Deliverables Toolset of key values for mould complexities A set of key values was created in order to express certain difficulties of the plastic part as well as complexities of the mould�s functional systems in a numerical and objective way. These key values describe complexities related to the production of mould and part. Therefore the same set of key values probably won�t be effective for other products or production processes. However, the method of developing key values for the expression of complexities can be taken over in other industrial areas as well. In addition, the toolset also enables the categorisation of moulds and plastic parts leading to the identification of similarities. A similarity database for moulds could gain in performance by adopting this toolset. Taking a look at the state of the art, no comparable comprehensive toolset of key values for mould and part complexities is available yet. More information on the Integrated Mould and Product Calculation (IMPC) -project can be found at http://www.impc.rwth-aachen.de Integrated mould and product calculation methodology The project�s aim to calculate mould and product costs in an integrated manner deals with two very distinctive production environments. On the one hand there is the single unit production character that prevails in mould making, on the other hand the injection moulding of plastic products is a classical mass production. As a result of this project a methodology will be conceived that features two main characteristics. The calculation approach is process-cost based and for each process step a definite amount of time to be consumed will be computed. In addition, several aspects of the mould to be built cannot be described objectively. In order to meet this challenge of describing technical difficulties numerically, a set of complexity key values was set up and introduced into the formulas for the process step times. The transposition of the methodology to other industrial sectors (e.g. production of deep-draw moulds, casting moulds etc.), where single unit calculation also influences mass production, only requires industry-specific customisation. Critical success factors for this methodology are its simple applicability to the industrial practice and the fact that it reproduces the classical way of performing mould quotations without relying on individual persons. More information on the Integrated Mould and Product Calculation (IMPC) -project can be found at http://www.impc.rwth-aachen.de Integrated mould and product calculation software IMPC (Integrated mould and product calculation) software shall enable quick and accurate calculation of mould costs for the elaboration of a quotation. It is also capable of delivering scenario calculations in order to forecast the impacts of alternative mould lay-outs on the costs of producing plastic parts with it. The software provides the calculator with guidance through the process of estimating the costs for a new mould. Furthermore, it will speed up the process of quotation calculation since the number of input data is limited to 40-50 pieces of information per offer. Thus, the quotation preparation time is likely to be around 2 hours. The end-users of the IMPC software will primarily be mould makers who, beside accelerating their quotation process, want to offer their customers the additional service of comprising the whole life cycle of the product within the cost calculation. Therefore, also injection moulders will heavily benefit from the software by identifying the mould alternative most suited to their demands. The main differentiating factors of the IMPC software are the perspective of performing quick and very exact cost calculations as well as the possibility to produce scenario calculations on a life cycle basis. More information on the Integrated Mould and Product Calculation (IMPC) -project can be found at http://www.impc.rwth-aachen.de Searching for OpenAIRE data... There was an error trying to search data from OpenAIRE No results available
