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Moving Beyond Traditional Mold Cleaning Methods
by Steve Johnson, ToolingDocs LLC
In the majority of molding plants around the globe, more labor hours are spent cleaning mold plates and tooling (see chart) than any other repair stage. There are two reasons for this: (1) clean plates and tooling are critical to maximizing mold life and the quality of the product; and (2) the vast majority of molds still are being cleaned primarily by hand. New (and old) technologies in cleaning equipment that could drastically cut cleaning hours and reduce tooling damage are slow to catch on. The obvious reason for this is the ROI quandary… is there really a more efficient way to clean molds other than by hand? How does one cost-justify new cleaning equipment when hand cleaning has been the norm for years? A two-part article
series will address cleaning methods, myths and how to costjustify new cleaning equipment. The Cleaning Culture – Different Strokes Mold cleaning is a stage of repair during which maintenance slows to a crawl while repair techs remove, clean and reinstall hundreds of pieces of tooling, usually by hand, using techniques passed down through on-the-job training. Plants do exist where molds line hallways and toolrooms, taking up valuable bench space while waiting to be cleaned. Other times, in order to meet production demands, molds get reset while still dirty or the cleaning process is rushed, which page 18 u
Corrective Action Report from a 20-press medical molder that targeted, and made great strides in, reducing total defects. When defect frequency drops, so do corrective actions, but percentage of cleaning time stays the same. Time Frame
Year 1
Total C/A Count
C/A Type Performed
Total Corrective Actions performed (rework, polish, replace, cleaning, etc...)
All Corrective Actions (rework, polish, replace, stone, etc...) compared to “cleaning” tasks
1124
“Cleaning” All Corrective Actions
Total Repair Hours
Labor Costs
Cleaning %
Related Repair Hours
Cleaning Costs (labor only) almost doubles the costs spent repairing
Notice the “Cleaning” hours percentage remains consistent
224
1378.2
$74,215.00
68%
900
690.15
$34,257.50
Total of CA Types
$108,472.50 Year 2
1010
“Cleaning”
262
2550.14
$127,407.00
All Corrective Actions
748
1412.44
$70,622.00 $198,029.00
Year 3
887
“Cleaning”
215
2058.75
$102,887.50
All Corrective Actions
672
1042.05
$51,952.50 $154,840.00
64%
66%
This chart shows that “Cleaning” costs almost double “Repair” costs over three years (See Column titled “Labor Costs.”). Also, the percentage of time spent cleaning remains fairly consistent over the three years---also typical.
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