# Plastics & Rubber Moulding > ERP for moulders and extruders - tooling, cycle times, cavity counts, regrind and machine data from the shop floor. **URL:** https://cubeerp.co.uk/industries/plastics-rubber Where the tool, the machine and the cycle time decide whether the job makes money. In moulding, cost is dominated by machine time and tooling rather than labour, and a cycle time assumption that is two seconds out becomes a large number over a production run. CubeERP models tools, cavities and cycle times explicitly, schedules by machine and tool availability, captures actual cycles and scrap from the floor, and tracks regrind as real material rather than as something that disappears. ## Figures - **Actual** Cycle times against quoted - **By shot** Tool maintenance on real usage - **Recorded** Regrind ratio, per batch ## Common problems in this sector - **Cycle times taken from the quote:** Estimated cycle times are never compared with actual. A small difference across a long run is a large amount of machine time nobody has costed. - **Tooling tracked informally:** Tool location, cavity count, shot count and maintenance history live in a spreadsheet or a head. Tools are found late and maintained reactively. - **Regrind that vanishes:** Regrind is generated, stored and reused without record. Material accounting does not balance and the permitted regrind ratio is impossible to evidence. - **Machine selection by habit:** Jobs run on the machine they always run on, not the one that suits them, because tool-to-machine compatibility is not held anywhere. - **Scrap counted at the end:** Scrap is reconciled at job close rather than booked at the machine, so the cause is gone by the time the number appears. ## What CubeERP does about it - **Tools, cavities and cycles:** Tool records with cavity counts, cycle times, machine compatibility, shot counts and maintenance schedules driven by usage rather than the calendar. - **Scheduling by machine and tool:** Works orders scheduled against machine tonnage, tool availability and material changeover, with sequencing to cut colour and material changes. - **Shop-floor and machine data:** Actual cycles, good parts, scrap and downtime captured at the machine - by operator or straight from the machine via the API. - **Regrind as real material:** Regrind booked into stock, blended into batches at a recorded ratio, and traceable - so material accounting balances and the ratio is evidenced. - **Cost by machine hour:** Machine-hour rates by tonnage and cell, with actual versus quoted cycle time reported per job so estimating improves from evidence. - **Batch traceability:** Material lot, regrind ratio, tool and machine traced into every production batch, with certificates carried through to despatch. ## Use cases ### Two seconds a shot **Scenario:** A moulder quoted on estimated cycle times. On several long-running parts the actual cycle was around two seconds longer, and over a year that was a substantial amount of unquoted machine time. **Outcome:** Actual cycles are captured at the machine and compared with the quote. Estimates were corrected, and two tools were reworked because the payback was now provable. ### A tool that failed mid-run **Scenario:** Tool maintenance was scheduled by date. A high-usage tool passed its real service interval well before its calendar date and failed during a production run. **Outcome:** Maintenance is triggered by shot count. Unplanned tool failures fell, and the maintenance schedule now reflects how hard each tool actually works. ## Implementation 1. **Discovery:** A structured session mapping how you work now - the systems, the spreadsheets and the bits held together by one person’s memory. We come back with what the platform covers as standard, what needs configuration, and what needs building. 2. **Configuration:** Your sites, warehouses, price lists, approval limits, document templates, workflows and permissions set up to match the business - not a demo tenant with your logo dropped on it. 3. **Data migration:** Customers, suppliers, parts, bills of materials, price lists, open orders and stock balances brought across and reconciled. We migrate, you check the numbers against the old system, and only then do we cut over. 4. **Training & rollout:** Role-based training so the order desk learns the order desk and the warehouse learns the warehouse, with a pilot group first where it makes sense. Documentation and short screen recordings left behind for new starters. 5. **Ongoing support:** UK support from the people who built the platform, with a named contact, agreed response times, and a product roadmap you can influence. ## Frequently asked questions **Can it track customer-owned tooling?** Yes. Tool ownership, location, condition and shot count are recorded regardless of whose asset it is, which matters when a customer asks for their tool back. **Do you integrate with machine monitoring?** Yes, via the API. Cycle counts, good parts, scrap and downtime can be posted directly from machine or MES systems rather than entered by an operator. **How is regrind handled in costing?** Regrind is stocked and valued, and its inclusion ratio is recorded per batch, so material cost reflects the actual blend rather than assuming virgin material throughout. **Can it schedule around material and colour changes?** Yes. Sequencing rules group by material and colour to reduce purge and changeover, which on a busy cell is usually worth more than any other scheduling gain. **Does it handle secondary operations?** Yes - assembly, decoration, printing and packing are routing operations after moulding, including sub-contract steps, on the same works order. ## Relevant solution pages - **Manufacturing Software** - Bills of materials, works orders, routings, shop-floor booking and real job costing - for businesses that make things to order. https://cubeerp.co.uk/software/manufacturing-software - **Production Planning Software** - Schedule works orders against real capacity - people, machines and shifts - and see the effect of a rush job before you accept it. https://cubeerp.co.uk/software/production-planning-software - **Job Costing Software** - Know what every job actually cost - materials, labour, sub-contract and overhead - while it is running, not six weeks later. https://cubeerp.co.uk/software/job-costing-software - **Barcode & Traceability Software** - Batch and serial traceability from goods-in to despatch, with certificates attached and a recall answered in minutes. https://cubeerp.co.uk/software/barcode-traceability-software ## Related industries - **Engineering & Fabrication** - ERP for subcontract machinists, fabricators and engineering firms working to drawing, to order and to a promised date. https://cubeerp.co.uk/industries/engineering-fabrication - **Automotive & Vehicle Parts** - ERP for automotive suppliers and parts distributors - schedules and call-offs, EDI, traceability and delivery performance that is measured. https://cubeerp.co.uk/industries/automotive-parts - **Chemicals, Coatings & Formulated Products** - ERP for formulators and blenders - recipes, batch traceability, yields, hazardous stock and compliance documentation. https://cubeerp.co.uk/industries/chemicals-coatings ## Contact - **Product:** CubeERP - **Trading name of:** Cube Systems Limited (company number 17220899, ICO registration number ZC216972) - **Email:** hello@cubeerp.co.uk - **Sales:** sales@cubeerp.co.uk - **Support:** support@cubeerp.co.uk - **Telephone:** 01234 672 617 (+441234672617) - **Address:** Unit 11, Olney Business Park, Osier Way, Olney, Buckinghamshire, MK46 5FP - **Opening hours:** Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm - **Part of:** Crushed Ice Group (https://crushedicegroup.co.uk)