With half a day, which record matters most on a case factory tour?

Answer: The mould log. It carries shots, repairs and parts changes together, enough to tell whether the tool has 40,000 or 70,000 shots left.

Why clean moulds every 5,000 shots?

Answer: Vent depth drops 0.02 mm by then. Wait longer and a scorch mark appears in one fixed position while trimming climbs from 20 seconds to 45.

On a case factory tour, is a valid calibration label enough for a gauge?

Answer: No. The label proves it was sent out, not that it was dropped. Strike a 10 mm block three times and retire anything outside 9.98 to 10.02 mm.

How much more does a plant with full records charge?

Answer: About 5 to 8 percent on the same model, buying 40,000 extra shots and a 0.3 mm wall tolerance.

From 5,000 Shots to 80,000: A Case Factory Tour Checklist

Quick answer: Judge how long machines last from three records: shots in the mould log, gaps in patrol sheets, valid calibration labels. When all three line up, that tool can run 40,000 shots more.

Records first, banners later
Moulds: cleaning, polishing and the retirement count
Press and auxiliaries: oil, water and drying cycles
Gauges and jigs: how calibration failure shows
Turning upkeep into added service life
FAQ

1. Records first, banners later

The team-of-the-month plaques on the wall prove nothing. What proves something is the signature on the last three pages of the mould log. On a case factory tour, 15 minutes with paper beats 15 minutes at a press: mould history, patrol sheets, gauge certificates. Miss one and the upkeep is written up after the fact.

The pass lines are blunt: three consecutive months with no blank fields, a calibration label still valid today, shot counts recorded per run. Break any of the three and the price deserves a discount.

Forgery leaves traces. A patrol book in one identical hand was written last night. A certificate dated before the machine was installed came from another unit. A log stopping at 20,000 shots usually means the tool was swapped without the book.

Record	Page to open	Pass line	Forgery tell
Mould log	Last three pages	Shots counted per run	Jumped numbers
Patrol sheet	Last 3 months	No blanks, signed	One hand, one pen
Certificate	Gauge number	Valid today	Dated before install

2. Moulds: cleaning, polishing and the retirement count

Moulds are what a case factory tour should kneel down for. Open the moving half and read three places: carbon in the vent grooves, crushing on the parting line, steps worn into ejector pins. That trio roughly dates the tool.

Case Factory Tour: a grey-black case open on a workbench, foam compartments holding coiled cables and tools, rows of black flight cases behind

Upkeep follows shot counts. An ultrasonic clean every 5,000 shots, with teardown, soak and drying, takes 4 hours; polishing joins at 20,000 and pulls cavity scratches under 0.02 mm; a review at 80,000 decides whether the tool continues. Plants that skip it get a scorch mark in one fixed spot once vents clog.

Three numbers: scratches past 0.02 mm get polished, flash past 0.05 mm means reworking the parting line, ejector marks past 0.1 mm need new pins. Exceed all three and the tool has 5,000 shots left, with trimming climbing from 20 seconds to 45.

Shots	Action	Time	Pass line
Every 5,000	Ultrasonic clean	4 hours	No carbon in vents
Every 20,000	Polish, new pins	8 hours	Scratches under 0.02 mm
Every 80,000	Keep or retire	2 days	Flash under 0.05 mm

3. Press and auxiliaries: oil, water and drying cycles

Hydraulic oil drifts quietly because nothing alarms. On a case factory tour, ask for the change log: every 2,000 hours or 12 months, whichever comes first. Above 45℃ oil oxidises twice as fast, so the interval falls to 1,500 hours.

Cooling water runs on another clock. Flush every 6 months; a 5℃ spread in and out, or a 25 percent flow drop, means scale, and wall tolerance slips from 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm. Dry resin at 80℃ for 4 hours, 6 once regrind passes 30 percent.

Filters expose habits. Blow them out every 500 hours and change the element past 0.6 MPa differential. One glance at the gauge shows whether upkeep exists outside the paperwork.

4. Gauges and jigs: how calibration failure shows

On a case factory tour, every number above depends on an honest gauge. Ask for the caliper label, the micrometer certificate and the wall-gauge comparison record. Calipers are calibrated every 12 months, micrometers every 6, a wall gauge whenever its head changes.

Case Factory Tour: a grey hard case closed on an old wooden bench, two black latches, a handle with a round lock, coiled cables behind

Failure shows in comparison, not on a label. Strike a 10 mm block three times; readings outside 9.98 to 10.02 mm retire that caliper. Retired gauges need a red tag and separate storage, or they keep producing wall figures that mean nothing.

Gauge	Calibration	Pass line	Action
Vernier caliper	12 months	0.02 mm off a 10 mm block	Red tag
Outside micrometer	6 months	0.01 mm zero error	Recalibrate
Wall gauge	On head change	0.01 mm across three points	New head
Leak jig	6 months	20 percent flow loss	Clean or replace

Jigs fail more easily than gauges. A blocked reference leak passes everything it tests, and a drop tower set 20 mm off its 1.2 m height changes impact energy by about 3 percent.

5. Turning upkeep into added service life

Upkeep shows up in two numbers: shots a tool still has, and years a case lasts outdoors.

A mould reviewed at 80,000 shots with complete records often reaches 120,000 with two polishes; without them, flash appears at 50,000. That 70,000-shot gap is depreciation spread across every unit.

The case needs three habits. Grease hinges every 18 months, holding torque at 1.5 to 2 N·m. Replace gaskets at 3 years, sooner once compression set passes 25 percent. Polypropylene in sun for 3 years loses 30 percent of impact strength.

Write those lines into acceptance terms before leaving, and a case factory tour has bought more than a two-year warranty clause.

Conclusion

Checks reveal habits, cleaning reveals rhythm, replacement reveals the pass line; service life follows. A tool running 40,000 shots longer and a case lasting a year more never appear on a quotation, only in a logbook, which is the real yield of a case factory tour.

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.