Implementation plan
1. Time one mold change in four parts
Shows how much of a mold change is waiting.
| Action | - At the next mold change on any press, time it with a stopwatch, from the last good part of one job to the first good part of the next.
- Write down four times: waiting for what is fetched, swapping the molds, connecting the water, and starting up.
- Note each trip away from the press, and what it was for.
- Time one change on another shift too.
|
| Owner | A shift supervisor |
| Purchases | None |
| Decision | Does the press wait more than about 8 minutes for the mold, hoses or tools? |
| Fallback | If they are already at the press when it stops, there is nothing to fix. |
2. Write a checklist for each mold
What each mold needs at a change is written down once.
| Action | - At each mold's next change, list what it used: each hose and its length, the fittings, the bolts and the tools.
- Keep the list with the mold on its rack.
- Update the list when the mold itself is altered.
|
| Owner | A process technician on shift, with the mold shop |
| Purchases | No purchase: about ten minutes for each mold, about $1,200 of a technician's time in all |
| Decision | Does a cart loaded from the list hold everything the change needs? |
| Fallback | If something is missing, add it to the list at that change. |
3. Load a cart before the press stops
The fetching happens while the old job still runs.
| Action | - Buy six carts, each with its own water hoses, fittings and hand tools.
- At the start of each shift, name the mold changes due in that shift.
- While the old job still runs, load a cart from the next mold's checklist and bring the mold to the press.
- A mold too heavy for the cart waits on its pallet beside the press.
|
| Owner | A shift supervisor, with the mold shop |
| Purchases | Six carts with hoses and tools, about $9,000 |
| Decision | Is the next timed change shorter by about the waiting the first timing found? |
| Fallback | If carts are still loaded after the press stops, one person loads them at the start of each shift. |
4. Read mold change times each week
The job log shows whether the time saved holds.
| Action | - Read the week's mold changes from the ERP job log, by press and by shift.
- Compare the median with the 63 minutes before the carts.
- Where a shift is back at the old time, check whether its cart was loaded before the press stopped.
|
| Owner | The plant manager |
| Purchases | None |
| Decision | Is the median mold change down to about 48 minutes? |
| Fallback | If not, time one change again in four parts to see where the minutes went. |
Illustrative sample. The plant, the walk and the footage are synthetic. Figures from our analysis are estimates made with AI, not guarantees.