Implementing a Mold Maintenance Program

There are many warning signs that a mold is about to fail, but many composites manufacturers still put off preventative maintenance until it’s too late. Bob Piekarski, mold shop supervisor at Bradley Corporation, lists the reasons why manufacturers say they wait: “They don’t have time, money or something else is more important. Or we’ve got to get these parts out the door. In the long run it ends up costing you time and money.”

Piekarski will explain how to create a preventative maintenance program during a session at Composites 2010. “I’m so hell bent on having this kind of program in place, I learned it from the very beginning and can’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to do this,” he says. “You may squeak by often enough to think you don’t need this kind of a program. Then something catastrophic happens that’s really preventable.”

One of Piekarski’s first tips is to listen to employees who work with the molds. “The guys on the floor are going to know when it’s tougher to get the part demolded,” he says. “Take a look at your materials. If you’re doing gel coated products, they’re going to be less aggressive on your molds than an un-gel-coated part. The shape of the part is a factor. The more complex the part, the more frequent your PM program is going to be.”

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm and is filed under Manufacturing and Processes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.