The success of any molding program is determined at the mold design stages. It can be difficult…. if not impossible…. to properly add critical performance features to a finished mold… if they are not designed and built in….

For many issues uncovered after a mold is built, unfortunately, this is true. A good percentage of iterations to enhance mold performance that were not allowed for in an original design are a compromise of what a team charged with resolving issues would do if they were somehow aware of the issue before the mold was designed. The design they would incorporate would likely be one where the features needed would be more of a nature suited for the issue needing resolution.

However, the mold is finished and the sub-performance must be addressed. As with anything requiring engineering expertise, there are many ways to compromise. Some compromises can be much better than others.

The area of sub-performing molds can consist of molds that:

• Are operating at slower than desired molding cycle
• Have critical dimensions on the edge of the tolerance window, on the high or low  side, or both
• Have areas of maximum flash callout that consistently are either on the edge of tolerance or are shipping product over spec
• Produce product with no or short fill areas an unacceptable percentage of the time
• Have gate vestige/gate blemish issues
• Produce parts that experience failures/rejects in the field

One of the advantages in having Len Graham Consulting in your corner is that most major mold builders really have little or no practical experience in  molding. Len has over 40 years experience building new molds, most of that as tooling supplier for in-house molders. He has been on the front line exposed to the issues related to long term running of production molds. It is from this position where he has been able to witness first hand which mold features work well, and which do not. He has worked with repair and maintenance personnel to design, test, adopt, and most of all understand many design iterations for specialized mold components. Dedicated mold builders will generally not have the advantage of this type of experience.

We would like to have the opportunity to assist you by acting as your agent in working with your chosen moldmaker. This will better assure needed features are appropriately applied to your sub-performing mold program on your behalf.