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> In lugnet.lego.direct, Tom McDonald writes:
>
> > Color still seems to be easier to change IMO rather than a mold, as I can
> > imagine that process would occur faster, as the machine would not have to
> > pause as long (if at all) in the changeover.
>
> I disagree.
>
> Consider the example of mold tooling that was built to the same form • factor for
> the same machine. To change from one to the other requires merely a
> substitution of the tooling and a change in settings for amount of plastic • to
> inject, preheat, mold dwell time, cooling time, ejection rate, etc. All of
> which, no doubt, are just parameters to the NC control program driving the
> molding machine.
That may be, but when I worked in the plastic part plant, and I changed
material and colors numerous times when I was a Utility, a color change
merely required a dumping of the material from the hopper, blowing it out
with a air nozzle, and a purge of the nozzle. That usually takes maybe 15,
20 minutes. If you had to clean the grinder with that machine (If it was a
different material or color) that would take longer, and it was a real pain!
The mold change usually did take longer. You had to get the mold from where
it was, there was an area where we put all the molds, taking it to the
machine, with either the forklift or the crane, and then you had to line it
up in the machine, lower it, clamp it down on the machine, hook up the water
tubes for the cooling, etc. Then you need to upload the mold specs into the
machine computer (If it had one, we had some real old ones!), and do trials,
startup procedures, and quality assurance OK, and get the mold running.
There is also setting up for the operator, boxes, stock, if you need parts
for it, etc. This takes anywhere from half an hour to two hours, depending
on mold size, what machine it runs on, etc.
I definately think a mold change is a bigger deal than a color change.
Scott S.
--
Systems Administrator-Affiliated Engineers -> http://www.aeieng.com
LEGO Page -> http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/3372/legoindex.html
Want LEGO Parts at Great Prices? Visit The Sanburn Systems Company!
http://www.sanburnsystems.com
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Bulk Sales in the 21st Century
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| (...) Maybe. I dunno. I guess I would ask not how much *labor* was involved, but rather, how much time transpired while the machine was out of production. In your description, for example, the bull time to bring the new mold from storage has no (...) (24 years ago, 10-Jul-00, to lugnet.lego.direct, lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Bulk Sales in the 21st Century
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| (...) I disagree. Consider the example of mold tooling that was built to the same form factor for the same machine. To change from one to the other requires merely a substitution of the tooling and a change in settings for amount of plastic to (...) (24 years ago, 10-Jul-00, to lugnet.lego.direct, lugnet.general)
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