Worked scenario
The blend ratio that varied by operator
Regrind ratio affects both cost and part properties, and where it is uncontrolled the processor is varying its product without deciding to.
3 min read
Adding regrind is normal, economically sensible and technically constrained. The constraint is a ratio, and the ratio is frequently a matter of habit.
Variation without a decision
Where one operator adds more than another, parts differ between shifts in ways that show up as intermittent quality problems nobody can reproduce.
Cost is the second reason
Material cost per part depends on the blend. Unrecorded, the costing uses an assumed ratio, and the assumption is usually the one that was intended rather than the one that is happening.
What changes
- Blend ratio specified per product and recorded per batch
- Regrind stock tracked separately from virgin
- Quality issues correlated with blend actually used
- Material cost per part reflecting the real blend
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