一, Design phase: Source control of budget control
1. Application of Requirements Analysis and Value Engineering (VE)
The root cause of budget overruns in mold development often lies in vague requirement definitions. Enterprises should establish a standardized requirements analysis process and convert customer requirements into quantifiable technical parameters through QFD (Quality Function Deployment) tools. For example, a household appliance company found through VE analysis that increasing the lifespan of molds from 500000 to 1 million times has limited value for customers, but increases costs by 35%. Ultimately, by optimizing material selection, the company saved a budget of 2.2 million yuan.
Key action:
Establish a cross departmental requirement review team (R&D, production, procurement)
Using FMEA (Failure Mode Analysis) to identify high cost risk points
Establish a design change warning mechanism, and the cost of changes needs to be reviewed by the finance department for a second time
2. Modular Design and Standardization Library Construction
Modular design can reduce mold costs by 15% -30%. A certain automotive parts supplier has established a database containing over 2000 standard modules, reducing the development cycle of new molds from 45 days to 28 days and increasing material utilization by 12%. Standardization should cover:
Mold frame system (such as LKM standard mold frame)
Cooling System (Design Specification for Flexible Waterway)
Top out mechanism (standardized top pin layout scheme)
Sliding mechanism (pre standardized inclined guide column angle library)
3. DFM (Design for Manufacturing) Collaboration
Implementing the "Design Process Manufacturing" three-dimensional collaborative review mechanism, a certain electronic enterprise found through DFM analysis that:
Reduce the number of sliders from 4 to 2, saving 18% of processing time
Optimize the gate position to reduce the number of mold trials from 5 to 2
Adopting a flexible waterway design to shorten cooling time by 30%
Implementation points:
Using simulation software such as Moldflow for model flow analysis
Establish a typical product DFM checklist (including 50+checkpoints)
Mandatory requirement for designers to stay in the factory to learn processing technology for 1 week/year
二, Supply Chain Management: The Core Battlefield of Cost Optimization
1. Supplier Classification Management and Strategic Procurement
Establish a hierarchical evaluation system for mold suppliers (including quality, delivery time, cost, and technology), and implement differentiated cooperation strategies:
A-class suppliers (top 20%): Sign a 3-year framework agreement and enjoy a 10% price discount
B-class suppliers (middle 50%): using order bidding mode
C-class suppliers (bottom 30%): gradually phased out or converted to backup suppliers
A certain enterprise reduced its mold suppliers from 23 to 8 through supplier integration, resulting in an 18% decrease in annual procurement costs and a 65% reduction in quality accident rates.
2. Material Cost Control Strategy
The cost of steel accounts for 40% -60% of the total cost of molds, and a dynamic material management mechanism needs to be established:
Implement KPI assessment for material utilization rate (target value ≥ 85%)
Adopting the "centralized procurement+futures hedging" model to hedge price fluctuations
Develop alternative material solutions (such as replacing H13 with P20, reducing costs by 25%)
Implement a system for recycling and reusing scrap materials (with a recovery rate of ≥ 90%)
3. Cost Control of Outsourcing Processing
Establish a benchmark database for outsourcing processing prices, covering:
CNC machining: ¥ 80-120/hour (graded according to equipment accuracy)
EDM machining: ¥ 15-25/minute (graded according to material thickness)
Polishing treatment: ¥ 50-150/㎡ (graded according to surface roughness)
By introducing three or more suppliers for bidding through the bidding platform, a certain enterprise's outsourcing costs decreased by 22% and delivery time shortened by 15%.
三, Manufacturing process innovation: a dual breakthrough in efficiency and cost
1. Application of high-speed machining technology
The use of high-speed milling (HSM) technology can increase machining efficiency by 3-5 times:
After a certain mold factory introduced a five axis linkage machining center, the processing time for complex cavities decreased from 12 hours to 3 hours
By optimizing cutting parameters (spindle speed, feed rate), tool costs have been reduced by 40%
Implement dry cutting technology to save cutting fluid costs of ¥ 120000 per year
2. Integration of Additive Manufacturing Technology
Application scenarios of 3D printing technology in mold manufacturing:
Flexible cooling water circuit: reduces injection molding cycle by 20% -30%
Conformal electrode: EDM machining efficiency increased by 50%
Complex Structure Verification Model: Development Cycle Reduced from 8 Weeks to 2 Weeks
A certain enterprise uses 3D printing technology to produce injection mold cores, reducing the development cost of a single set of molds by 80000 yuan and increasing product yield by 12%.
3. Intelligent Production System
Deploying MES system to achieve transparency in the production process:
Real time collection of OEE data from equipment to identify bottleneck processes
Shorten mold change time through kanban management (SMED method)
Establish a preventive maintenance system to reduce unplanned downtime
After implementing intelligent transformation, the overall equipment efficiency (OEE) of a certain mold factory increased from 62% to 78%, and the unit labor cost decreased by 19%.
四, Project control system: guarantee mechanism for budget execution
1. Level 3 Budget Control Model
Establish a three-level control system of "total budget sub item budget node budget":
Total budget: covering the full cycle costs of design, materials, processing, trial molding, etc
Sub item budget: Develop standard costs by mold type (plastic mold/die-casting mold/stamping mold)
Node budget: Divide the development cycle into 15 key nodes, with cost red lines set for each node
2. Earned Value Management (EVM) Applications
Implementing cost schedule dynamic monitoring through EVM:
Calculate cost deviation (CV)=BCWP - ACWP
Calculate Progress Deviation (SV)=BCWP - BCWS
Trigger warning mechanism when CV/SV exceeds the ± 5% threshold for 2 consecutive weeks
A project was managed by EVM and found to have a cost overrun of 8% during mid development. The loss was recovered by adjusting the processing route to recover 6%.
3. Risk reserve system
Establish a risk reserve of 5% -8% of the total budget, specifically for:
Rework costs caused by design changes
Compensation for abnormal fluctuations in material prices
Maintenance of critical equipment in case of sudden malfunction
Remedial measures after failed trial molding
五, Continuous improvement: building a long-term mechanism for cost optimization
1. Construction of Mold Cost Database
Establish a cost analysis model with 500+parameters:
Material cost: steel type, weight, purchase price
Processing costs: CNC labor hours, EDM labor hours, polishing area
Trial mold cost: number of trial molds, modified parts, material loss
Management costs: design labor, project management, site allocation
Through big data analysis to identify cost optimization space, a database of a certain enterprise shows that for every 10% increase in mold size, the cost increase rate shows a non-linear increase (1.8 times and 1.3 times non-linear).
2. Value Stream Analysis (VSM)
Draw a value stream diagram for mold development and identify the seven major wastes:
Waiting waste (waiting time for design review)
Waste in handling (cross workshop material transfer)
Action waste (too many CNC clamping times)
Inventory waste (backlog of work in progress)
Rework waste (rework caused by trial mold failure)
Excessive processing waste (exceeding customer required precision)
Talent waste (idle skills)
A certain enterprise has compressed the development cycle from 60 days to 42 days through VSM optimization, resulting in a 17% reduction in direct costs.
3. Continuous improvement incentive mechanism
Establish a special incentive fund for cost optimization:
Propose an effective cost reduction plan and receive a reward of ¥ 500-5000
The team that meets the annual cost savings target will receive profit sharing
The weight of cost control indicators in promotion assessment shall not be less than 30%
