Injection Mold Tooling Transfer
Business circumstances occasionally require the need to transfer injection molds to a new manufacturing partner. It is no secret that each individual injection molded part has a unique “personality” that the manufacturer has learned over time and not all of these secrets are documented. This presents some level of risk that is important to recognize and manage to ensure continuity of supply.
To assist in planning, Texas Injection Molding has compiled a Tooling Transfer Checklist to highlight information that will assist in ensuring a successful transfer of injection molds.
Tooling transfers require excellent communication and efficient teamwork as transfers demand input and collaboration from many key manufacturing disciplines in real-time. Texas Injection Molding has developed the processes and tools to effectively support our team. The roles of each team member and some of the tools utilized to manage the transfer follow.
Tooling Transfer Team
Project Manager – The project manager is the primary point of contact for the customer to collect information and coordinate internal technical resources and transportation logistics to ensure resources are prepared and scheduled in advance of tooling arrival. They are responsible for setting up part numbers and BOM in ERP, managing first article and part qualification, and all tasks and communications until the injection molded part is approved for production.
Tooling Manager – The tooling manager will receive injection molds and go through a detailed Injection Mold Inspection and Checklist. Molds are identified, cores and cavities are photographed, and information is provided to the Project Manager to document in the ERP system.
Quality Manager – A Quality Management Plan will be developed for every part to be documented according to our Master Control Plan. The Master Control Plan provides operator instructions and photographs related to mechanical requirements, cosmetic requirements, and packaging requirements. The Quality Manager will also provide In-Process Quality Audit instructions to support manufacturing.
Process Engineer – The Process Engineer is responsible for establishing the manufacturing process parameters for each injection mold according to our Mold Sampling Procedure. The qualification process may vary depending on molded part requirements and expected annual production volumes
Proper planning and preparation to collect as much information on the front end will ensure the success of injection mold transfers.
To discuss your tooling transfer please call us at 281-489-4292 or Contact us via email.