Atomic Industries
Assembly Line
Using AI to Transform Part and Mold Manufacturing
Atomic Industries, based in Warren, Michigan, already has over a dozen customers embracing Atomic’s mission to use cutting-edge digital manufacturing tools to make the best molds possible — faster and more inexpensively.
It starts with AI-designed molds with features optimized for each part. To achieve this, Atomic has partnered with LS Mtron, which has outfitted the injection molding machines (IMM) Atomic uses with 46 I/O ports to capture and leverage a wealth of process data.
“Our long-term vision is to use this technology to change the way parts are made — because ultimately, the most important part of widget production is the mold. Our goal is to commoditize the mold-building process, so when we quote a project we’ll only be quoting a part price — the cost of the mold will be rolled into that cost,” Atomic co-founder Lou Young says.
“In the industry now, when an automaker is kicking off an A-pillar, they have 20 or 30 people around the room going, ‘Here’s where we want the gates’ for one little plastic part. And the car has thousands of plastic parts in it. The AI-designed injection mold we’re building is going to have the best gate location possible for that part and the best waterline design. You won’t need 30 people sitting around a table to ensure it runs right. It’s just going to run right. That mindset will start to shift, says Young.
Tool and Die Software: Our Investment in Atomic Industries
Tool and die making has been one of those stubborn pieces that has yet to find its place in the factory of the future mosaic. This is largely because tool and die making is an outdated, time-consuming, and labor-intensive process that has eluded innovation. With a vision of making mass manufacturing as agile and distributed as software development, Atomic also wants to drive business model innovation by converting tooling from a capital expenditure to an operating expenditure. Focusing first on injection mold design, the team plans to expand into applied automation in fabrication and testing of manufacturing tools. Die casting, stamps, and metal injection molds are also on the roadmap.