Custom plastics industry software development
Appfront builds custom software for the plastics industry: control of injection moulding and extrusion production, mould and machine management, batch and production recording, quality control and traceability, and inventory management for granulate and compound. Tailored to your production process, your machine park and the traceability requirements of your customers. For plastics processors who want control over machines, moulds, quality and the origin of every batch.
What is plastics industry software?
Plastics industry software supports companies that make plastic products through injection moulding, extrusion or other processing techniques. It revolves around the combination of machine, mould, material (granulate or compound) and settings, and around being able to demonstrate quality and origin per batch. The software brings together production control, mould management, quality and inventory.
While broader software for the manufacturing industry and production planning cover general production, what is specific to plastics lies in mould maintenance and mould lifetime, in cycle time and machine efficiency (OEE), and in the traceability of granulate batches through to the finished product. Custom software is tailored to that practice. This is a distinct discipline alongside our software for the electronics industry and software for the chemical industry.
This way you can see per order which mould ran on which machine, with which material, and whether quality is assured. See also our bill of materials software and custom software.
Machine and mould
Each production order is linked to a machine and a mould, along with the relevant settings. This way you know which mould ran where and keep track of mould running time and maintenance.
Batch and traceability
For each batch you record the granulate used, the lot and the production conditions, so you can trace the origin of a manufactured item back to its material.
Quality and OEE
Quality checks per batch and visibility of cycle time, scrap and machine efficiency (OEE), so you manage productivity and quality proactively rather than discovering problems afterwards.
How we build your plastics industry software
We work step by step and involve your production, production planning and quality teams early on, from an exploration of your production process and traceability requirements through to go-live and management.
We map out how you produce (injection moulding, extrusion), how you manage moulds and machines, which traceability and quality requirements your customers set, and which integrations (machines, ERP) are needed.
We design the data structure, screens and integrations your plastics processor needs, and test them against your way of working before we build.
We build in short iterations with automated tests and interim demos, so you steer priorities and the software fits day-to-day practice.
Controlled go-live with data migration and a safety net, followed by ongoing management, monitoring and further development.
What plastics industry software actually does
We tailor every application to your processing technique, your machine park and the traceability requirements of your market. These are the features we most often deliver.
Production orders and planning
Production orders linked to machine, mould and material, with scheduling that takes changeover times and mould availability into account, so the machine fleet runs efficiently.
Mould management
Mould management with shot life, maintenance intervals and history, so preventive maintenance happens on time and moulds don't fail unexpectedly during an order.
Batch registration and traceability
Record per batch the granulate used, lot number, machine, mould and settings, so you can trace a produced item back to the origin of its material.
Quality control
Quality checks and measurements per batch, with recording of rejects and deviations, in line with a quality system such as ISO 9001.
Granulate and compound inventory
Inventory management for granulate, compound and masterbatch per lot, with visibility of what is available for planned orders and when to reorder.
Machine performance (OEE)
Insight into cycle time, downtime, scrap and machine efficiency, so you can see bottlenecks in production and improve them in a targeted way.
Who we build plastics industry software for
The plastics industry includes many different processors. For each we build software that suits their technology and market.
Injection moulding companies
Companies that produce in series through injection moulding, with many moulds and changeover times, and a need for tight integration between order, machine and mould.
Extrusion companies
Companies making profiles, pipes or film through extrusion, with continuous production and a need for batch and quality recording per production lot.
Suppliers with traceability requirements
Plastics processors supplying sectors with strict traceability requirements and a need for watertight origin registration. See also our software for the electronics industry.
Compounders and recyclers
Companies mixing or recycling plastics that need to record lots, blend ratios and origin through to the finished product.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
We build with a modern, maintainable web stack and, where it makes sense, integrate with your machines (via OPC UA or machine control) and your ERP, so orders, batches and stock are not entered twice and production data arrives automatically.
For planning moulds on machines, with changeovers and drying times, there is our app for injection moulding scheduling by cycle time.
If you want to record rejects per machine, mould and cavity with the cause, there is our software for scrap recording in injection moulding.
Why Appfront for your plastics industry software?
Appfront builds custom software and starts with your processing operation and machine park. Plastics industry software needs to bring the triangle of machine, mould and material under control and keep quality and origin demonstrable.
We build integrations to your machines and ERP where they add value, and write documentation so your team can manage the software. No black box, just transparent agreements about data and traceability.
You work with a fixed point of contact who understands both the technology and your industry. That keeps communication short and speeds up decisions when choices need to be made during the build.
Also take a look at our software for the manufacturing industry, production planning and custom software. Questions about your situation? Get in touch.
- Order linked to machine, mould and material
- Mould management with shot life and maintenance
- Batch traceability to material origin
- Quality control in line with ISO 9001
- Granulate and compound inventory per lot
- Insight into cycle time and OEE
- Machine and ERP integration
- Fixed point of contact and ongoing management
Security and privacy in plastics industry software
Plastics industry software contains production data, recipes and sometimes commercially sensitive settings. We build with role-based access, so production, quality and production planning each see only what fits their role, with a complete audit trail of every view and change.
We secure data and machine data with encryption in transit and at rest, using a separate, monitored integration to the production network. More about our approach: information security policy and coordinated vulnerability disclosure policy. Discuss your situation via our contact form.
- GDPR-compliant data processing and data minimisation
- Role-based access and least-privilege principles
- Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest
- Complete audit logging of access and changes
- Daily back-ups with tested restores
- Built to the OWASP security standards
- Clear documentation of data flows and authorisations
- Ongoing monitoring and alerting
Frequently asked questions about plastics industry software
Answers to the questions we are asked most often about custom software for the plastics industry.
Plastics industry software supports plastics processors with production scheduling (injection moulding, extrusion), mould and machine management, batch and quality recording, traceability and inventory management of granulate and compound. Custom software is tailored to your processing technique, your machine park and the traceability requirements of your customers.
Yes. For each batch, the software records the granulate used, the lot, the machine, the mould and the production conditions. This lets you trace a manufactured product back to the origin of its material, which matters for customers with strict traceability requirements and for a quality system such as ISO 9001.
Yes. The software manages moulds with their tool life, maintenance intervals and history, so preventive maintenance happens on time. This helps you avoid a mould failing unexpectedly during an active order.
In many cases, yes. We can build an integration with your machine controller, for example via OPC UA, so that cycle times, output counts and downtime come in automatically. That gives you insight into machine efficiency (OEE) without manual counting.
Manufacturing software covers general production and planning. Plastics industry software adds what is specific to plastics processing: mould management and tool life, batch tracing of granulate, cycle times, and the link between machine, mould and material. Where it fits, we cross-link to our manufacturing and production planning software.
We build custom software. Plastics processors differ in technique, machine park and traceability requirements. Custom software fits your actual process and grows with your business, rather than forcing you into a standard package.
Yes. We regularly take over existing applications. We assess the setup, migrate the data carefully and build from there towards a maintainable situation.
Ready to build your plastics industry software?
Tell us how your production is set up and where you run into problems: from injection moulding and mould management to batch traceability, quality and OEE. In a no-obligation conversation, you will get a clear picture of what custom software for your plastics business can do.