Purpose: The injection molding process, crucial for plastic shaping, encounters difficulties in sustaining product quality when replacing injection machines. Variations in machine types and outputs between different production lines or factories increase the risk of quality deterioration. In response, the study aims to develop a system that optimally adjusts conditions during the replacement of injection machines linked to molds.Methods: Utilizing a dataset of 12 injection process variables and 52 corresponding sensor variables, a predictive model is crafted using Decision Tree, Random Forest, and XGBoost. Model evaluation is conducted using an 80% training data and a 20% test data split. The dependent variable, classified into five characteristics based on temperature and pressure, guides the prediction model. Bayesian optimization, integrated into the selected model, determines optimal values for process variables during the replacement of injection machines. The iterative convergence of sensor prediction values to the optimum range is visually confirmed, aligning them with the target range. Experimental results validate the proposed approach.Results: Post-experiment analysis indicates the superiority of the XGBoost model across all five characteristics, achieving a combined high performance of 0.81 and a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.77. The study introduces a method for optimizing initial conditions in the injection process during machine replacement, utilizing Bayesian optimization. This streamlined approach reduces both time and costs, thereby enhancing process efficiency.Conclusion: This research contributes practical insights to the optimization literature, offering valuable guidance for industries seeking streamlined and cost-effective methods for machine replacement in injection molding.
Jung et al. (Sun,) studied this question.