How To Waste Money In Injection Mold Making

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Nearly every machine used in injection mold making has the potential to be a huge waste of time and money. That is because of the tendency to try and save money up front, and have to pay for it down the line.
A good example of this is buying a cheap CMM. Coordinate measuring machines are becoming a standard measuring tool in both captive and job shops. Many customers require documentation for inspection of mold components, as well as plastic parts.
Naturally, anyone would want to save money by getting a good deal on a CMM, or any other tool for that matter. This can be an invitation for wasting precious manpower and time.
It is a little like when Henry Ford was determined to plant rubber trees in the Amazon so he could have a continuous supply of cheap rubber for his cars. He spent millions of dollars, set up a city and planted a huge plantation of trees. Despite the admonition of those who knew better, he went ahead with the project.
The trees never worked out. They were a monoculture in the jungle, with poor topsoil and more insects and blights than anywhere on the planet! Yet he stubbornly refused to quit, and continued to pour good money after bad. There actually might still be remnants of this failed endeavor there, I'm not sure.
The lesson is:
Don't be penny wise and pound foolish!
Don't buy a CNC EDM and neglect the tooling. Don't get a high speed machining center and neglect the toolholders. And don't buy a CMM that will simply never manage to do what a higher end machine can. It is just a futile waste of time.