When your mold is assembled, sampled, and approved, is it the last step, the first step, or part of a series of steps?
Many an OEM focuses on the design and subsequent sample approval of a mold, followed by the parts they needed in the first place. If you did not adequately assess the maintenance and repair of your mold, you may be selling yourself, and your mold short. The maintenance effort and when required the repair of your mold, is a critical and oft overlooked aspect of supplier evaluation. They are certainly two different skill sets. Mold maintenance revolves around primarily cleaning, preserving and more importantly assessment, meaning looking for signs of wear or stress. If detected, the signs must be investigated and possibly dealt with by a mold technician. Being able to make those repairs and return the mold to its designed function is another order of skill.
Based upon that axiom, if you are utilizing a mold designer/builder that is separate from your injection molder, see what handshaking can take place regarding the theory and design of the mold being transferred to the mold maintenance function.
It can be very advantageous if just not less expensive to have your mold designer/mold maintenance person under the same roof. Even better is for both capabilities to be a part of the organization that is using the mold to produce your parts. Having an integral knowledge of how the mold was designed and should function can make maintenance, and more importantly repair a much smoother and less costly effort.
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