Preventative Maintenance and Mold Repair

At Rebling Plastics, we believe in preventative maintenance to avoid more costly mold repairs, quality issues and interruptions in production. Every tool is unique, so we customize maintenance to each tool. For example, abrasive molding materials may cause more rapid wear on the mold cavity and gate, which means those tools may need to be replated more frequently. Occasionally we “inherit” tools built by another plastic molder that may not have been designed well; are severely worn; or are in need of major repairs. In those cases, we provide options to our customer in an effort to minimize repair and maintenance costs.

Regular maintenance is performed when a mold is finished running, or for longer running jobs, after a certain number of cycles. When a mold is taken out of the plastic injection molding press, moving components must be cleaned and lubricated in open and closed positions to prevent corrosion and wear. Bolts, clamps, and plates must be tight and in place. Vents need to be cleaned and inspected and if necessary, machined to original specifications. Water lines must be checked for blocked flow. Once all the components have been inspected for wear and corrosion, the mold can be “green tagged” and placed back on the shelf. If any problems are detected, the mold is “red tagged” and a repair recommendation is written. When it’s time to run the mold again, pins and bushings are lubricated and the green tagged mold is ready to go.  All repairs or changes made to a mold are documented and can be traced through our computerized mold tracking system.  Once a repair or change is made, a yellow tag is attached to the mold indicating that the molded parts will require complete first piece inspection prior to production processing.

Our policies regarding mold repairs and maintenance

Any plastic injection molding tool ordered through Rebling Plastics is guaranteed for a minimum number of cycles. Typically this number is between 300,000 and 750,000 cycles, depending on the type of tool and the plastic material. As long as a plastic injection molding tool is run only by Rebling Plastics, all mold repairs or maintenance is free to our customers during the guaranteed life.

Our mold repair and maintenance capabilities

Quick repairs such as opening gates and replacing ejector pins, leader pins, gaskets, fittings and bushings is performed in-house. Major repairs such as welding, edm work, and replating are done at a few local toolmaker shops.

While some customers have become accustomed to working with plastic injection molders that manufacture and make major repairs on their own tools, we believe that not having fulltime toolmakers gives us a competitive price advantage, while losing nothing in service. When a quick repair is needed, we call one of our local toolmakers who pick up the tool the same day. There was a time when virtually all plastic injection molders kept a staff of toolmakers, but in these more competitive times, it is more cost efficient for our customers to use a molder that doesn’t add exorbitant markups to their tools in order to pay toolmakers to stand idle all day.

Mold Storage

Rebling Plastics has a dedicated climate controlled mold storage area that includes smoke and fire alarm security systems, a fire sprinkle suppression system and a three hour fire wall separating the mold storage area from the processing area.