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his team looked at the various pieces of equipment; they identified which pieces would get the most use; they looked at the transit time and the motion to go from one piece of equip- ment to another; and laid out the entire tool room in a lean fashion." The tool room's primary function will be preventive maintenance. Neelam estimates that Baldwin Park has around 150 active molds, with roughly 200 that are more "seasonal." When PT visited, about 70 new tools were being validated, giving the tool room plenty to do going forward. Like most operations at Baldwin Park, the facility's tool management program is extremely detail-oriented. Each mold has a unique code and dedi- cated home on the tool-storage racks, with maintenance scheduled on the basis of production cycles. By using a four-tag system—green, yellow, red, and white—workers can visually ascertain a tool's status. A white tag means a mold has just finished a produc- tion run and is ready for storage after a complete cleaning. A red tag indicates something's wrong, and the mold requires some work. Damaged tools receive a yellow tag, while green means production-ready. After cleaning, tools are wrapped in plastic and their ID number is written in marker on the outside. When tools head to produc- tion, they are accompanied by a plastic bin, bearing the same number, that holds all the water lines, sprue bushings and other components that belong to that tool. "We keep the exact length of hose for each mold," Neelam says, noting that the proper length is determined during process validation. "It's very critical to maintain the same conditions "You think you know everything—but when you write it down, you see the small things." As part of its Rapid Prototype WorkCell program, Freudenberg Medical uses six different varieties of mold bases into which it can drop 3D-printed plastic cavities. 5 0 0 S . S P E N C E R R O A D / P. O . B O X 4 6 8 / N E W T O N , K A N S A S 6 7 1 1 4 - 0 4 6 8 8 0 0 • 8 3 5 • 2 5 2 6 buntingmagnetics.com BUNTINGMagnetics Co. D e s i g n e d M a n u f a c t u r e d I n T h e U S A No Metal. No Doubt. FF Series Drawer Filter When it comes to magnetic systems, there's more than meets the eye. From detecting and separating the smallest flakes of metal, Bunting ® Magnetics makes magnetic products and systems the plastics industry has come to trust. Take for example our FF Series Drawer Filter. What makes this Bunting different? • Temperature-compensated, Rare Earth Magnets for superior high temperature operation • Drawer gasket resists heat aging and compression set offering greater durability • A broad Line of Manual or Pneumatic Cleaning Options to fit any application • In-stock and ready to ship In all of our products, we begin with the end in mind. We start with better components, innovative design and finish production with superior attention to detail. Whether you need individual components or complete, custom systems, we will purify your product, protect your brand and make your plant more efficient. Don't just remove metal, remove all doubt. Call us at 800.835.2526 or visit buntingmagnetics.com 38 JULY 2017 Plastics Technology PTonline.com Freudenberg Medical On-Site