A molding system for forming plastic articles, the system comprising: a plurality of process stations each operable to receive an input unit and produce an output unit, the process stations comprising: at least one melt dispensing station for dispensing molten molding material; and a plurality of shaping stations each for forming molding material into a molded shape; wherein output units from said at least one melt dispensing station are input units for said shaping stations a transport system for selectively moving input and output units between ones of said process stations; characterised in that the molding system comprises: a controller for each of said process stations, operating the respective process stations according to a plurality of operating conditions, the operating conditions defining the stations as ready to receive an input unit, performing a process on an input unit, or ready to release an output unit; a supervisory controller operable to track a current operating condition of each process station, define paths from ones of said process stations ready to release an output unit, and ones of said process stations ready to receive an input unit, and provide instructions for said transport system to move said input and output units along said paths. a plurality of process stations each operable to receive an input unit and produce an output unit, the process stations comprising: at least one melt dispensing station for dispensing molten molding material; and a plurality of shaping stations each for forming molding material into a molded shape; wherein output units from said at least one melt dispensing station are input units for said shaping stations at least one melt dispensing station for dispensing molten molding material; and a plurality of shaping stations each for forming molding material into a molded shape; wherein output units from said at least one melt dispensing station are input units for said shaping stations a transport system for selectively moving input and output units between ones of said process stations; characterised in that the molding system comprises: a controller for each of said process stations, operating the respective process stations according to a plurality of operating conditions, the operating conditions defining the stations as ready to receive an input unit, performing a process on an input unit, or ready to release an output unit; a supervisory controller operable to track a current operating condition of each process station, define paths from ones of said process stations ready to release an output unit, and ones of said process stations ready to receive an input unit, and provide instructions for said transport system to move said input and output units along said paths. a controller for each of said process stations, operating the respective process stations according to a plurality of operating conditions, the operating conditions defining the stations as ready to receive an input unit, performing a process on an input unit, or ready to release an output unit; a supervisory controller operable to track a current operating condition of each process station, define paths from ones of said process stations ready to release an output unit, and ones of said process stations ready to receive an input unit, and provide instructions for said transport system to move said input and output units along said paths. <EOS>