Its big news when you decide to transfer your injection molds to another vendor for production. There are several reasons why a company may want to transfer injection molds from one location to another. Your new injection molder should provide a seamless plan for mold transfer with minimal or uninterrupted production.
Only the people directly involved with the injection molding process understand the impact of the condition of the mold, quality specifications, resin selection and part geometry has on manufacturability. For a profitable future, the evaluation phase is important. Every injection mold transfer requires planning upfront, investments and communications so as to achieve expectations and goals of the project. However, there will be discoveries and events that were not planned for. Complete understanding of the project goals should be in place and clearly defined with your new injection molder.
Your potential new injection molder should establish a tool transfer team consisting of representatives from all appropriate departments, therefore, engineering through production will be notified of your tooling project and learn what is expected before the tools arrive at their facility. All pertinent information about the tools should be given to the new injection molder for proper evaluation and inspection of the tools. This information would include drawings, mold specifications, part information, production information, quality information and any required post molding operations or auxiliary equipment needed.
Form a partnership – This is key in the success of the injection mold transfer and helps in the establishment of clear communication channels. A team must be defined and empowered based on the injection mold transfer needs. It is important to discuss project time lines, expectations and frequency of project updates with your injection molder early in the tool transfer process so you remain in the loop at all times.
Validate – The new injection molder should be required to perform FAIR’s and CAP’s for you to evaluate and approve before production rungs begin to verify all parts conform to your specifications.
Production -This happens after validation and the new molder will now manage and produce your parts.
Crescent Industries has a documented tool transfer procedure and a systematic approach to transferring tools. We understand this can be a difficult and stressful time for our customers and we make it easy by taking care of all the details for you.
