During November 2022, Italian mould maker Ideal Stampi strengthened its almost ten-year long collaboration with PiQ² by equipping its technical department with Castle simulation software.
Ideal Stampi, founded in 1984, is a Brescia-based company specialising for 35 years in the design and manufacture of die-casting moulds for the automotive, electronics and lighting sectors for customers all over the world. Idealstampi has 45 employees and a machine park that has been constantly renewed over the years.
Following this new collaboration, we interviewed Diego Tavelli, the Technical Manager of Ideal Stampi.
What are your target markets and how important is simulation software?
Our primary field of application, covering about 90% of our production, is automotive, where simulation is a fundamental tool in the design and manufacture of components. Our main customers are some of the most important HPDC foundries both in Italy and abroad, and we are able to make moulds for aluminium and magnesium for presses up to 4.000 tons: thanks to the use of simulation, we have the possibility of analysing in advance possible discrepancies in the component and calculate the moulds correctly.
With the possibility of analysing the product through simulation software, we are able to verify that all parameters are set in the optimal way, thus being able to create high-quality products. In addition, in Ideal Stampi, we always try to propose a simulation activity to our customers, providing a more complete service and forecasting any critical issues in product development.
What are your goals for this new collaboration and why did you choose the Castle software?
For about 8 years we have been collaborating with PiQ² for on-demand simulation services, but now we have the possibility to do this in-house and to handle requests independently with the software developers supporting us.
Our aim is to give a more comprehensive service to our customers by being able to develop simulations in-house. We have had the opportunity to test other simulation software, but we were thrilled with Castle, in particular for its very simple and user-friendly usability.
Our way of approaching the customer has changed: today with the Castle Suite we can give the customer a simulation of his product, so that we can suggest improvements and provide an all-round consultancy and service.
How were the first days of using the software and how is the daily operation of Ideal Stampi’s employees now?
Our operations changed with the arrival of the Castle Suite.
We had two days of training on the software: at first we feared it would not be enough, but the simplicity of the Suite made us almost autonomous in a short time. The training participants were enthusiastic about the speed and simplicity of the software. We were really impressed by the many features.
Our colleagues from the technical department have taken part in the training: we now have a simulation technician who spends about 80 per cent of his time using the software.
Being a new product, we initially needed support in interpreting the results of the various simulations. For this kind of need, we were able to deal directly with the creators of the software, who were immediately available and prompt in their customer care service.
A few weeks after the purchase, we already have a positive feedback on the use of the software and its operational importance.
What are the pluses of the Castle Suite?
The pluses of the Castle suite are many, but can be resumed in three macro concepts:
- Competitive price compared to the market average.
- Ease of use: thanks to a faster learning curve than other software, we are now able to use the Castle Suite to its full potential. Thanks also to the immediate support of PiQ² staff, we were able to become independent very quickly.
- Speed of execution: this results in leaner and faster processes.
We’ve now bought the modules CastleMind, CastleRun, and CastleBody, which meet our requirements best: Castle helps us dramatically cut down calculation and simulation times, a fantastic value for our company.
We are really pleased with this start of collaboration and confident about future developments!
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Thanks to Diego Tavelli for the availability to do the interview and for his words.
It is a great source of satisfaction for PiQ² to have the opportunity to talk to its customers and to be of support at every stage of the realisation of a project.
It is always of primary importance for PiQ² to collaborate with the customer in order to grow together, without renouncing quality of service, attention to detail and technical expertise, which are the company’s founding values.
Thank you for the opportunity and see you next time!