AI knowledge base for plastics processing and injection moulding when someone at the machine asks for the old setup sheet.
Mould files, setup sheets, first article inspection reports, inspection plans, material datasheets and the batch records for the granulate in one place, every answer with its source. Before we start, we check whether your file server, NAS or proALPHA can be connected; until then, you upload files yourself. The demo uses sample documents; in the first weeks after go-live you see how it works with your own.
Everyday question
“What parameters did the article run with on this machine last time?”
The answer is in
Setup sheet · process record for the production order
1 Source in one clickDay to day
Sound familiar?
The setter shouts over from the machine: what holding pressure did the housing run with last time? The old setup sheet’s a scrap of paper somewhere in the mould cabinet.
Only Werner knows which cavity is blocked off on mould 4712 and why. Werner retires in the summer.
For the complaint, the customer wants the first article inspection report and the certificate for the granulate batch. Both are in an email from 2021, and nobody remembers whose inbox it’s in.
Wednesday, just after six, at the mould store. The mould for the lid is back from the toolmaker, with the contour correction on two cavities done. The shift supervisor wants to know whether the work means new sampling or whether production simply carries on – that depends on what was agreed with the customer at the last approval. The change notification is in an email in the project manager’s inbox, the inspection plan is in the quality folder, and the last dimensional report is a printout by the measuring machine. The drawing on the mould cabinet says index C; the customer’s email refers to index D. The machine is free, the order is scheduled, and until this is cleared up the mould sits beside it.
Things people in this industry say every day.
Example questions
Questions from your day-to-day work
Three questions that come up day to day, and the document where you would expect to find the answer. In the demo you see this with sample documents; you test it with your own documents in the first weeks after go-live.
“What parameters did the article run with on this machine last time?”
1 Setup sheet · process record for the production order
“What was last modified on mould 4712, and what does the first article inspection report say about it?”
2 Mould file · first article inspection report
“Which granulate batch is in the March delivery, and which material certificate goes with it?”
3 Batch record · raw material supplier’s material certificate
Documents
The documents that matter to you
- Mould files per mould – drawing, cavity layout, modifications, maintenance history and shot counter
- Setup sheets and process parameters per article and machine – barrel temperatures, holding pressure, switchover point, metering stroke, mould temperature control and cycle time
- First article inspection reports and sampling documents, depending on the customer under VDA Volume 2 (production process and product approval, PPA) or under PPAP
- Inspection plans, dimensional reports and measurement reports together with the drawing and tolerance they refer to
- Material datasheets, processing guidelines and drying specifications from the raw material suppliers, plus the batch records for granulate and masterbatch
- Complaints and 8D reports with the resulting actions
- Records attached to the part: safety data sheets for additives, masterbatch and purging compound, REACH and RoHS declarations, and for parts in contact with food the declaration of compliance under Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles
- Photos of defects at the machine and setters’ voice notes
Integrations
Connecting your systems
Your system stays as it is. One-click systems connect via your account; for the others we check before we start whether and how a connection is possible – until then, you simply upload documents.
- proALPHAOrder files, bills of materials and supplier correspondence from proALPHA – we check feasibility and the best route first.subject to a feasibility check
- File serverThe folders on your own server that have grown over the years.subject to a feasibility check
- NASThe folders on the NAS in your office – Synology, QNAP and similar devices.subject to a feasibility check
Microsoft 365SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams and Outlook – connected in one click through your Microsoft account.One click, included
Pricing
What it costs
Basic package
Set-up fee €2,900 · excl. VAT
A flat fee per company. Everyone at your company can use it – technicians as much as office staff – with no per-user licence. One-click connections are included in the set-up. Before we start, we check whether your industry-specific software can be connected; that connection is charged on a time-and-materials basis, agreed in advance.
Drafts as Word, PDF or email are included in the Premium package.
At the kick-off we agree on twenty questions together – along with the documents each answer should come from. At sign-off we go through them together and look at what the system does with them. What follows from that is set out in the quotation.
Getting started
Where to start
Take one article family and see it all the way through: mould file with cavity layout, the setup sheets from the latest orders, the sampling with the approved drawing revision, the inspection plan and the batch records for the granulate. With one family you quickly see where things get stuck – usually with the shift’s sheets that were never filed, and with the question of which index was last approved. In the first weeks after go-live, ask things you know about this family and see whether the sources are right. Only then is it worth rolling it out across all moulds. The archive of discontinued articles comes last; that’s what you need when a customer reorders after years. Before we start, we check whether proALPHA can be connected.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Our setup sheets are handwritten notes on the mould cabinet. How do they get in?
Photograph or scan them and upload them – one at a time or a whole folder at once. The system suggests article number, machine and date, provided they’re on the sheet. How well the handwritten values are read is the thing to check in the first weeks after go-live – have a few real sheets from the shift ready. Where a number is crossed out and a new one written above it, a person still decides which one applies; the answer gives the sheet as the source. A person also confirms the document type, because that determines who sees the sheet later.
One customer does sampling under VDA Volume 2, another under PPAP. Can the system keep them apart?
That’s what document types are for. A first article inspection report under VDA Volume 2 and a PPAP submission are two different types, each with its own visibility and its own link to article, mould and customer. The system suggests which type it is; a person confirms it. After that you can ask which version was last approved for this customer and which drawing index it was based on; the answer gives the source. In the first weeks after go-live, try one customer of each kind to see whether your sampling documents are kept cleanly apart.
For a complaint we need the sampling, dimensional report and batch record all at once. Is that possible?
The system can gather the sources for article, mould and batch – sampling, dimensional report, batch record for the granulate, the setup sheets for the affected orders – and turn them into a draft Word, Excel or PDF file, or an email draft to the customer if you want one. Nothing is sent on its own. If the system can’t find something, it goes into the draft as an outstanding point. Root cause analysis and the 8D report stay with your quality department; you’ll see how useful the draft is in the first weeks after go-live, using a closed complaint.
Our process data is in the machine control. Does that come in too?
Only if it exists as a file or export. Nothing is changed on or read from the control, and no curves are analysed – a knowledge base isn’t a process monitoring system. Whatever comes out of proALPHA or a process recording system at your company as an evaluation can be brought in via a scheduled export, encrypted and over outgoing connections only. Before we start, and before any cost is incurred, we check whether that’s possible with your version and licence.
On the night shift there are cover staff and agency workers on the machines. What should they be able to look up?
You decide that through roles and document types. At the machine, the setup sheet, work instruction, inspection plan and the defect patterns from the mould file are usually enough; customer prices, calculations, mould costs and sampling agreements stay out. An external toolmaker gets a separate role that you remove once the mould is back. If someone asks about something their role doesn’t cover, they don’t get the content.
Guides
Further reading
- Connecting Outlook and Microsoft 365: capturing email attachments automaticallyFile Outlook documents automatically instead of sorting them by hand: how rules, duplicate detection and assignment get email attachments into the knowledge base.
- Handling complaints: how did we solve this last time?Documenting complaints so you can find them again: how your company can answer the question “How did we solve this last time?” much faster.
- AI knowledge base for manufacturing companies: a practical guideKnowledge management in production: how an AI knowledge base keeps set-up instructions, machine know-how and shift handovers easy to find for everyone.
Industries
Other industries
- Metalwork & fabrication
- Electrical contractors
- Plumbing & heating
- Tax advisers
- Law firms
- Property management
- Mechanical engineering & automation
- Security systems
- Garages & vehicle repair
- Insurance brokers
- Building contractors
- Timber construction & joinery
- Roofers & sheet-metal workers
- Landscape gardening
- Refrigeration & air conditioning
- Lifts & escalators
- Freight forwarding, transport & logistics
- Facility management & building services
- Architects & engineering consultancies
- Notaries
- Solar PV & energy systems
- Fire protection
- Food production
- Cable cars & ski lifts
- Commercial cleaning
- Property developers
- Estate agents
- Local authorities
- Building services engineers
Request a demo – with examples from Plastics & injection moulding
In a 30-minute video call, we use sample documents from your industry to show you how questions are answered and what the source for each answer looks like. You don’t need any of your own documents for this.