5 Tips for Efficient Injection Molding Mold Change Procedure

Regardless of the metal stamping production line or the injection molding production line, mold changing s often one of the most time-consuming procedure, and a lot of intangible waste is also generated during mold changing. In addition, in traditional mold changing process, which must rely on the master’s experience to set molds and adjust molds. However, this technical work has been gradually lost. The younger generation of employees are less willing to engage in mold changing work because this job is relatively dangerous and tired.

SEMD Quick Changeover – Time & Cost Reduction
To solve the above problems, the implement of "quick mold/die change" is the best solution. This method has been used in European and American companies for a long time. In Japan, because of the TPS (Toyota Production System) concept, automotive industry implement SMED(single-minutes exchange of die) which is same concept as "quick mold/die change"; even most of car manufactories build up SOP for this concept as standard.

Further reading : Benefits of Quick Mold / Die Change System

So how to implement quick mold change to make injection molding mold change procedure efficient? You must know the 5 following key tips..

1. Perfect pre-work planning
Generally, mold changing process can be divided into: operations before shut-down, operations during shut-down, and operations after shut-down.
Operations before shut-down such as: scheduling of mold change personnel, preparation of mold change tools, mold transportation... etc.
Operations during shut-down such as: disassembly/fixing of molds, mold positioning, water/oil/circuit takeover operations... etc.
Operations after shut-down such as: tool homing, mold homing, floor cleaning... etc.

Perfect planning is to reduce the time of work during shutdown as much as possible, and continuously improve the operation process before and after shutdown, so that the entire mold change process could reduce as much as waste.