Original equipment manufacturers need real-time information on molds that are used to make product parts but often don't have it, says Gabriel Tejada, senior project manager at eMoldino.

Global OEMs spend millions each year on product-part molds but with little or no understanding of their actual tool fleet, Tejada says. As an example, several molds are needed to hold and fashion the resin used in manufacturing handles and other parts for a coffee machine. “There are no answers to really basic questions, such as, ‘Where are my molds located? Are my molds being maintained well?’ And this data only comes once a year or twice a year through Excel sheets. So it's really difficult for purchasing managers to make accurate decisions without having factual information.”

Smart devices should be installed on molds, Tejada says. “When we look at smart factories, companies have really good control of the data because they have on-demand access to everything. But every time we outsource tooling to suppliers, we immediately lose track of what's going on with our assets. So what we propose here is installing sensors on the tooling so that we can connect to them remotely and have information on demand when we need it.”

As Tejada envisions it, wireless sensors can automatically collect critical tooling data such as temperature, location pressure, cycle times, asset condition and performance — everything needed to make the correct decisions on those molds. Moreover, the suggested solution would ensure that data is not only timely but secure. Of course, the data can be stored either in the cloud or on premises of the OEM.

“The whole point is that OEMs need this information in real time,” says Tejada, “but at the moment they only receive it once or twice a year, and the process is error-prone.”