Rephen Tech manufacture and maintain a number of tools for both Aluminium and Mazak material for a number of foundries, the design process and tool complexity are very similar to the Plastics industry with a lot of the CAD requirements being the same, all the tools need a feed system, a cooling/heating system, and ejection to get the product out of the tool so the synergy is there from design to completed component.

The process of die casting is quite harsh on the tools with some foundries offering a reduced life span on the tooling before major repair work is required, Mazak a zinc based alloy which is much heavier than aluminium and is processed at much lower temperatures is favoured by a lot of companies the tooling is of similar construction, but the feed gates and sprue (area where the Mazak comes into the tool, and on to the component cavity) are of a different configuration.