Many mold manufacturers build a network of specialty shops to whom they outsource steps of a project to help meet required deadlines and stay on budget. These relationships demand communication at every step to ensure a quality mold on schedule. This means that before a job hits the floor of that specialty service provider, the [...]
Mold repair is the second most expensive budgetary item in a plastics molding facility, That statement should make everyone stop and pay attention. The only way to change that figure is to change the culture, and we all know that culture change is tough. We wish we could just have somebody purchase maintenance widgets that [...]
A shop that runs higher cavitation molds with critical specifications at high volumes will never continuously improve mold performance or shop efficiencies with non-standard language in a comment field. This data collection method does not provide a means to quickly or accurately measure data because a technician must manually decipher and analyze every work order. [...]
Industry 4.0 has been getting a lot of attention from molders as they look to take advantage of connecting processing information with production information to efficiently produce quality parts on time. It only makes sense that as the 4.0 culture continues to grow within the molding industry, the mold repair side of the business starts [...]
Mold repair is the second most expensive budgetary item in a plastics molding facility, That statement should make everyone stop and pay attention. The only way to change that figure is to change the culture, and we all know that culture change is tough. […]
The typical injection mold comprises hundreds of types of plates and tooling components that help to form and eject a molded part. Component type, required function, and construction dictate the proper maintenance procedure and frequency plan. […]
Mold-cleaning strategies, like the molds themselves, take many forms and the array of options is wide. Suppliers understand that customers want efficient and effective methods that will not affect surface treatments adversely or damage the critical-to-function areas of molds. […]
Maintenance training becomes increasingly necessary each time a boomer clocks out for good. Decades of repair experience and mold knowledge are gone in the flash of a retirement party, severely compromising ongoing mold maintenance. This is mainly because many companies do not document critical procedures accurately. […]
Moldmakers benefit the most, by far, from fully digital sinker EDM generators. The digital technology has advanced the functionality of generators to the point where mold shops can now precisely control and manipulate the EDM spark. Such control allows them to produce components that reduce overall mold maintenance costs for their customers. […]
Maintaining a fleet of molds in a timely and efficient manner is a support function, and the bench is a critical part of the mold maintenance process. However, this is also a piece of equipment that is given not so much as a second thought by many companies, and I’ve seen plenty of examples of [...]