Press dies are used to manufacture metal components such as housing of batteries and car body panels.
Upper and lower press dies are installed on a press machine (one that moves up and down). The workpiece (metal sheet material) is inserted between the two dies, and the press is operated, resulting in a product with the same shape as the upper and lower dies.
In “Industrial Statistics” of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, dies are broadly classified into eight types. Representative types of dies are plastic molds and press dies. These two types of dies account for approximately 70% of the total die production turnover of 1.1660 trillion yen (Industrial Statistics of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2009) from the sale of dies produced in Japan. The Punch Industry Group manufactures and sells components for dies used mainly for molding plastics and also for press work.