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Comment: Des-MOLD is an intelligent knowledge-based system which presents the use of different Artificial Intelligence techniques to develop a decision support system for designers of plastic parts. Our approach is based on computational argumentation (ARG) and case-based reasoning (CBR) to offer both a recommendation about the design and the reasoning process followed in order to select that solution. Given the geometry of the part, type of material, mould’s material and defects to be avoid, the system combines a knowledge-based system (KBS) based on past experiences with designers social debates for providing a set of recommendations, enabling to update the knowledge database by reusing and adapting solutions from previous designs.
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Comment: Within the new scenario where plastic converters industry has moved from highly standardized molds to customized products with small batches, it is possible to construct an intelligent knowledge-based system that uses as a main source, past empirical experiences and simulation data to optimize, at the design time, the geometries of the pieces according to the desired features, and to the expected process control variables that will be monitored during production time. This is the focus of Des-MOLD.
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Comment: Less scrap, lower costs, faster production: • Des-MOLD will shorten time-to-market for new and highly competitive products. This benefit is a direct result from the reduction of tuning time described above. In today’s fierce competition being first on the market is a significant advantage. • Also, Des-MOLD allow flexible production and higher production capacity. Intelligent molds enable easy production change and even production factory change Des-MOLD system will allow converters to produce plastic parts close to customers’ sites, without suffering from any productivity loss. The expected result of the project is to decrease new production setting from an average of 20 parts down to 10 parts. This means a 50% reduction in initial scrap. The use of Des-MOLD will significantly reduce scraps with a rejection ratio cut by a factor 2. In average, plastic injection molding generates 5% scrap. 60% of it generated after mold set up during production • Environmental impact: improvement sustainability of production processes and tools since Des-MOLD will reduce the need for mock-up tools, and scrap pieces will be decreased thanks to the optimal designs and sensorization at the design level.
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