Dynamic Metal Treating Inc. is moving into a new, 15,000-square-foot building in Canton Township, Mich., a Detroit suburb, in response to a 29 percent annual growth rate in the past two years. The company treats barrel screws, feed screws and injection molds with a proprietary process it calls Dyna-Blue, which provides wear resistance and extends the life of molds and tools, said sales manager Ed Lesterson.
Growth has come primarily from Dyna-Blue's recent acceptance by the plastics industry.
``We're amazed with the opportunities [the plastics industry] has presented us,'' he said.
The new building sits on 41/2 acres purchased by the company for an undisclosed sum. The company plans to complete the move by the first week in December with no interruption in service for its customers, said Loren Epler, Dynamic's president.
Epler is a metallurgist with a background in the plastics industry, who saw the potential for the process to be used on injection molds. His company was the first licensee for a similar process in 1984. The company made modifications and refinements to that process and obtained its own patents on the process it calls Dyna-Blue, which is similar to gas nitriding but is less brittle and more wear-resistant.
Dyna-Blue incorporates fluid bed ferritic nitrocarburizing and steam bluing, a process that provides corrosion resistance and provides lubricants during service. Epler said these features are particularly beneficial to molders running glass-filled engineering thermoplastics and corrosive materials such as PVC.
Epler said the process imparts a hard, wear-resistant surface on the mold that is much harder than the steel itself, which also helps keep parting lines sharp and provides a much better surface finish on the plastic parts. It also allows for better weldability because there is no porosity in the weld that can cause weld lines on the plastic parts, and reduced maintenance resulting in longer up-time.
Extended mold life is the biggest benefit of the Dyna-Blue process, said Epler.
``We normally see anywhere between two to five times increase in the life of the mold,'' he said. ``That's a considerable savings when you look at it that way.''
In addition to being completely computerized, the new facility will house a new, larger furnace to allow the company to do larger-sized molds. The new furnace is 42 inches in diameter, twice the size of the company's present furnace.
Dynamic, which employs 20, plans to add a new heat treating furnace in February to vacuum-harden tool steels so that no finish grinding is necessary. Epler said the company eventually plans to add a 60-inch-diameter furnace.
To prove the process to interested molders, Epler said he will treat a small mold free of charge.
``The proof is in the pudding so we want to provide the first taste for free,'' said Epler. ``We want people to be happy with what they're getting.''
