Troubleshooting and Maintenance

Troubleshooting is the art and science of remedying defects after the process has demonstrated the ability to produce acceptable production parts. Most defects respond to one of a variety of process and/or material changes. The goal is to correctly identify which problem is actually causing the defect and to know when a particular solution will work. When making adjustments consider the following recipe: (1) create a mental image of what should be happening, (2) look for obvious differences, (3) make only one change at a time, and (4) allow the process to stabilize after any change is made. Studies have determined that about 60% of defects result from machines and equipment, 20% from molds and dies 10% from material, and 10% from operator error. Software programs, either already installed on the machine’s processor controller or available as a software package, can provide some help (157, 158, 255, 582).