In the manufacturing industry, mould is a key production tool, widely used in injection moulding, die casting, stamping and other processes. The cost of a set of moulds can easily be tens of thousands of dollars or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, and its management level directly affects the enterprise’s production efficiency, product quality and operating costs.
However, the traditional mould management mostly rely on manual registration and paper records, there are many problems: mould number confusion, find the low efficiency, maintenance is not in place, the responsibility is difficult to trace, and even the loss of moulds, misuse and other phenomena, seriously affecting the normal operation of enterprises.
With the manufacturing industry to digital, intelligent transformation, more and more companies are beginning to introduce RFID radio frequency identification technology, to create a set of efficient, visual, full life cycle management of the mould management system.
The common pain points of mould management
- Manual records are cumbersome: paper or form records are prone to errors, lagging information update.
- Difficulty in locating moulds: moulds are scattered in different workshops or warehouses, which is time-consuming and laborious to find.
- No maintenance plan: maintenance records are not clear, moulds are often damaged due to overuse.
- Difficult to trace the responsibility: there are many users of moulds, the responsibility is difficult to be clear, and it is easy to shift the blame.
- High risk of misuse: Mixing similar moulds may lead to product size discrepancy, rework and other problems.
RFID in the mould management solutions
RFID technology by pasting or installing an anti-metal RFID tag on each set of moulds, combined with RFID reader and background management system, to help enterprises achieve the following key functions:
Unique identification
Each set of moulds corresponds to a globally unique electronic ID, the system automatically identifies the mould information, a complete alternative to manual numbering, to avoid errors or repeated registration.
Real-time positioning
Combined with the read-write in the warehouse or production line, real-time positioning of moulds can be achieved, reducing the search time and improving the efficiency of use.
Automatic record
Moulds are automatically recorded every time they are in and out of the warehouse, use, maintenance, repair and other operations, the system can be set according to the number of times or time of use to remind the maintenance, effectively extend the life of the mould.
Prevent misuse
The system can establish the matching relationship between moulds, equipment and process flow, and eliminate the defective products or production accidents caused by mould misuse.
Visualisation Management
Through the backstage system or handheld PDA devices, the inventory status, usage and maintenance records of the moulds can be grasped at any time to achieve the visual management of the whole life cycle.
Application value and benefits
After the implementation of RFID mould management system, enterprises can obtain the following obvious benefits:
- Mould finding efficiency increased by more than 70
- Mould maintenance plan implementation rate increased by 60% or more
- Mould service life is extended by 20%-30% on average
- Misuse rate of mould is reduced to nearly 0
- Labour costs, rework rate dropped significantly
Typical Application Scenarios
- Automotive parts manufacturing (injection moulds, stamping moulds)
- Electronic products manufacturing (precision die-casting mould)
- Home appliance manufacturing (plastic shell mould)
- Rubber products factories (tyre moulds, sealing moulds)
Whether it is a workshop with many types of moulds and high frequency of use, or a production place with high requirements for precision and efficiency, RFID can bring significant improvements to mould management.
Conclusion
RFID is not only a tag or identification technology, but also a management concept of upgrading. Through the deep integration of RFID technology and information technology systems, enterprises can achieve mould management from ‘sloppy’ to ‘fine’, from ‘after the fact’ to ‘full monitoring’. ‘Full monitoring’, for production efficiency, quality assurance and cost control to lay a solid foundation.
In the future smart factory, RFID mould management will become an important part of the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises.
