stop-shopping' service for the design and production of high-precision moulded plastic components to world-class standards. INCAT, a leading supplier of CAD/CAM solutions and services, and mould-maker / component producer Chesham Precision Moulds (CPM), believe this is the first service of its kind in the UK.

"By joining forces with INCAT we can offer OEMs something new: very high quality design using state-of-the-art surfacing and 3D modelling software; rapid-prototyping using stereo lithography technology; high precision mould tools; and complete production and delivery of the end component using the very latest Demag injection moulding machines, if required," says Bob Maidment, managing director of CPM.

"With this partnership and following £0.5m of capital investment for equipment in 2001, we can design and manufacture complete mould tools up to 1 tonne in as little as 3-4 weeks, and produce the moulded parts. That's a world-class standard," adds Maidment.

Established for thirty years and ISO9001 registered, CPM has built a strong reputation for high-precision, high quality mould tools for plastics processing, regularly producing tools within 2-3 microns of dimensional tolerance for customers in medical equipment and micro-electronics industries. The company also produces specialised, multi-cavity moulds for the high-volume production of disposal cosmetic razors, where part production often reaches 30m plus per year.

INCAT's design services division will supply designers on secondment to CPM, bringing several decades of engineering design and CAD/CAM know-how to the partnership. The division's manager Mike Stevens says this is only one aspect of a comprehensive outsourced engineering capability:

"We have 270 full-time CAD/CAM engineers around the globe and in the UK operate out of three offices in Hemel Hempstead, Bristol and Manchester. We also have more than 2,500 self-employed contractors on our database, some of them highly specialised in discrete engineering functions such as stress analysis.

"Customers want flexibility in their workforce and that's what we're offering; any number of engineers, for any assignment and for any period of time. From one man and a machine at the customer's premises for a single day, to a completely outsourced design department for long-term projects.

Although INCAT is IBM's largest global re-seller of CATIA Solutions, the company also offers expertise in popular CAD/CAM software from other leading suppliers such as SDRC, PTC, Autodesk and Unigraphics.