Time reduction in changing of plastic injection mold part bottom cover injection machine size 380 ton

This study focuses on enhancing efficiency by reducing the time required to adjust plastic injection molds on a 380-ton machine. The setup time for mold change was 61 minutes, exceeding the company's target of 30 minutes. The research employed a quasi-experimental approach, capturing pre-improvement data, measuring the time for each mold change, and documenting sub-work steps using a Flow Process Chart and a Man-Machine Chart. The main activities identified were mold change and Jig robot adjustment using the Quick changeover technique, involving internal and external activities. The study revealed that some mold-changing steps could be prepared in advance, and applying SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Die) and ECRS (Eliminate, Combine, Rearrange, Simplify) principles led to the identification of seven external adjustment steps. Assigning another employee to assist in these steps significantly reduced the average mold adjustment time to 28 minutes, representing a 54.09% improvement.