Records and traceability: what to log, what it tells you over time

The unit of logging is not the shift. It is the hit-block, typically every 500 hits on a critical die or every 1000 hits on a commodity job. The block is small enough that drifts inside it average out and large enough that the operator is not writing every minute. One log entry per block, written by the operator who ran that block.

The minimum fields on every entry:

• Die ID and hit count at end of block. A die serial number that tracks across the die's full life, including repair states. The hit count is cumulative from the first hit after the last full re-treat, not from the start of the shift.
• Date and time of the end of the block. Enables correlation against shop conditions, ambient temperature, and humidity logs from the building.
• Operator initials and shift. The shift is its own variable. The operator is its own variable inside the shift.
• Lube barrel batch number and lube setting. The barrel number is on the drum tag. The setting is the spray controller dose per cycle in mL, or the manual setting on swab-applied lube. "Standard" is not a setting.
• Preheat method and confirmed surface temperature. Method is induction, gas ring, or oven. Confirmed temperature is the pyrometer reading on the engraved face at the moment of first hit, taken with the same instrument from Lesson 3. "Hot" is not a temperature.
• Observed condition. Free text, three sentences maximum. The operator's own words on what they saw on the die at start, mid, and end of the block. Photographs in standardized lighting, attached to the log entry, against a registration mark on the die so the next inspection's photos line up.
• Maintenance actions. Polish, lube nozzle clean, alignment check, anything the operator did to the die or the press during the block.

Seven fields, one entry per 500 or 1000 hits, takes the operator under two minutes per block. A shop running a 30-second cycle hits 1000 in roughly eight hours, so the log is one entry per shift on a one-die job, which is the right pace.

Optional fields that earn their keep on a high-value die or a critical job:

• Surface thermocouple trace. Continuous trace from a thermocouple welded to the die back face or imbedded near the face. Saves to a controller log that ties to the hit-block timestamp. Lets you see the equilibrium creep across the block in degrees, not in operator memory.
• Dimensional check on a sampled part. One part per hit-block measured against a small set of features. A 3-5 dimension probe takes 30 seconds and gives the wear curve a hard number to anchor against.
• Scrap rate over the block. Rejected parts divided by parts produced over the block. Trended over the die's life, this is the leading indicator from Course 4 gold-set Q27.