Which item can a case factory audit never skip?

Answer: The mould care card. Machines can be bought and testing outsourced, but a service record cannot be invented. One entry per 5000 shots with unbroken dates settles it in 10 min.

Six machines but a promise of subcontracting. Acceptable?

Answer: Discount it. Subcontracting puts the mould and the settings outside control. If you proceed, list the sizes those 6 machines cover and set separate terms for the rest.

Can rented test gear pass a Case Factory Audit?

Answer: Short term yes, long term no. A rented bench has no calibration history, so no report. With a lease and a certificate under 12 months, grade it B.

What if 6 h cannot cover 42 items?

Answer: Work the 9 critical items first. Finish the floor and the test room, read documents afterwards. End the day with critical items open and the only honest verdict is conditional approval.

Is a 12-month re-audit interval too long?

Answer: For steady orders it holds. A defect rate above 1.5%, moved moulds or a relocated workshop cuts it to 3 months. Equipment changes tell you more than the calendar.

Case Factory Audit: Machines and Moulds

Quick answer: A case factory audit checks three blocks: 8 machines or more at 250 t to 1300 t, 60 mould sets with care cards, and calibrated instruments.

Machines: nameplate first, screen second
Moulds: pull one out and read its care card
Test room: range, accuracy, calibration
Running 42 checks in six hours
Grading failures and the re-audit interval
FAQ

1. Machines: nameplate first, screen second

Two things on a moulding floor are hard to fake: the clamping force on the nameplate and the shot running on the screen. A plant building 20 L to 120 L cases should hold 8 machines or more, spanning 250 t to 1300 t. Below that, peak-season work goes out of the gate. Once a mould leaves the building, the process settings leave with it. A case mould is heavy, so a cross-plant move means two lifts. Every lift raises the chance of a cavity knock.

Photograph the nameplate, then photograph the screen. A machine rated 800 t running at 520 t is making room for another product, and the case mould queues behind it. Note three readings while the screen is open: barrel temperature, holding pressure, cycle time. Any disagreement with the process sheet needs an answer before you walk on.

Shifts count as much as tonnage. Two shifts across 22 days gives 44 shifts a month; a single-shift plant has half the capacity its machine count suggests.

Equipment	Key parameter	What you do on site
Moulding machine	8 or more, 250 t to 1300 t	Photograph nameplates, count machines, map tonnage
Mould heater	Control within ±2 °C	Compare set point with actual, feel the return line
Chiller	Outlet at 12 °C	Read the panel, check for condensation
Air-tightness bench	0 to 100 kPa, ±0.5% FS	Test one case yourself, watch the decay curve
Drop rig	0 to 2 m, 9 kg head	Measure the height scale, inspect the rails
Tensile rig	0 to 5 kN	Pull one latch, read the peak

Auxiliary units get dropped from most lists, yet they decide consistency: ±2 °C on the mould heater keeps warpage away, and 12 °C on the chiller steadies cycle time. Ten minutes with two panels settles both.

2. Moulds: pull one out and read its care card

Moulds are the real asset and the easiest item to inflate. Sixty sets is the floor for this range; below that, most sizes lean on outside tooling and the lead time sits in someone else's hands.

Case Factory Audit visual check on a moulded sample: closed black flat case, two red latches seated, recessed grip at the front, faint embossing

Pick one mould in production and ask for its care card. A usable card records cleaning, ejector lubrication and water-circuit descaling every 5000 shots, with initials and dates. Then pull 3 idle moulds and match four fields against the log: number, cavity count, steel grade, last service shot.

Check	Pass line	What good looks like	If it fails
Mould count	60 sets or more, traceable	Racked by number with a size label	Grade B, log in 30 days
Care records	One entry per 5000 shots, signed	Card on the mould, dates unbroken	Grade A, 7 days, re-verify
Storage	100 mm off the floor, oiled, ≤60% RH	Pallets under racks, bright cavities	Grade B, fix by deadline
Remaining life	Under 70% of rated shots	Cumulative count lets you sum it	Grade A, new tool plan
Lifting and marking	Weight marked, eyes intact	Label and eyes on the side	Grade C, before re-audit

The log usually breaks at remaining life. A steel tool rated 300,000 shots needs cavity polishing near 240,000, so in use without a count tells you nothing.

Storage is the slowest item and the most revealing. Racks 100 mm off the floor, oiled cavities and humidity under 60% keep a mould usable for six months. Skip one of the three and the parting line rusts, and a single polish takes 0.02 mm off the fit.

3. Test room: range, accuracy, calibration

The test room is the section auditors skip and the one that shows capability. Bench, drop rig and tensile rig in house mean sealing and impact get judged on site; lose one and type testing goes out, stretching from 3 days to 15.

Read the bench on two numbers. A 0 to 100 kPa range covers the 0.3 bar to 0.5 bar used on cases, and ±0.5% FS caps the error at 0.5 kPa. A bench rated ±2% cannot resolve a 2 kPa decay limit at all.

On the drop rig, travel and rails both matter. A 0 to 2 m stroke covers the usual 1.5 m drop, but a bent rail shifts the impact point 10 mm or more and the head lands on a face instead of a corner. A 0 to 5 kN rig needs grips that hold a latch pull without slipping.

Calibration labels are the identity papers of all three. Calipers, bench and rig run on a 12-month cycle, and a label one day out voids the report. Have the inspector test one case from clamping to reading while you watch.

4. Running 42 checks in six hours

Forty-two items fit into 6 h if the time is blocked. Give 3 h to the floor, one hour each for machines, auxiliaries and mould racks; take 1.5 h in the test room; spend the last 1.5 h on documents.

Case Factory Audit hinge and handle check: black case opened past a right angle, moulded handle cut-out inside the lid, two red latches flipped

Do not spread effort evenly. Nine of the 42 items, 21% of the list, touch sealing and strength, and those decide whether the case works at all; most of the remaining 33 are paperwork that can be photographed on the walk.

Every item needs a photo behind it, 42 for 42, numbered to match and timestamped. When time runs short, take the floor first: machines are hard facts, documents can follow.

5. Grading failures and the re-audit interval

Grade results A, B or C instead of scoring them. Grade A covers sealing, latches, wall thickness and mould life, with 7 days to correct and a re-check after. Grade B covers appearance, marking and storage at 30 days. Grade C covers missing documents.

Three Grade A findings among the 42 end the audit without anyone totalling points. A file with only B and C findings can supply while correcting.

Re-audit at 12 months, or 3 months if a batch defect rate passes 1.5%, moulds move site, or the workshop relocates. Machines walk.

Conclusion

The value of a case factory audit is not the item count but whether three blocks can be verified on the spot: 8 machines spanning 250 t to 1300 t, 60 mould sets with signed care cards every 5000 shots, and a test room reading 0 to 100 kPa, 0 to 2 m and 0 to 5 kN under 12-month labels. Run the 42 items in 6 h, grade A, B and C, stop at 3 Grade A findings, and re-audit at 12 months. The report then describes what the floor holds.

This article discusses only the container (case body) side of specifications and design intent, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.