Implementation plan
1. List scrap by mold and weigh three bins
The list names the molds, and the bins show whether the scrap is still being made.
| Action | - List last month's scrap by mold from the ERP, and by shift where it is recorded.
- At the start of a shift, empty the scrap bins at the three molds highest on the list that are running, and at one other press.
- At the end of the shift, weigh the rejected parts in each bin on the floor scale.
- Note whether the fault sits in the same place on every part.
|
| Owner | A process technician |
| Purchases | None |
| Decision | Do the same few molds lead the list and fill their bins, with faults that change from part to part? |
| Fallback | If the fault sits in the same place on every part, that mold goes to the mold shop first. |
2. Study the worst molds at the press
Short trials find the settings at which each mold makes good parts.
| Action | - Take one mold at a time, in its usual press, with its usual resin.
- Change one setting at a time: fill speed, holding pressure, holding time, cooling time.
- Weigh and check the parts of each trial, and note where they start to go bad.
- Choose the settings in the middle of the band where parts stay good.
- Where a customer has approved a part's settings, ask for sign-off before the new ones are used.
|
| Owner | A process technician |
| Purchases | None: about 72 hours of a technician and about 1,200 lb of trial parts, about $5,800 in all |
| Decision | Does the mold make good parts across a band of settings, not only at one point? |
| Fallback | If no band is found, the mold or the resin is the cause, and the study of that mold stops. |
3. Keep one signed sheet at each press
Every shift starts from the same settings, and a change carries a name.
| Action | - Write the chosen settings on one sheet and fix it at the press.
- Every shift starts the job from the sheet.
- A change is written on the sheet with a name, the time and the reason.
- The technician reads the changes every week, and updates the sheet where a change holds.
- Weigh the rejected parts of these molds every week for a month.
|
| Owner | A process technician, with each shift's supervisor |
| Purchases | None |
| Decision | Does the weighed scrap on these molds fall, and stay down for a month? |
| Fallback | If the scrap returns on one shift, that shift starts its next run with the technician at the press. |
Illustrative sample. The plant, the walk and the footage are synthetic.