Manufacturing Day 2018 30 Oct 2018, 8:09 pm

Manufacturing Day, according to mfgday.com, is a “celebration of modern manufacturing meant to inspire the next generation of manufacturers.” Mold Craft participates in Manufacturing Day by inviting local schools to tour the campus and see what Mold Craft does. Mold Craft hosted White Bear Lake High School students as well as first year manufacturing students from Dunwoody Technical College to go through the shop and talk with Mold Craft’s hard-working craftsmen and craftswomen.

Manufacturing Day Student Tours

The tours started with a greeting from the VP of Engineering and Co-owner of Mold Craft, Justin McPhee. Justin spoke to the students and gave a brief description and background of the company describing that Mold Craft is a micro mold manufacturer that builds molds with extremely tight tolerances. After giving an overview of what to expect on the tour, he explains, “Anyone can buy the machines we have, but it’s the men and women we have working here that really sets us apart.” Justin then asks the students to split into groups for a more intimate tour of the facility.

During Manufacturing Day, the students split off into 8 person groups to visit all the different stations. Most of the tour was in the shop where each student got to see where Mold Craft does their hard milling, electrode manufacturing, sinker EDM, wire EDM and mold assembly. The students got to interact with the employees and ask them questions while they watched the employees demonstrate what they do every day. It was easy to see how excited and passionate the employees were about their jobs when they were talking to the students. Todd Larson, Mold Craft shop supervisor, used a high-powered microscope to show the students that Abraham Lincoln does indeed sit in the Lincoln Memorial on the tail-side of the penny. Each student got an up-close look at every step of the mold manufacturing process which is a valuable experience for a high school student who is interested in going into the manufacturing industry. It is also a valuable experience for Dunwoody students because they can ask more technical questions that they might be interested in learning a little more about.

The Difference Between a 2-Year and 4-Year Education

After the students tour through the shop, they got to meet with members of the design team and see what the design process is for the molds that Mold Craft produces. The design team had some parts that their molds created and encouraged the students to interact with the pieces. After the students heard about the design process they met with Jim Currey who talked to the students about the difference between a 2-year education and a 4-year education.

Jim explains that students who get a 2-year education can get to work faster and with less debt than those who go to college for 4 years and inversely, those with a 4-year education graduate with 2-3 times more debt in twice the time. Because of this, students with a 2-year degree have an opportunity to make more money in the long run without the burden of having to pay off debt over the span of many years.

Finally, Jim explained that students with a 4-year education often struggle to find work. There could be 100 applicants for one job. In the manufacturing industry, a lot of companies are struggling to find employees. So, while one person might be in a pool of 100 candidates, all of whom are fighting for the same job, another person could be getting recruited by 10-15 companies to come and work for them.

Students Visit the Mold Craft Tech Center

Once the moldmaking tour was over, the students were brought over to the Mold Craft Tech Center to see injection molding in action using our Battenfeld MicroPower15T. The students got to see the presses that Mold Craft has as well as the newly installed class 100,000 clean room. Once the students saw the Tech Center, the students got back on their bus and away they went.

Mold Craft Strives to Change Student’s Lives for The Better

Mold Craft cherishes the opportunity to make an impact on these students’ lives, and Manufacturing Day is one of the great opportunities to do so. It is an opportunity for them to show the community that manufacturing is not what it used to be 100 years ago; dirty, dark, and dangerous. Instead it is a bright, vibrant community where employees find real purpose and truly enjoy what they do. Mold Craft will continue to support Manufacturing Day for years to come and look forward to greeting students at the door next October for Manufacturing Day 2019!

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Tech Center: Innovation at Mold Craft 30 Sep 2018, 10:23 pm

Mold Craft has done a lot to become an innovation leader in the mold making industry.

Micro Mold Innovation

Mold Craft specializes in making precision micro molds. In recent years, Mold Craft determined there was a gap and a need to have a specialized area to test micro molds.

In the big picture of molding, micro molding is relatively new and typically for very specialized applications.  Not only are the molds different but many times the presses, like the Battenfeld MicroPower15t, have unique features.

For example, the nozzle on the Battenfeld press reaches all the way to parting line.  When customers build micro molds specific to a project, it is very common that they will not have a readily-available press to test their brand new micro mold.  Mold Craft’s goal was to develop a facility that would closely mimic that of our customers and be separate from the mold making facility.

With that vision and perfect timing of space availability the Tech Center is born. On the outside it looks like a standard brick building, but once one walks inside the truth is revealed.

The Mold Craft Tech Center

Mold Craft’s Tech Center is home to a variety of presses, press connections, conference & meeting area, a class 100,000 clean room and a 3D digital ABS printer. The Tech Center is run by Derrick Jahr who will soon be joined by another UW-Stout graduate, Hunter Bartz. Derrick graduated from UW-Stout about 4 years ago with both Manufacturing & Plastics Engineering majors.  While taking on the role of a process engineer, Derrick balances his time as a mold designer.  VP of Engineering, Justin McPhee, explained, “We are utilizing Derrick’s skills and knowledge in mold design and developing a processing protocol that will take us to the next level in micro mold process development.”

Recently, Mold Craft has added a conference table, big screen wall monitor, computer, etc. to allow additional space for collaboration on the Mold Craft campus.

While the employee’s at Mold Craft certainly do love the Tech Center, it is Mold Craft’s customers who are the true beneficiaries of this innovation workshop.

Because micro molding is unique, especially Battenfeld micro molding, Mold Craft has a press dedicated to sampling customer molds built specifically around the Battenfeld platform.  The Battenfeld Press has a rotary platen that is used to improve cycle time by ejecting the parts in concert with the SCARA

(Selective Compliance Articulated Robot Arm) robot and integrated end of arm tooling (EOAT). The Tech Center also allows Mold Craft to create Production Quality Prototypes in order to fine tune each customer’s part design to perfection. Without the Tech Center, none of this would be possible. Justin McPhee said, “The main facility at Mold Craft is dedicated to building molds and does not have additional room available to add a molding machine without sacrificing the capacity and redundancy we carry with the mold making machine tools.”

Tech Center Turn-Key Solutions

The Tech Center also gives Mold Craft the opportunity to create Turn-Key solutions for its customers. A Turn Key Solution is when a customer buys a press, sends it to Mold Craft, and allows Mold Craft to create a mold that fits and operates perfectly in the customer’s press.

Mold Craft then ships the entire press and mold simultaneously so that when it shows up at the customer’s facility, all they have to do is “plug it in”.

Justin continues, “With the additional space at the Tech Center and only one Battenfeld press at this time, we have real estate that would allow a customer to put a press on our floor where we are able to sample the mold we are building and deliver a turn-key system with a robust process that would allow the customer to begin molding parts immediately once it gets to their facility.”

The Tech Center offers a lot to Mold Craft’s customers. Mold Craft is known for creating high quality micro molds with extremely tight tolerances. Mold Craft understands the impact that their molds have on their customers. Derrick Jahr said, “Our customer’s molds are extremely important to them, essential to production lines. Should there be any mold development required, The Tech Center allows us to test and tweak their molds to perfection prior to shipping which drastically reduces the amount of time required for final validation, ultimately resulting in a lower overall cost of ownership.”

Mold Craft is an innovative company that specializes in micro molding. With the use of the Tech Center, Mold Craft is delivering high quality micro mold solutions to its customers. We look forward to the next opportunity to build an awesome micro mold!

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Lean 5S Training Provides Continuous Improvement For Mold Craft 30 Aug 2018, 12:00 pm

No matter how good your customers say you are or how well you deliver on-time, there is always room for improvement.  In order to fill that desire for continuous improvement, late last month, the employees at Mold Craft underwent hands-on 5S training. That’s right, the entire company was invited to participate and learn continuous improvement/efficiency techniques. 5S stands for the terms; sort, shine, set in order, standardize, and sustain. This is a methodology to increase efficiency in one’s workspace by keep things close at hand in an organized fashion.

Mold Craft Invests In 5S Training

Mold Craft was awarded grant money from the MJSP grant foundation and put it towards training their employees with the 5S training. Mold Craft brought in Mark & Mary Kay who are Continuous Improvement Specialist at Lean Processes, LLC (the hosts of the 5S training session). During Phase 1, Mark and his team spent a week working with small groups of employees at Mold Craft not only teaching them the 5S concepts, but also doing hands on simulation of a production setting building Lego robots.  During Phase 2, they walked the shop and pointed out ways that Mold Craft could improve efficiency in real time. Operations Supervisor Todd Larson said, “It was amazing to see the changes and really see how simple it is to be more efficient.”

The 5S Training Process at Mold Craft

In Phase 1 the company separated into 4 groups with Lean Processes, LLC working with one group at a time. Some of the key concepts that employees learned were the 5S principles plus they learned about the 8 Wastes with an acronym of (DOWNTIME) which are defects, overproduction, waiting, non-utilized resources, transportation, inventory, motion, and extra processing. They also learned about concepts such as TAKT time vs. Cycle time and the value of balancing time, space, and materials. “Mark and his team were fantastic with the entire staff. The concepts we learned were not only relevant to our work lives but many of the concepts bled over into our personal lives as well”, said Todd Larson when asked about his experience with Lean Processes, LLC.

Results from the 5S Training Session

The employees loved their experience with Mark and his team. When asked what the employee feedback was, Todd said, “It was all positive. The employees really learned a lot from Mark and his team and they really appreciated the hands-on teaching style and enthusiasm that they brought.” Todd went on to explain that this ended up serving a dual purpose as it ended up being a team building event. The random groups were made up of people who often do not spend much time with each other. It created a situation where coworkers who don’t normally interact with each other had to work together and as a result it brought the team closer together.

As a part of Phase 2, Mold Craft spent an additional week to plan and execute a Kaizen event and has rearranged some work stations and made some small investments to enhance efficiency. Part of the program includes two follow up visits, one at 30 days and the other at 90 days so that Lean Process, LLC can track the progress Mold Craft is making as well as offer any additional solutions. This program brought operational efficiency and team building to Mold Craft. Mold Craft will certainly continue to pursue opportunities like this in the future.

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2018 Gen Z Connection 30 Jul 2018, 6:09 pm

The Gen Z Connection Program is a program put on by White Bear Lake High School supported by the Vadnais Heights Economic Development Corporation (VHEDC) and others. The nature of the program is to hire high school students and expose them to a number of different cultures and companies in the manufacturing industry. The focus of this program is to show students that manufacturing is a justifiable career path going through a 2-year program vs. a 4-year post-secondary education.

The Gen Z Connection Program started in May 2015. The students work 90 hours and are paid $10 per hour over the course of 4 weeks. The students rotate and work at a new manufacturer every week. The companies involved are all local manufacturing companies in the Twin Cities. While there were 8 companies in total that were involved, there were only 4 that this group of students were able to work with. The companies are LasX Industries, Renstrom Dental Studios, Superior Machine, and of course, Mold Craft. Each company has their own unique niche in the market and has something new to teach the kids.

Each company that participates in this program has an itinerary for what each student will accomplish during their stay. At Mold Craft, there is an agenda that details what every student will be doing almost by the hour. At Mold Craft, each student will be working to create a mold that produces key chains. They will also do a run of 50 plastic key chain parts that they will be able to keep along with the mold and print package. Other companies in the program will be doing similar activities. All of the students go to White Bear Lake High School, located in White Bear Lake, MN. Each student was considered based on their class work as well as their interest level. In other words, the students had to have taken some type of manufacturing class and they must have shown interest in this program. The students also get some perks for participating in this program. First of all, these are paid internships. Each student receives a wage of $10 per hour. The VHEDC also pays to have each of the students OSHA certified. Finally, the Vadnais Heights Economic Development Corporation buys each student a pair of steel toed boots as some manufacturing facilities require them.

Throughout their tenure, each student will be exposed to working in a manufacturing setting. At Mold Craft, they even go through the experience of getting “hired.” On the first day, each student sits down with a shop supervisor and has a formal interview. Once the employee is “hired,” each student is shown standard employment forms as well as benefits packages. From there they get a tour of the facility, review expectations, and they get an explanation of the entire sales cycle. That is the entire first day. The second day is focused almost entirely on mold manufacturing and the days to follow are focused on designing and building their mold.

As for the students that participated in the program – Mold Craft’s marketing team got to meet the 4 students from “Team Milling” which are the 4 students that got to experience a week at Mold Craft. The marketing team spoke with each one of them individually about their experiences at Mold Craft. Collectively, they all had something to say about how great their experience was at Mold Craft. When asked what was their favorite part, I received many different answers. Kyle Anderson said, “Watching the machines run has been my favorite part. I liked seeing things actually get molded.” Some of the other students enjoyed milling, grinding, and wire EDM. Taylor Nelson even admitted that he could not pick just one thing. He had to narrow it down to a whole day. Taylor said, “… Maybe a whole day would be day 2 because the machines I worked on were really cool.” It was clear from the interviews that the students not only learned a lot, but more than that, now have an even deeper appreciation for the manufacturing industry.

This program means just as much to the companies involved as it does to the students. The marketing team had an opportunity to ask Justin McPhee, Co-Owner of Mold Craft, a few questions about the Gen Z Connection experience. When asked what the Gen Z Connection program means to Mold Craft he said, “The Gen Z Connection program is a way for us to affect the community in a positive way by exposing local youth to new opportunities. With this program in place, we are able to make connection and have an impact on the lives of some promising up and coming students.” When Justin was asked what he considered to be the most important experience for students, he replied, “Of course the technical things that they are learn are important. They got to work with a handful of machines, they were able to build a mold, etc. In my opinion, the most important things that the students got out of their time at Mold Craft was a lesson in workplace communication and a walkthrough of a real interview process. Those 2 experiences are applicable in any industry.” Finally, Justin made sure to note that he and Mold Craft will continue to support and participate in the Gen Z Connection program for years to come.

The manufacturing industry is not what it used to be. It had the stigma of the 3 D’s; dark, dirty, and dangerous. The manufacturing industry has come a long way in recent history and now, thanks to safety regulations and companies investing more money into retaining high level talent, the stigma is no more. Working in the manufacturing industry offers a plethora of opportunities that many people are unaware of. Going to trade school and getting a degree in a manufacturing trade is now more attractive than ever before. Engaging in a 2-year program simply affords one with opportunities that are either extremely rare or altogether not available for individuals engaged in a 4-year program. The 3 main advantages that students in a 2-year program are time, money, and part-time work in one’s chosen career path. An individual in a 2-year program will spend less time going to school, spend a fraction of the money than individuals in 4-year programs, and will have the unique opportunity to work part-time in their career of choice while going to school. If students perform well in their part-time roles, there is a chance that they could have full-time jobs lined up before they graduate.

Another thing that should get people excited is the type of work you do is much more hands on. You won’t be sitting in an office or in a cubicle at the computer most of the time when you work in the manufacturing industry. You will be moving around, actively creating things. Finally, the thing that should really intrigue most people, is that skilled workers in the manufacturing labor market are in high demand. By getting a 2-year diploma, you can rest assured that companies will be competing for you rather than you competing with dozens or even hundreds of other applicants for the same job.

The goal of the Gen Z Connection program is to show students that they don’t have to go to a 4-year college to be successful. They can deviate and potentially make an economically wiser decision for themselves. After speaking with the students at Mold Craft, it is evident that they have deeper appreciation for the type of work that is done as well as for the manufacturing industry in general. Mold Craft is proud to be involved in this program and will continue to support it year after year.

Mold Craft and GenZ in the News

Mold Craft is proud to be a part of both the GenZ Connection Program as well as the students that come through our doors. We’re also very pleased that the program has gained attention in the news, and link to relevant coverage on other sites below.

The Association for Career & Technical Education

“State Funding Enables Community Programs to Give MN High School Students Valuable Job Training Opportunities”

This article by the Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE) provides an excellent overview of the program along with statements from active members of the program. It focuses on the “why” to give you more background on the program’s roots up to where it’s at now.

Minnesota Public Radio

“How to make high school more interesting? Here’s an idea”

A MPR Radio segment that looks at the program from a student’s point of view. It touches on the things that can be gained by the GenZ program and how the student can benefit.

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Plastics Technology Alliance 29 Jun 2018, 3:07 pm

Earlier this year, Mold Craft announced their involvement in the Plastics Technology Alliance. The Plastics Technology Alliance is an alliance between three of the industry’s top mold builders. The names of the companies involved are Mold Craft, Extreme Tool and Engineering, and Westminster Tool. The premise behind the partnership is simple; no one company can do everything.

The Plastics Technology Alliance is a convenience for customers because what one company may not have had the capability to do before, they do now.

Combining the resources of the 3 top mold design/build companies provides expanded capability and adds capacity for all of our customers. Co-owner’s Tim Bartz and Justin McPhee are very excited about the Plastics Technology Alliance and wanted to provide a quick background.

Westminster Tool is a company based out of Connecticut that specializes in High Performance Component Production, Injection Molds, and Composite Tools in the Medical, Aerospace/Defense, Automotive, Consumer, and Industrial Industries.

Westminster Tool was founded in 1997 by Ray Coombs Jr. and started in the basement of Ray’s home. Westminster Tool’s core values align almost perfectly with that of Mold Craft’s, save for a few differences in naming conventions. Westminster Tool’s 3 main core values are Continuous Learning, Continuous Improvement, and Accountability whereas Mold Craft’s core values are Pursuing Innovation in Technology, Collaborating with Clients, and Getting it Right the First Time. When asked about the partnership, Ray Coombs said, “… there is strength in collaboration and Westminster Tool is excited to partner with fellow world-class organizations, Mold Craft and Extreme. Partnering with these two companies provides us an opportunity to learn and improve our operations while providing expanded offerings to our clients. Together we offer a wide range of services that will enable us to better address our clients’ diverse challenges.”

Extreme Tool and Engineering is a company based in the UP of Michigan. Extreme Tool and Engineering specializes in Mold Manufacturing, Injection Molding and Engineering Automation in several industries including Medical, Automotive, and Consumer Goods.

Extreme Tool and Engineering was founded in 1998 by Mike Zacharias. Extreme Tool and Engineering’s team prides itself in providing excellent results and aims to build meaningful relationships with customers as opposed to transactional ones. For that reason, Extreme Tool and Engineering has many core values which also closely align with Mold Craft’s core values. Extreme Tool and Engineering’s core values are Results Versus Excuses, Thinking Outside the Box is a Matter of Routine and Reinvest. Based off their core values, it is clear that Extreme Tool and Engineering cares about their customers, their employees, and the quality of work they put out which is parallel to Mold Craft’s standards and beliefs.

When asked what drove this joint venture, Extreme Tool and Engineering Owner and President Mike Zacharias said, “The desire to continue providing world-class solutions, continuous improvement and increased capacity were drivers developing this joint venture. Many of our clients already work with one or more of us. Now, they have access to the best of each company through one, central, easy-to-use resource. We expect clients benefiting from different perspectives including capacity, capability, innovation, and total turnkey solutions.”

Together, the Plastics Technology Alliance stands to assist their fellow companions with filling orders that they otherwise would not have the means to fill. This speaks to a core value that they all share (although it is worded differently at each company) which is deliver value to the customer. As each company grows, changes, and innovates, they learn from each other and because of it are a step ahead of their competition in the industry.

VP of Engineering and Co-owner of Mold Craft, Justin McPhee said, “Not only does the creation of the joint venture help our clients, it allows the partners to share resources and best practices.” The Plastics Technology Alliance is more than just a few companies helping each other out with projects; it is an industry driver that is pushing the limits of innovation. Be on the watch for some big things coming out of this group.

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NPE 2018: Looking Back 31 May 2018, 9:33 pm

NPE 2018; The Plastics Show that is produced by the Plastics Industry Association. This is a major convention focused on the plastics industry that is held every three years. NPE 2018 was held in Orlando, FL and consisted of over 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space. Mold Craft. put Micro Molds at “center stage” showing two variations of 100 micron Filter Screens.  The Mold Craft booth was running a 2 Cavity Micro Mold using POK resin in a Wittmann Battenfeld MicroPower 15t press and the Sodick Plustech booth was running an 8 Cavity Micro Mold running PPSU (Solvay Polyphenylsulfone) in their 20t Micro Vertical LP20VRE Molding Machine.  Both molds had .004” x .004” shutoffs (100 micron) and .013” & .008” wall sections with a part weight of less than .007 grams in POK and .0095 grams in PPSU.  Mold Craft managed both R&D projects from the part design to mold cavity design and finally processing.

Mold Craft. also introduced the Production Quality Prototype (PQP) product offering where our goal is to get you engineering quality sample parts in a prototype micro mold and quickly provide you proof of concept should you be developing a new part intended to run in a micro mold. This is parts to print using any engineering resin.

Mold Craft sent 10 staff members to NPE 2018 to either work with customers in the exhibit space or to walk the show for further learning about the future of the plastics industry. Upon returning from the show, several staff members were asked about their experience. When asked what his favorite part of the show was, Mold Craft processing tech & mold designer Derrick Jahr responded, “The amount of interest at our booth. A lot of people came by to engage with us and had genuine interest in what we were displaying.” Derrick was among the individuals stationed at the booth for the duration of the show, answering questions and providing solutions for guests. Designers Patrick Manship and MJ Kavanagh had a different experience as they walked the floor for the whole show and were exposed to a ton of innovative technology that is sure to impact the industry in the near future. Both Patrick and MJ enjoyed learning more about the mold making industry and seeing a number of innovative molding machines.

There were similar responses when each individual was asked about their biggest take-away. Everyone had some level of exposure to new technology whether it was seeing a new style of mold, new press technology or other innovative concepts. NPE is a platform for the whole plastics industry to get together and share ideas and experiences. It was clear from everyone’s response that they were not disappointed with what they had seen.

When asked what other value will be taken out of NPE, Derrick responded that he got a lot of non-engineering experience. For the greater part of the week, Derrick was able to spend time at the booth and speak with individuals about Mold Craft. MJ said that it was eye-opening to see how big the plastics industry really is. It is interesting to see other styles of molds and different types of molding companies. Patrick mentioned that some of the best value he got out of NPE was being able to see the presses that he designs molds around. Patrick said, “We had an opportunity to see how they operate and now we have a better idea of their working parameters and how to better integrate with automation during the design process.”

NPE 2018 was an invaluable experience for Mold Craft both as a vendor and as observers. The individuals that went certainly took a lot of value out of the event and will be better mold makers for it. Mold Craft is already looking forward to NPE 2021: May 17-21 in Orlando, FL.

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Production Quality Prototypes 24 Apr 2018, 7:46 pm

Our goal is to get you Production Quality Parts in a prototype micro mold and quickly provide you proof of concept.  You may be developing a new part intended to run a micro mold, or you may be considering a conversion from conventional molding to micro molding.

At Mold Craft we care about everything, most importantly, our customers. To that end, we offer many time saving conveniences for those who choose to do business with us. With timelines being what they are today, we now offer a new service called Production Quality Prototypes (PQP). This process helps minimize the time to take a custom molded part project from design to sample molded parts.

Mold Craft has developed a specific program where we own the mold base and molding tool steel which will reduce your upfront costs.  We custom design the molding steel around your specific part exactly to your specifications with the ability to mold any plastic resin.  The custom components that will need to be built consist of cavity inserts, ejector pins and an ejector retainer plate.  As a result, you will receive molded parts that will meet your print and model. There are no limitations on corner radii or tolerances. It is built like a production mold.

“The samples produced give our customers as much information as possible which cuts down on validation time, expenses, and reduces time spent on internal troubleshooting.” Mold Craft President and Owner, Tim Bartz had this to say about PQP at Mold Craft; “This process helps minimize the steps required to build a mold and provides a one stop shop that will allow a custom mold project to go from design to production-ready.” All of that time saved with the prototyping process equates to our customers getting their production mold that much faster.

Production Quality Prototypes must be scalable to production parts.  By using tool steel in lieu of aluminum or other preproduction methods for prototyping, PQP by Mold Craft is scalable to production in the form of tight tolerance ± .001 machining using the same steel the and manufacturing methods as production molds.

Over the last 5 decades, customers have come to rely on Mold Craft for our tight tolerances and manufacturing precision. The knowledge and experience that we have gained designing and building precision injection molds, most recently for micro injection molding, makes us uniquely qualified to provide precision micro molded prototype parts. Regarding production quality prototypes, Mold Craft’s experience lies in commonly used micro part types (gears, filtration screens, bone screws, other implantables, bioresorbable, etc.) with achieved part weights as low as 5 milligrams (.005g) and a shot sizes from 1g to 3.5g.

Here at Mold Craft, we have the opportunity to give our customers one of the best products on the market. By utilizing the PQP process, we can help discern the best course of action by truly turning design into a production quality sample part in less time. We work with our customers to determine critical to function features, ensure scalability and develop a molding process. The bottom line is, PQP gets you where you are going faster.

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ERP at Mold Craft 20 Mar 2018, 5:35 pm

Mold Craft Increases Efficiency With Epicor ERP

Designing and building extremely tight tolerance molds with excellence and offering great value and service to customers is certainly something that Mold Craft is known for in this industry. In pursuit of ongoing excellence and increasing value, Mold Craft implemented the Epicor ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system in 2008.   Behind the scenes, ERP helps Mold Craft to improve process efficiency, gain visibility and clarity into the organization, and enhance the customer experience.

ERP System Implementation at Mold Craft

There are many efficiency enhancements made possible through the use of the ERP system. For example, it allows Mold Craft to have one central place to store information. It reduces redundant data entry and streamlines the communication process across the enterprise. From the shop floor to owners’ office, everyone at Mold Craft uses the ERP system.

Some people use it to simply track their time, while others use it to manage orders, quote projects and produce financial reporting. Most company KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are tracked and measured in the ERP system, which shows how essential it is to the business.

Mold Craft chose Epicor as their ERP software provider, according ERP Manager Wayne Welsch, because it is priced for small to mid-sized businesses, is scalable, and it supports our manufacturing business processes.

He adds, “We have also found Epicor to be relatively flexible and to offer some good automation tools that help Mold Craft be more productive.” ERP gives Mold Craft a tool to manage production from start to finish. From order processing and material management, to production scheduling, shipping and finance, the ERP system allows Mold Craft to gain visibility and efficiency. Having Wayne as a dedicated ERP resource allows him to develop an intimate knowledge of Epicor so that he can understand a production issue and provide an ERP solution, which is invaluable to Mold Craft.

ERP System Means A Better Mold Craft Customer Experience

The ERP system not only increases efficiency within the organization, but it also improves the customer experience.

Every week, Mold Craft sends its customers a weekly project status detailing exactly how much progress has been made on their mold. That weekly project status is pulled directly from the ERP system. On top of that, any time a customer contacts Mold Craft for shipping status or history, it can be provided with information from the ERP system.

ERP is an essential factor to Mold Craft’s productivity streamlining communications throughout the organization, reducing redundant work, and providing our customers with a one-of-a-kind Mold Craft Experience.

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Design for Manufacturing 23 Feb 2018, 10:18 pm

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is the process of designing parts in such a way that they can easily be produced with the end goal in mind of cost and part efficiency, and is an industry standard in the world of manufacturing. The DFM process is relevant in virtually all manufacturing industries and is based on the part that is being manufactured as well as the equipment and processes available to build said part. At Mold Craft DFM is anything but standard, we work with our customers to design and build the best possible mold, going above and beyond meeting standards as defined by the industry.

The DFM process at Mold Craft starts with a customer who wants a new injection mold to efficiently recreate their part. The mold designers at Mold Craft will look at the part and define its “manufacturability.” This is based on a number of different variables such as what material the customer wants their part to be made of, the quantities required, the tolerances required, etc. If the mold designers at Mold Craft can find a way to make the part more manufacturable, it will make the mold more efficient and therefore will save the customer time and money in the long run. Jim Currey, the Engineering Manager at Mold Craft said, “Here at Mold Craft, we utilize the DFM process to give our customers the best experience possible. The DFM process ensures that our customers receive the highest quality mold, with complete interchangeability, producing very close tolerance molded parts.”

If a part is not easily manufacturable (moldable), Mold Craft will work with their customers to make their part more manufacturable in order to improve the quality of their injection mold. Mold Craft’s goal is to design and build an impressive and durable mold for their customer that will meet or exceed industry standard of one million cycles. To do that, Mold Craft needs to have an understanding of every single feature of the part being molded all the way down to how different materials will react in their molds. This is especially relevant with Mold Craft micro mold design, build and sampling for the medical industry with implantable resins such as PEEK (polyetheretherketone) materials (materials that can be left in the body). PEEK materials are very difficult to mold with and therefore require a thorough understanding.

Mold Craft realizes that certain areas of a mold are going to wear faster than other areas so Mold Craft designs their molds to make those areas replaceable.  “Some areas such as gates, thin steel, shutoffs and core pins can be replaced without replacing the entire cavity.  This saves our customers time and reduces the total cost of ownership over the life of the mold”, says Tom Emmons; Mold Craft’s Operations Manager. That is just one example of how Mold Craft custom designs a micro mold.

Design for Manufacturing is an integral part of the injection mold design process at Mold Craft. Mold Craft takes the time to develop a deep understanding of the customer’s part and recommend improvements to make the part more manufacturable so that we can design and build the most efficient injection mold possible. It is all in a day’s work, here at Mold Craft.

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Protecting Your Investment – Packaging, Shipping, and Handling at Mold Craft 25 Jan 2018, 9:19 pm

The employees at Mold Craft thrive in the perfection driven culture that is required for making precision molds. They work hard to make their customers happy by delivering the highest quality products on the market and they want to make sure that those high-quality products make it to the customer in perfect condition. For that reason, Mold Craft spends additional time and resources on packaging, shipping, and handling.

At Mold Craft, each mold is treated with the utmost caution and care as if it were a piece of fine jewelry. They want to make sure that each customer’s mold is taken care of throughout the entire design, build, and ship process. Mold Craft uses the same CAD program (SolidWorks) to design their packaging as they do to design their molds. That means that each mold gets its very own custom crate and packaging. Mold Craft’s crates are unique because of their “easy-off” wing nut system. Instead of unscrewing 20-30 sheetrock screws to get to your mold, simply unscrew 2 wing nuts and the crate top lifts right off revealing easy access to all the eyebolt holes, not buried with sidewalls surrounding the mold. This lends itself to a truly unique unboxing experience. When it comes time to ship a mold, the mold gets strapped down in the crate and the crate gets screwed down to a custom pallet to ensure that each mold is transported securely to its destination. Mold Craft Vice President, Justin McPhee, said, “Not only do we take care of our customer’s stuff when it ships to them, but also throughout the entire manufacturing and subcontract processes.”

It is important to note that Mold Craft does not just make custom packaging for when it is sent out to the end user, but rather, Mold Craft makes custom packaging for the mold components for all necessary shipments, including those to another vendor for texture, laser engraving, coatings, sampling or any other service. Mold Craft cares about its customers products as much as its customers do. When making spare parts for molds, Mold Craft makes custom foam inserts that fit into custom wooden cases. The foam is cut with precision, the parts inserted like a 5S tool drawer, a desiccant pack added to absorb moisture and the latches taped shut to ensure that they reach their destination without moving during travel. Customers can also request that their spare parts be shipped in Pelican cases which are made of hard plastic and are sealed air tight so that water can’t get in the box.

When it comes to shipping within the Twin Cities, Mold Craft uses a courier as opposed to a traditional trucking company. They do this to ensure the package is cared for throughout the entire process and minimize the time on a truck. When shipping across the country, Mold Craft generally ships via 2-Day Air Service as opposed to ground to reduce damage from bumps while in the back of a delivery truck for 1,000 miles or more. Molds at Mold Craft truly do get a first-class experience.

Mold Craft puts a lot of effort into making high quality products and they want to make sure that same pride they put into making the mold goes into making sure it gets to its destination in pristine condition. Mold Craft can accommodate any special shipping requirements as needed for local, cross-country or international shipments. When buying from Mold Craft, you can be sure that your mold is being taken care of and protected like a piece of fine jewelry.

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