ELIMINATION

OF FLASH IN
INJECTION
MOLDED PARTS
PRESENTED BY:

Abhilash Kumar Singh 20EMP2-01

Amod Mehrotra 20EMP2-04
Anshul Gupta 20EMP2-05
Priyanka Agrawal 20EMP2-16
Sajal Saxena 20EMP2-20
Process of Injection Molding

Image source: Google

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 Flash from Parting Line
Flash is that unwanted excess material found on plastic
surface after injection moulding process.
Primary reasons for flash are:
• Parting Line Mismatches
• Improper Venting
• Clamping Pressure
• Low Viscosity
• Overfilling The Mold

Image source: Google

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DMAIC
approach
to Six
Sigma

Image source: Google

DMAIC implementation in MSIL
• DMAIC concept is followed in MSIL in the form of
the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle.
• Plan: After identification of the issue, elaborate
plan is made for taking suitable countermeasure.
It involves all stakeholders.
• Do: Stepwise implementation of
countermeasure strictly as decided as per the
plan.
• Check: Checking the impact of taken
countermeasure and its effectiveness,
observation of any undesirable effects generated
by it
• Act: If desired results are obtained, standardize
the process, else repeat the cycle for other Source: kanbanize.com

countermeasure till the problem is eliminated

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DEFINE
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Pareto Analysis of Defects
Top two defects contributing
to about 80% of all rejections
• For the defects study two methods were
applied first study of past defect list, 2nd
the interview of the production team.
• For the first method the data of defects
which came in last six months was
collected.
• However based on interview flash was
found out to be the highest defect as it Actual top defect contributing
was repaired and not listed in the defect to about 80% of all rejections

records.
• When the defects data was recompiled
considering the defects reported and the
actual production condition it was found
that approx. 82% defects were of Flash.

Source: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

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 Concerns Associated with Flash

Source: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

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Major
Stakeholders
• Production Head
• Production Engineering Head
• Quality Head
• Vehicle Inspection Head
• Customers

Source: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

Note: Data shown is reflective of the trend of actual data

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MEASURE
 Process Flow Chart for Injection Molding Start-up
Process
start

Process
stop

Legend: Process start/stop Decision point Feedback/correction point

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Cause and Effect Diagram for Occurrence of Flash

Managerial implication
• Adequate training of man
power
• Work instruction sheets for
training
• Displaying WIS in work area
• Defining check-sheets
• Defining check on check
process

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Primary Parameters to be Improved
Parting line miss-
matches
The mold’s parting line is
the line where the two
halves of the mold meet. A
mismatch in the parting line
due to debris or bad design
can prevent the complete
sealing of the mold. As a
result, molten plastic will be
leaked during the injection.
Overfilling of the mold
Overfilling the mold with
the material will naturally
result in leakage due to
increased injection pressure
greater than the clamping
pressure. These extra
materials from the cavity
will attach to the final
product, creating flashes.
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Parting line miss-matches

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Measure

UCL

Source: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Uni-directional control chart

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Analyze Cylinders used to
close Core & Cavity.
Force applied area
while movement.

• Mold parting line spotting activity is

High pressure
done on spotting machine spotting generated area Cavity

schematic for which is as shown. Low pressure

Since, pressure is usually high in the generated area
Core
center area of the mold during Die-spotting machine
spotting.
• Where as in case of molding machine Tie-bar used to close
Core & Cavity.
the pressure is higher on the side
areas as per the shown schematics.
High pressure
• This difference leads to a higher gap Force
generated area

Cavity
Core
in the center area during the applied area
while
Nozzle

molding operation and this leads to movement

Low pressure
flash generation Injection moulding
Machine
generated area

Image source: Google

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Improve
To improve the process additional step for Tuning on IMM was added.
Existing process:
Die- Trial on
Machining Fitting Assembly
spotting IMM

New process:

Tuning Trial
Machinin Die-
Fitting Assembly on on
g spotting
IMM IMM
Overfilling of the mold

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Measure
On measurement of molds the pressure in cavity was found to be higher than spec.

Image source: Google Source: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

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Analyze and Improve
ANALYZE:
Part were being overfilled to
helps minimize the actual
shrinkage during the
molding process, so this
issue could be attributed to
incorrect shrinkage factor.

IMPROVE:
Shrinkage value
consideration was increased
from 0.8% to 0.85%
Image source: Google
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 CONTROL
The results derived from this activity was be regularized using SOPs and

check sheets during the development procedure.

Conclusion &
Recommendations
• The development for injection molds of
this project was done based on this
study and as a final outcome it was
found that there were no major flash
related issues observed in the parts.
• The group recommends that every case
is unique and we should consider all the
aspects as per the cause and effect
diagram while carrying out the analysis
for a different organization.
Image source: Google
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Thank you