In this guide 6 sections
Count shots, not days. Give each mould its own trigger. Log shots at the press. Record each repair against a cavity, so the tool room supervisor sees wear patterns before parts drift out of tolerance. Keep every record in one file.
Why calendar schedules fail for moulds
A mould on a four-second cycle across three shifts racks up shots far faster than one that runs a single job monthly, yet a calendar rule treats both alike. The busy one wears early. The idle one gets serviced for nothing.
Wear follows shots: parting line damage, vent blockage, ejector pin scoring and cooling channel scale all build with every cycle, whether the press runs Monday or Sunday.
So count shots, not days.
Set a shot count trigger for each mould
Start with the mould maker’s recommendation if you have one, then adjust by material and part, because glass filled nylon eats steel faster than polypropylene does. Tight vents clog early.
Use two levels: a light service at the first count for vents, slides and clamp slots, and a full strip at a higher count for polishing and pin replacement. Write both numbers on the record.
Shots come from the press counter, which the setter reads at every job end before adding the difference to the mould’s running total on the card.
- Mould number and cavity count
- Material and fill type run in it
- Light service trigger in shots
- Full strip trigger in shots
- Running shot total and last service date
Log repairs per cavity, not per mould
A sixteen cavity mould fails one cavity at a time, a worn core pin in nine and a damaged gate in four, so “mould repaired” hides repeat offenders. Nobody can spot returns.
Record the cavity number, the fault, the action and the hours spent, plus the steel work, such as laser welding, polishing or new core inserts, and who did it. Photos of the damage help.
Over a year this shows which cavities cost the most hours and spares, and that decides whether to rebuild the mould or replace it.
- Cavity number affected
- Fault seen on the part or in the steel
- Repair action and hours
- Spares used, such as pins, springs or seals
- Technician name and date
Replace paper cards with one history file
Paper cards live in a drawer by the tool room, where they go missing and get greasy, and a mould sent to an outside toolmaker travels without its history. Nobody reads them at the press.
One file per mould, searchable by number, holds the specification, the shot total, every service, every repair and the dimensional check results after each strip.
Link the file to the job planner, so a planner scheduling a mould already past its trigger sees a warning before the job is released to the press.
Make the schedule visible on the floor
A schedule nobody sees does not work. Show the tool room supervisor a list sorted by shots remaining before the trigger, and treat the top five as this week’s work.
Plan services around the production plan, pulling a mould when its order finishes and never in the middle of a long run on a busy press.
Begin with your ten busiest moulds. Set triggers, read the counters, pin the list to one board for a month, and only then add the remaining moulds from the tool room register.
Mould maintenance record template
A one-page template per mould. The header holds mould number, cavities, material and both shot triggers, and a table below lists date, shot total, service type, cavity number, fault, action, hours and technician. A strip at right counts shots left.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
How do we read shot counts without machine integration?
Read the press counter at job end and write the figure on the job ticket, then add the difference to the mould’s total on its record. It takes seconds. It suits any press.
What should the first trigger be?
Use the mould maker’s guidance if available, otherwise your own repair history, and set it conservatively so you can lengthen it when strip inspections show clean steel.
Should hot runner systems be tracked separately?
Yes. Heater bands, thermocouples and nozzle tips wear differently from steel, so give the hot runner its own service entries on the same mould record, with its own interval.
Who owns the mould record?
The tool room supervisor. Setters and operators add shot counts and fault notes, but one person must check each record is complete before the mould goes back on the press.