To put it bluntly, if your technicians and engineers are not following these 5 simple rules your company is losing money.

Rule 1: Change One Aspect at at Time

By allowing the change to take place, it allows you to be deliberate in your changes.

Rule 2: Make Significant Changes

If you believe something is going to help, make a big adjustment and see what happens – if it went to far, you can always dial it back a little.

Rule 3: If a Change does not Work, Change it Back

Unnecessary changes cause the process to drift further and further away from the process standard.

Rule 4: Document The Process Outputs

There should be a standard documented process for each mold or die as well as a process sheet generated each time 1st piece approval occurs.

note: this is separate from the setup sheet which contains all the machine settings.

Rule 5: Document Every Change

Process changes are important, but also include anything else that affects the system such as repairs, cleaning, mold adjustments, and equipment changes.

Conclusion

This list may seem simple, but there are very few companies in the plastic industry which consistently use all 5 of these steps. The processors who are actually following these simple steps every day are some of the most competitive companies in the plastics industry.