Definition and evaluation of good manufacturing practices for plastic injection molding

Abstract

In this work, the impact of good manufacturing practices (GMP) on the specific energy consumption (SEC) of plastic injection molding process, in 9 representative companies in Colombia, was studied. The GMP applied to the injection molding process and the degree to which they are adopted by the companies were defined. Afterwards, the SEC of 17 representative injection molding processes in those companies were evaluated. Finally, the impact of applying the GMP and their effect on SEC were studied. The degree of application of GMP on the analyzed companies ranges from 35 to 72%. A single SEC value could not be established for all the injection systems, because it depends on the injected weight and the productivity of each mold-machine-material combination. Nevertheless, a characteristic curve was defined for different systems. A relationship between the application of GMP and SEC was found. It was observed that all GMP contributed to improve the SEC, with different significance, ranging the relevance from 6 to 14%. Finally, it was concluded, taking in consideration a representative company, that “Plasticizing” and “Drive Units” were the most relevant categories to impact the SEC.