Custom Molds, Inc. is a father-son business that began focusing on molds and later expanded into plastic parts production. It faces issues with longer production times than promised and defective products due to bottlenecks. The document analyzes the mold and parts production processes and recommends reconfiguring machines and workflows between departments, especially mold fabrication, parts fabrication, and testing, to better match current needs and reduce inefficiencies. It also recommends the office focus orders on what can be completed on time and streamline design processes.

1. CUSTOM MOLDS, INC
PRESENTED BY:
AMITANSHU SRIVASTAVA
ALOK KUMAR
ABHISHEK SAXENA
A N PANIGRAHI
Amar Tiwari
ANKUR GOLCHA

2. A BRIEF SKETCH
 Established father-son business.
 Began with focus on molds and later expanded into
the production of plastic parts.
 Has traditionally focused on quality, design of
both molds and parts, mass production as well
as customization.
 Total order numbers have remained the same,
but clients’ needs have shifted.

3. ISSUES
 Changing strategies within their clients’
businesses changed order needs in an unexpected
way.
 Total time from order placement to receipt by
customer is much longer than promised.
 more and more products defective.
 bottlenecks in production
 can’t predict where, when, why.

4. FLOW DIAGRAM: MOLD
PROCESS
ORDER RAW
ORDER DESIGN
MATERIAL
RECEIVED REVIEW
AND TOOLING
MATERIAL RECEIVED
MOLD
FABRICATION SCHEDULED
TESTING AND FABRICATED
INSPECTION
CLEAN
PACKING AND
AND
SHIPPING
POLISH

5. FLOW DIAGRAM: PARTS
PROCESS
RAW MATERIAL
PART AND RAW
ORDER ORDERED AND RAW MATERIAL
MATERIAL SPECS
RECEIVED PRODUCTION RECEIVED
REVIEWED
SCHEDULED
MOLD SECURED SLURRY MATERIAL WET MATERIALS
FROM INVENTORY TRANSFERRED TO MIXED INTO DRY MIXED
OR FABRICATION HOLDING TANK SLURRY AND BLENDED
PARTS
INSPECTION
PARTS CUT AND TRIM PACKING AND
(ASSEMBLY NO
MOLDED OPERATION SHIPPING
NEEDED)
YES
ADDITIONAL
ASSEMBLY

6. Analysis
 Many issues are the result of general
inefficiency in several departments:
 Offices: Design conceptualization taking too
long, ideas go back and forth between
engineers and managers and customers far too
much.
 Mold fabrication: Needs have changed; need to
make very small batches of many different
designs, necessitating more runs on different
settings (flexible flow strategy).

7. ANALYSIS
 Parts fabrication (injection, assembly): Needs to
make large batches of the same design,
necessitating fewer (longer) runs on the same
settings.
 Testing: Could probably be more efficient in terms
of time spent, and there are too many defects.
 Receiving, mixing, and shipping not apparently a
problem; do not account for much time spent on
project.

8. Recommendations
 In mold fabrication: focus on many, small-capacity,
specialized machines with more workers to oversee
settings.
 In parts fabrication (injection, assembly, cutting &
trimming): focus on few, large capacity specialized
machines with fewer workers, as there are few settings-
changes to oversee.
 Move testing area to more central location for more time-
efficient movement of goods back and forth and increased,
easier communication between testers and office and
manufacturing areas so that problems that caused defects
can be quickly recognized and fixed.

9. Recommendations
 Office:
 Make order placement based on ability to
complete product requested in time promised
(through communication with other departments).
 Coordinate inter-department communication in
design development with more efficient process
(not so much back and forth); CUT TIME SPENT IN
HALF.

10. Recommendations:
Alternative
 Analyze market and decide, based on the
changes in the needs of the market, whether
to focus on parts OR molds.
 proceed with applicable recommendations made
previously