Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
      • 2022 class
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
December 09, 1996 01:00 AM

LIBERTY GOES BEYOND TOOLING

Clare Goldsberry PLASTICS NEWS CORRESPONDENT
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    If you had been around the plastics industry in upstate New York for 75 years you might remember Liberty Tool and Die Corp., a maker of tools, dies and fixtures. Or you might remember Liberty Tool & Die in 1945, a company that made tools, dies, die cast molds and machining stands. Or maybe you would remember Liberty Tool Corp., in 1980, a maker of tools, plastic injection molds and dedicated machining systems.

    Well, it's 1996, and the company, once again, has evolved to become Liberty Precision Industries, as of August. Douglas K. Woods, president of the Rochester, N.Y., company, said that for the past three years the company has been expanding its services beyond that of a traditional tool shop to provide complete manufacturing services.

    Woods said that when he came on board, the company was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Although owned by his grandfather, Karl Fuchs, who had purchased the family-owned firm in 1988 from owners seeking to retire, Fuchs was not actively involved in the day-to-day operations, Woods explained.

    Fuchs, who was in his mid-80s, called in Woods, who at the time was director of European operations for an automation manufacturing company.

    Liberty narrowly avoided being a statistic.

    Woods decided the company needed to implement a different strategy to stay competitive in a global marketplace. The result was a multidivisional company with each business unit focused on its area of expertise in distinct market segments.

    The groups consist of the Flexible Automation Products Group, which specializes in flexible machining systems involving automation and materials-handling technologies; the Mold Solutions Group, specializing in rapid prototyping, die-cast, plastic injection and blow molds for a variety of industrial markets; a Coating Products Group providing customized coating dies, stations and systems for the film, medical, optics, pharmaceutical and other thin-film industries; and the Rapid Response Group, which provides traditional tooling and machining.

    The mold-making group has gone through the most dramatic change.

    ``We had to become more than just a commodity mold maker,'' he said. ``We don't just build molds, but provide highly engineered products offering our customers total solutions to their manufacturing.''

    The result of these changes can be seen in the company's annual sales, which grew from $8 million in 1992 to about $25 million this year.

    Liberty employs 120, fewer than many mold shops with sales of $25 million, but Woods said that is because the company's use of technology and a ``close-knit'' base of key vendors that perform many of the standard services for Liberty such as computer numerically controlled machining and overflow electrical discharge machining.

    ``We do all the critical machining and EDM work as well as the mold assembly and testing,'' Woods said.

    Woods is an example of the new mold shop owner of today. He graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in marketing and finance. He did graduate work in manufacturing engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He served a mold-making apprenticeship through Alliance Tool, a company his grandfather helped found in 1947 after he left the old Liberty Tool and Die, where he had worked since immigrating to the United States.

    Woods credits his grandfather, who died last year but at one time served as president of the National Tooling and Machining Association, for teaching him the mold-making trade. However, he said that any mold maker can successfully increase business by just ``being perceptive to changes in the global market place'' and taking advantages of the changes in technology.

    ``The problem with many mold makers today is that they are so closely focused on the details of the day-to-day way of making a mold, they miss the fact that many people are doing new things using new technology,'' said Woods. ``They get stuck in a rut.''

    Liberty operates from two facilities with a total of 100,000 square feet, 50,000 of that added this year. Woods said another expansion is planned for 1997. He is evaluating whether to lease another 30,000 square feet or to combine the two plants into one and purchase a large building.

    Woods sees the future of mold making moving toward the large company.

    ``More and more we'll see that it's the larger companies that will play key roles in the future,'' said Woods. "The small shops will begin to be merged with bigger shops to serve those companies that need key manufacturing capabilities.''

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    MPP acquisition gives Dallas Plastics a presence in Canada
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Obituary: Trexel CEO Brian Bechard
    2
    Get used to higher inflation, interest rates
    3
    With plenty of uncertainty, the race to automotive electrification is underway
    4
    HIG Capital to ‘accelerate investments' in Avient distribution unit
    5
    Nexus executive: Industry must deliver on promise of chemical recycling
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
          • 2022 class
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified