Until acquisition of latest CAD/CAM software, Italian glass mould maker said it took two months to develop a series of moulds; now they can be developed in one month without quality loss.

The addition of Delcam's PowerSHAPE and PowerMILL software has helped Italian mouldmaker SAVE to halve the time taken to produce a typical range of tooling for its customers in the glass industry. 'Five years ago, the shortest time to develop a complete series of moulds would be two months,' said owner Lamberto Borghi. 'Now we have to get them ready in less than one month, while keeping the same high level of quality.' SAVE was founded in 1948 by Borghi's grandfather, Pino Borghi.

At first, he operated a general workshop mainly repairing agricultural tools and undertaking light carpentry projects.

However, a chance request from a nearby company lead him to concentrate on producing moulds for the Ostiglia region's many glass manufacturers.

The company asked him to repair some moulds that had been damaged during bottle production.

From that day, making glass moulds became his main focus, then that of his sons, and today that of his grandsons.

'Our 56 years of experience are the main attribute of SAVE,' claimed Borghi.

'During that time, we have always followed the same basic values: precision, attention to detail, high quality finish, and an absolute respect for delivery times.' The company is now based a 3,300m2 site, with more than 30 employees producing moulds for the glass and crystal industries, and more recently for different sectors including plastics.

'Today we use the most modern technology and give a high priority to the training and development of our staff,' said Borghi.

'In 1994, we became the first mould maker in Italy to obtain Quality System Certification,' he added.

PowerSHAPE and PowerMILL have been used at the company for over three years.

'We were looking for CAD/CAM systems that were both flexible and easy to use at the same time,' remembered Borghi.

'We soon appreciated how easy and quick it was to get used to the Delcam software.' Borghi explained: 'Thanks to Delcam's software, we were able to easily move into four- and five-axis milling as well.

Before adding PowerMILL's five-axis option, we compared it with a similar competitor but the results persuaded us definitely to stay with the Delcam software.' Borghi added: 'Many of our customers like to customise their products with logos or text on the glass, this was another area where Delcam's software allowed us to manufacture very high quality products.' Borghi emphasised: 'Another very important aspect when evaluating a software house is the quality of its support, starting from the beginning of the deal through the full length of the relationship.

Delcam's offices in Italy offer regular training courses at their sites or at the customer site.

The staff there take care of their customers, always keeping them up to date with new developments.