Molders benefit from new software for a host of shop needs.

Available for less than a year, the first maintenance software ever designed specifically for injection molders has shown users a whole new way to manage maintenance and control spare-parts costs. Some molders are even using this software as a tool to implement ISO 9000 quality standards. Now these benefits have been extended to include auxiliary-equipment and general plant maintenance.

The Maintenance Professional software package is supplied by Spirex Corp. of Youngstown, Ohio. Last year, Spirex created a new affiliate, Techware Design, to develop unique and easy-to-use PC software tailored to the needs of plastics processors. Described first in PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY (Feb. '94, p. 15), The Maintenance Professional keeps track of injection-machine maintenance schedules and histories, plus spare-parts inventory and master lists of replacement part numbers, reorder quantities, and qualified vendors for all machine components. It's priced at $1999. Around 60 of these Windows-based packages have been sold. Even machinery OEMs and colleges have requested copies to help educate customers and students on implementing proper maintenance programs.

MAINTENANCE FOR AUXILIARIES

Just this month, Spirex is launching The Maintenance Professional Auxiliary Equipment Module. It manages maintenance schedules and spare-parts inventories for granulators, chillers, conveyors, robotics, and the like. Some customers are utilizing the software's easy customizability to adapt it for mold repairs, general plant maintenance (e.g., forklifts and lighting), and project maintenance--i.e., tracking production costs and parts inventories for assemblies. "You can use it for almost anything in your plant," says Brad Smith, president of Techware Design and technical director of Spirex. The auxiliary module can be used alone or with the machine maintenance module. It costs $1000, but through February Spirex is offering it free when purchased with the machine module.

At NPE in Chicago this past June, Spirex also introduced The Molder's Technician (PT, May '94, p. 92). It offers five types of general math utility functions and reference tables:

* Calculations--part weights and volumes, areas, shot weights, minimum filling and cooling times, as well as various hydraulic, mechanical, electrical, screw, shot/stroke, and statistical calculations.

* Conversions--English to metric and vice versa.

* Troubleshooting--common problems with recommended solutions.

* Reference data--recommendations on resin drying and processing, screw rebuilding, mold set-ups, and startup/shutdown procedures.

* Part costing--overall quote, price/part, and profit ($ and %) based on quantities, profit mark-up, cycle time, efficiency/uptime, number of cavities, shot weight, scrap rate, regrind content, resin cost, secondary and miscellaneous costs, and even sales commission.

Around 60 of these packages have been sold at $799 each. Techware is now creating an Extruder's Technician package for release in this first quarter.

Smith says some customers have put both the maintenance software and The Molder's Technician onto their computer networks so that numerous users can access the programs throughout the plant.

WHAT USERS SAY

One of Spirex's first customers for The Maintenance Professional was Nypro Inc., headquartered in Clinton, Mass. With more than 20 plants worldwide, Nypro is one of the country's largest custom molders. The company is now using the software in five of its U.S. facilities. One of these is Nypro Asheville Inc. in Asheville, N.C., which has 28 presses and will add 36 more in a new building under construction.

Bill Komara, facility manager at Asheville, became interested in the maintenance software when his plant took steps to get ISO 9002 certification. ISO requirements include accurate data on preventive-maintenance scheduling and repairs. To implement the software, Komara sent Spirex a list of basic data on its machines, which were incorporated into the Machine Profiles in the software package before shipment. Komara says, "The preset machine profiles and maintenance guidelines allowed for immediate use of the software. We were able to print a schedule within the first week!

"Spirex was helpful and provided technical support through the use of a 'Help' hotline. I wanted to see defaults for my machine profiles different from those Spirex originally entered. They promptly changed their settings, which saved us a great deal of time by not having to reenter maintenance data. Now I can print weekly schedules, and when a machine is down I can review current and future maintenance needs to stay ahead of normal maintenance items."

Komara finds the software gives him an accurate and user-friendly inventory system. The software lets him easily move an inventory item to a machine and will inform him when inventory stocks are depleted to a reorder level. The search function lets him query parts usage for all machines in his plant to find out which parts need reordering. At Komara's request, Spirex is looking into incorporating a bar-code system to enhance the inventory capabilities of the software.

Spirex's Smith tells "horror stories" he has heard from other customers. "One molder did not want to be bothered with entering items taken from inventory," he recalls. "I pointed out that with our package, he could just click the mouse on the item he used. This eliminated writing it down." The customer said he never wrote down depleted inventory items. Smith asked how he knew when to reorder and how much. The molder replied, "When I get to zero, I just order five of whatever parts are needed."

Smith comments, "This customer is ordering five relays, whether the plant needs one or 40." Smith frequently sees customers realizing cost savings by keeping lower parts inventory and ordering on a timely basis.