Since its set up in Sligo in 1988, Avenue Mould has become an established supplier of high precision, high cavitation injection volume moulds, competing with leading European suppliers.
Since its set up in Sligo in 1988, Avenue Mould has become an established supplier of high precision, high cavitation injection volume moulds, competing for business with leading Swiss, French, Italian and US mouldmakers. A programme of hi-tech investment has seen this progressive company receive the BASF-sponsored toolmaker of the Year award at the The Plastic Industry Awards, with quality of product, complete project support and investment in design and manufacturing all receiving top marks. Around 90% of output from the 1700m2 architect-designed plant consists of hot runner moulds for sectors which demand injection moulds to run at the lowest possible cycle times and with minimum downtime.

Employing 40 people, the company supplies major health care, packaging, consumer and personal care product companies, based in Ireland.

Its customer list includes Abbott Laboratories, Bausch and Lomb, Becton Dickenson, Tyco Medical, Nypro and Tech Group.

While Irish-based multinationals remain Avenue's principle customers, the company has established a growing list of UK clients and an increasingly international clientele as-far-a-field as Brazil and China.

Felim McNeela, Avenue Mould's Managing Director, believes the manufacture of high volume moulds places particular demands on the toolmaker.

'A high volume production mould represents a considerable investment on the part of the customer, both in terms of mould cost and on going running cost,' says McNeela.

According to the Avenue MD, fast cycle times, interchangeability and ease of maintenance are the order of the day for this moulding sector.

Avenue's plant houses a Roders High-Speed machining centre with integrated Fanuc robot, CNC machining centres, CNC turning, surface and cylindrical grinding, two Charmilles Roboform 20 CNC spark eroders, fitted with Erowa tooling, and an automated Roboform 35 fitted with Erowa's PX robot.

'The Charmilles Roboform 35 with its compact design has proved to be easily programmed and is highly effective when running both graphite and copper electrodes.

Wear rates are minimal while key machine functions such as corner locking and orbiting are easily incorporated at the programme creation stage.

Fed by Erowa's Robot PX, the large magazine has sufficient room for workpieces and electrodes to keep a machine working autonomously.

The modular magazine can be adapted to the user's precise needs.

The Roboform 35, equipped with the Erowa Robot PX, will achieve 6000 or more productive machining hours per year, with only one manned shift.' added McNeela.

Every job is set off-line; the company having purchased an Erowa PreSet Comfort 3D set-up and presetting station at MACH 1998.

Avenue Mould managers also emphasise the role of the firm's design team and design systems, which feature SolidWorks 2001 and AutoCAD 2000.

Avenue is also perhaps unique among Irish and UK toolmaker's to have a Moldflow flow and cooling analysis system.

A IP40,000 investment in 1992, this was brought in to support the company's component design, mould try out and debugging services, enabling customers to get a better return on their investments through establishing moulding conditions for stress-free parts and reduced cycle times.

The system also helps minimise runner dimensions for part-hot and cold runner moulds.

The company has further enhanced its Moldflow technology with the recent purchase of Moldflow's MPX product in its Mould Test and Validation Department, which comprises Nestal 2400kN and 1000kN Synergy machines, a Demag 500kN Ergotech and a full range of ancillary equipment.

Mouldflow MPX enables consistent, systematic mould set up, identifying a robust moulding window, monitors process quality and automatically corrects for process variations.

On Avenue's shopfloor orderly equipment layout and meticulous housekeeping are a feature.

A reflection of the type of customers the company serves.

'We deal with multinationals, particularly many in the health care sector and need to operate to their standards and rely on our suppliers to meet the same high standards.