Quality and Employee Responsibility

At Rebling Plastics, we believe in keeping all employees involved in the quality of our plastic injection molding process. That is why in 2003 we decided to train all production personnel in basic blueprint reading and measurement techniques. With the help of the DVIRC and Bucks County Community College, we launched a training program to enable plastic injection molding press operators, secondary operators and setup technicians to inspect their own work. Rather than using a generic program, this training program was customized to focus on quality inspection for plastic injecting molding and typical secondary operations.

Training that Fits Our Operation

For each new product, Rebling Plastics’ Quality Manager writes an inspection plan for each operation- plastic injection molding, secondary operations, etc. Typically, the inspection plan consists of measuring critical dimensions and visual inspections of the plastic injection molded part or assembly. A copy of each inspection plan, which is stapled to a drawing with corresponding numbered dimensions, is organized by mold number and filed on the shop floor. Each time a plastic injection molding or secondary operation is started, setup technicians post the inspection plan with the shop traveler and setup instructions at the plastic injection molding press or secondary equipment. The operators record their own measurements at specified time intervals, and the Quality Manager audits the inspection records throughout the day. Special inspection requirements involving inspection fixtures or testing of electrical and mechanical requirements such as Hipot, dielectric, and torque testing are performed offline in our QA Lab.

So, the employee training begins with basic blueprint/drawing reading. Employees are able to read dimensions from the inspection plan and understand where the measurement should be taken on the part.

The next part of the training involves using basic measurement devices such as calipers, micrometers, gage pins, fixtures, etc. Employees must understand how to take the measurements properly for repeatability. Unlike metals, some plastic injection molding materials are soft, and some are even considered elastomers. When inspecting these parts, it is critical to not squeeze calipers and micrometers on the part. Squeezing may cause deflection in the part, and make measurements inconsistent. Gage pins may also appear to “go” when they are actually a “no go”, because a thin plastic part stretches. That is why our employee quality training program uses examples of different plastic parts to illustrate the point. By learning the proper technique, our employees make consistent measurements.

Finally, everyone receives special training for spotting specific defects which are unique to the plastic injection molding process. Employees are able to quickly identify sinks, gas marks, flow marks, flash, short shots, splay, knit lines, etc.

MRB and Quality Meetings

At the weekly Material Review Board meeting, any non-conforming parts are discussed in detail by the Quality, Production and Engineering Departments to determine cause and preventative action for future production.

In addition to the weekly MRB meetings, all employees meet monthly to discuss any internal or customer non-conforming product that were detected that month. In addition to examining each part, employees openly discuss the underlying plastic injection molding process issues as well as possible detection and prevention methods.

By keeping everyone involved and accountable, employees take more pride and interest in their work, and most importantly, excellent quality is maintained. In 2007 we repeated this training program, both as a refresher and advancement on the previous trainings.