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By James Bourne Mold Maintenance/Repair IN THE TRENCHES Images courtesy of James Bourne. The Obvious Next Step in Minimizing Press Downtime A look at crib notes on press operation for mold repair personnel. W hen I make a press call, I usually think of one more item to add to the stock on hand: a multimeter, 15-amp fuses, a small assortment of roll pins for lifter heads, etc. All of these items support the same purpose: to reduce press downtime. This makes the next suggestion to further the agenda of minimizing downtime obvious: Train mold technicians the rudiments of press operation, at a minimum. What good does it The instructions do to race to the "scene of the outline the process accident," make a speedy repair, for getting the mold and then wait 10 or 15 minutes for a mold setter or process back on auto-cycle, technician to come along and start the press up again? no barrel-purging Generally, mold repair techrequired. nicians (at least in my experience) are the highest-paid hourly employees at a molding facility. So now, not only is the company losing money on press time, but also one of the highest-paid employees is waiting around not being productive. (By the way, walking away from a repair is not usually a good idea. It's one thing if you've just replaced a broken water fitting, but if you were in the press addressing a part-defect issue, it's always good practice to stay and verify your work. If the repair was not effective, there will be even more lost time waiting for your return.) Following is an example of instructions I initially prepared for myself and then shared with others in my department: 30 MoldMaking Technology December 2013 Operating Instructions 1. Robot controller (Yushin). Turn the screen on by pressing the button next to the power button. Depress Cycle Stop NOT Start/Stop. 2. Do not open the door until the robot has completed its cycle and is in the home position. 3. Depress the Manual Mode button on the machine control panel. 4. Move the sled away from the sprue (2 to 3 inches). 5. Turn off the pump motor. 6. Open the door and LOTO. START-UP 1. Remove LOTO. 2. Start the pump motor (the button to the left of pump stop). 3. Move the sled forward. 4. Press the Single Cycle mode button. 5. 6. 7. 8. Press the Cycle Start button after the mold clamps up. Press the Continuous Cycle button. Robot controller. Hit the Auto button and wait for the screen to change. Hit Start/Stop.