Cut mold changeover time, see real machine hours
Cycle time, downtime and changeover time taken from the machines; traceability from finished lot back to resin lot.
Common problems
Long mold changeovers
Waiting for the mold, waiting for heat-up, adjusting parameters; the real time is rarely measured.
Trial shots after a changeover
Trial-shot scrap gets mixed into output and isn't counted separately.
Cycle time drifting from standard
Machines run slower than the standard cycle and nobody notices.
Resin and masterbatch
Resin, masterbatch and regrind stock are hard to control by lot.
Mold maintenance by gut feel
Molds fail unexpectedly mid-order and the machine sits idle.
Lot traceability requirements
Automotive and electronics customers require tracing a part back to its resin lot.
Following the flow of the plant
Raw material warehouse
Resin and masterbatch received by lot; issued by work order; actual stock on hand.
Material preparation
Resin and masterbatch lots linked to the work order before molding.
Molding machine
Cycle time, shot count and run/stop status taken from the machine; anomalies appear on screen immediately.
Mold changeover
Changeover and setup downtime logged by reason.
Inspection
First-piece inspection; visual defects logged by code at the machine.
Finished-goods warehouse
Receive by labeled carton, ship by order; trace back to machine, mold and material lot.
Modules for plastic injection molding
The full set of ControlMES modules is available, configured for injection molding. Deploy them one at a time or together, as your factory needs.
| Module | In an injection molding plant |
|---|---|
| Master data | Item codes, molds, cavity counts, standard cycle times, material usage standards. |
| Planning & scheduling | Sequence work orders by machine and mold to avoid unnecessary changeovers. |
| Production tracking | Output, actual vs. standard cycle time, downtime by reason. |
| Inventory & material flow | Resin and masterbatch by lot; issued by work order; actual stock on hand. |
| Quality management | First-piece inspection, visual defects by code. |
| Machine connectivity | Cycle time, shot count, run/stop status taken from the molding machines. |
| Traceability | From finished lot back to resin lot, machine, mold and shift. |
| Management reporting | Molding machine efficiency, changeover time, defect rates across the shop. |
| Maintenance | Planned maintenance for molding machines and molds; breakdown history. |
In operation
ControlMES is running at a plastic injection molding plant.
FAQ
How long do mold changeovers take? No one measures it.
Changeover downtime is logged by reason and reviewed by machine and by shift.
Machines run slower than the standard cycle and nobody notices?
Cycle time comes straight from the machine and is compared with the mold's standard cycle; slow machines show up on the monitoring screen.
Molds fail unexpectedly mid-order?
Planned maintenance for molding machines and molds, with breakdown history for every mold.
Molding machines from many brands and generations?
Yes, we can connect them. On older machines, run/stop signals and output counts come from sensors.
Contact
A 1-day assessment at your injection molding plant, free of charge: we follow one work order from the resin warehouse to finished goods.