Tool Management
Improve the management of tools with Shopfloor-Online MES
Is the performance of high-value tools affecting your production and product quality?
Press tools, moulds, extrusion tools, fixtures, jigs are but a few examples where the tooling has a considerable effect on the process. Many tools produce more than 1 part at the same time e.g. multiple cavities, dies. Each of the cavities have their individual effect and must be managed accordingly. Use the Tool Management software module to:
- Build a tool asset library, with information about each tool, including each cavity
- Track where and when tools are used
- Support faster change-overs
- Use the tool information to improve your production scheduling
- Manage the state of tools, know when they are good to use
Create a tool library
- Record information about each tool
- Tools can be grouped into sets, where collections of tools are used together
Manage multi-cavity/die tools
- Record information about each cavity/die where tools are multi-head e.g. injection moulding tools
- Record when cavities are blocked and re-opened
Track tool usage and life
- Track tools as they are used in processes – when they are loaded and unloaded
- Know how many parts, cycles they have made to monitor tool life
- Monitor the status of the tools - when they are unusable, when they need repair
- Know where the tools are by tracking locations
Reporting
- Insight into current level of tool inventory
- Complete traceability history of each tool
- Multi-cavity tool performance (cavities open/closed history)
- Efficient tool tracking – track your tools, know where they are, where they have been used
- Go paperless – if that is how you record the use of tools today
- Faster change-overs – see when tool changes are coming up and mobilise accordingly
- Visibility – everyone can see where the tools are and what state they are in
- Reduce losses with multi-cavity tools – track the history of all cavities, when they have been opened and closed, make better decisions about when tools should be repaired rather than run with some cavities blocked
- Improve quality – track measurements by tool and cavity, monitor degradation, make better decisions on when to maintain
- Traceability – know what products were made with what tool and when
The Tool Management module of Shopfloor-Online MES is really powerful when used in conjunction with other modules and is rarely used stand-alone:
- Scheduling – to plan the use of specific tools on production runs
- Job Tracking – to know when and where tools were used or changed on each production run
- Asset register – to capture more detail about the tool
- Production Counting – to capture life-time cycle and part counts, if multi-cavity tools are used the cycle counts can be converted to piece counts
- Quality – to record measurements against the tool and cavities and track performance
- SPC – real-time SPC charts from all quality data to alert operatives if measured values break control limits or trend rules
- Maintenance – to plan maintenance for your tools
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