Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Plastics News China
  • Rubber & Plastics News
logo-pn-color
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • End Markets
    • FYI Charts
    • LSR World
    • Multimedia
    • NPE2021
    • K Show
    • Special Reports
    • Top materials of injection molders
      Recycled PET use by product category
      US PET, flexible packaging desintations
      Global fluropolymers additives market: CAGR
    • NPE exhibitors question handling of deposits for canceled trade show
      Exhibitors back NPE cancellation: ‘We couldn't take that risk'
      NPE2021 canceled as in-person event
      NPE reviews its options as pandemic prompts exhibitor to exit
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • What Keeps You Up At Night
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Videos
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • CEO Issue
    • Best Places to Work
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • Heavy Metal
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Perspective: Making the best of working from home
      Nypro's Gordon Lankton left the plastics industry a better place
      Recognizing Plastek Industries for all-around excellence
      Let's look forward, rather than back, to mark COVID anniversary
    • Kickstart: They're not used shoes, they're 'refurbished'
      Kickstart: Holy guacamole, science is cool
      Kickstart: Coffee with a splash of sustainability
      Kickstart: Live, from Shenzhen, it's an in-person trade show
    • Heavy Metal: Coronavirus edition, plus the work of working from home
      Don't put off succession planning
      What's a good gift for your cobot? Batteries?
      Here's some big ideas to mull over the holidays
    • PE resin trends highlighted in Shell report
      Dow's Lowry honored by World Economic Forum for sustainability work
      Africa impacts new colors from Ampacet
      Plaskolite marches into madness with its own online bracket
    • Climate debate in Washington increasingly includes plastic
      There was no choice but canceling NPE still a big deal
      The business case for producer responsibility
      Think divided government stalls plastics legislation? Think again
    • Annual PN LSR directory grows
      Want prices? Introducing historical resin pricing, now available in a downloadable form
      A new annual ranking: Top processor gains
      Thermoformers: Would you believe a 12 percent gain?
    • Working from home: Rugrats edition
      Nypro's Gordon Lankton left the plastics industry a better place
      Let's look forward, rather than back, to mark COVID anniversary
      Virtual pitfalls derail exhibits for builders' trade show
    • Machine builders press through pandemic with innovations
      PEX pipe maker Uponor donates $30,000 for Texas storm relief
      Virtual pitfalls derail exhibits for builders' trade show
      PPI puts $200 bounty on exhumed HDPE conduit
    • Perspective: Making the best of working from home
      Perspective: The Materials Wars: Is plastic actually better?
      Perspective: Plastics manufacturers — a surprising contribution to sustainability
      Plastics industry business owners: Listen to your future workforce
    • Mailbag: Additional fees for electric vehicles ‘unfortunate'
      Mailbag: Where's the plastics industry's response to critics?
      Mailbag: Manufacturers struggling to follow COVID-19 safety rules
      Modernizing recycling infrastructure will benefit businesses as well as the environment
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
    • Maintenance can ensure efficient blender operation
      Dosing: Perfect for adding color
      Blending vs dosing: What you need to know
      Going low or high: Comparing volume
    • Colors and custom compounds
      In the laboratory: Compounding solutions
      Recycling content: Resins going ‘green’
      Compounding: Glass and other fillers
    • Dryer maintenance: Don’t err with air
      Dryers: Options for a shop’s process
      Dryer installation: Going central?
      Resins: Hygroscopic or non-hygroscopic
    • Electric injection molding presses: Efficiency is key
      Hydraulic injection molding machines
      Proper maintenance can prevent downtime
      Hybrid injection molding machines
    • Purging Hot runners: Open or closed methods
      Purging extrusion machinery
      Purging extrusion blow molding machines
      Purging: Chemical, abrasive and non-abrasive
    • Controls, special applications boost production, profitability
      Robot maintenance key for smooth operation
      High-speed robots: A rapid way to increase efficiency
      Robots: Every shape and size
    • Maintenance: Key for efficiency
      Shredders: Plastic in pieces
      Safety first for size reduction
      Granulators: The right fit
    • Video: Structural foam molding
      Structural foam molding: Flexibility for processors
    • Mold inventory: How many molds does a shop have?
      Molds: Innovation
      Mold changeover: Saving time and money
      How molds work
    • Labor: Apprenticeships may provide answer
      College training, programs
      Internships: Solving the skills gap in-house
      Lean Six Sigma: Transforming business operation
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Ask the Expert
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • 2020 Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Polymer Points Live - April 2021
      Polymer Points Live - February 2021
      Polymer Points Live - January 2021
      Polymer Points Live - December 2020
    • Plastics in Healthcare 2020
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Plastics in Healthcare
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
  • 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
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Data Store
  • Directory
  • More+
    • Classifieds
    • Digital Edition
    • Newsletters
    • Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Sponsored By Bandera
      Bandera US was born for the North American market
      Sponsored By Ensign Equipment
      Filling systems customized for any process or budget need
      KraussMaffei
      Sponsored By KraussMaffei
      KraussMaffei retools in US with investment from parent ownership
      Sponsored By Mitsubishi
      Innovative new technology from Mitsubishi Engineering-Plastics Corporation helps reduce emission footprints
    • KraussMaffei
      Sponsored By KraussMaffei
      KraussMaffei Retools in US with investment from Parent Ownership
    • Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Tailored maintenance for injection molding machines and robots
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Improve maintenance efficiency with e-connect.monitor
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Maximum precision for lowest shot weights
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Even more cost effectiveness for small precision parts
    • Shell Polymer
      Sponsored By Shell Polymers
      Food and beverage trends impacting the polymer industry
      Sponsored By Conexiom
      Use Sales Order Automation to free up time for CSRs to focus on customers, not manual entry
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
April 03, 2000 02:00 AM

For partners, 2 shops are better than 1

Michael Lauzon
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    When one of Accu-Mold Inc.'s major customers began using larger-tonnage molds, Accu-Mold was faced with a dilemma. To keep the business, the Portage, Mich., firm either had to spend a lot in new mold-building machinery or it needed to find a partner that could build the big molds.

    Like a growing number of mold makers, Accu-Mold decided to team up with another mold builder. For the past three months, Accu-Mold has been allied with Commercial Tool & Die Inc. — a marriage that Accu-Mold President and owner David Martin said has been "working picture-perfect."

    Martin said his firm avoided a major machinery expense and long learning curve by allying with Commercial Tool. More mold builders are following that route to meet customer demands for faster delivery, comprehensive service and broader geographic presence.

    "Capital equipment costs to be competitive are escalating," said Glenn Starkey, president of Progressive Components Inc. of Wauconda, Ill. He predicts a trend to mold-maker alliances and mergers as firms strive to afford new equipment and technology.

    In the past, mold makers commonly had informal relations with other tool firms to handle overflow work, but the process is getting more formal and structured, Starkey said in a telephone interview.

    He compared small shops competing separately as "strolling minstrels" vs. a "symphony when firms work together."

    Mold shops are traditionally family-owned, and it is easier to expand capabilities through an alliance than an outright merger or acquisition, according to Starkey. Eventually an alliance might advance to another stage, such as a merger, when the partners have gotten to know each other well.

    Dennis Melinn, president of Commercial Tool, said the relation with Accu-Mold combines the strengths of the firms, both for existing business and potential new markets. Accu-Mold specializes in tools for presses up to 500 tons, while Commercial Tool mainly builds molds for presses up to and surpassing 2,000 tons of clamp force.

    An added benefit is that each partner is close to some customers of the other partner, making it easier to provide mold servicing to the clients, Melinn said.

    "There will be a lot more [alliances]," predicted Melinn, whose company also allies with other shops.

    Accu-Mold has been so impressed with its results that it plans other alliances, including one with a mold flow analysis firm, Martin said.

    An alliance allows companies to cut lead times on large projects and on rush jobs, like launches of large-volume products, according to Eddie Stoncius, general manager of Glendan Mould Inc. of Toronto.

    "When one company gets an overload, they can share the work," said Stoncius, who characterized Glendan's alliance with Dollins Tool Inc. as "going extremely well overall."

    Both firms specialize in thin-wall container molds. On a big job Glendan can do all the rough machining and then send out components for heat treating. Dollins then can do final finishing work.

    Stoncius said his firm had done subcontract work informally with Dollins in the past and was acquainted with Dollins' skills.

    "An alliance can rely on each other's quality, vs. farming work out to just anybody," Stoncius explained.

    When allies mesh well they can drive down mold delivery times, a big attraction to customers. An alliance between M2M International Ltd. and Windsor Mold Inc. offers delivery of a complete set of auto interior tools in 20 weeks or less, according to M2M President Richard Myers.

    Myers concedes it is taking some time for Tier 1 auto suppliers to recognize the partners' abilities but the alliance is still a new one, dating only to late last year. When business grows, M2M and Windsor Mold will be ready for the surge.

    M2M alone is completing a major expansion including two large computer numerically controlled machining centers, and this fall will build a new tryout facility, One Source Plastics, at its Wallaceburg, Ontario, operation.

    Alliances are a way of pooling hard-to-find talent, according to Stoncius. They also are especially valuable in developing talent, Mengel added. A group of companies spreads costs and builds critical mass needed to develop a curriculum. Southwest Michigan mold builders are known for their success in this area.

    A company needs to choose its partner carefully, stressed Jeff Mengel, who heads the plastics industry team at consulting firm Plante & Moran LLP of Southfield, Mich. An alliance makes sense for "companies with complementary skill sets."

    Mengel said an alliance can work when it is convenient to both parties. It can be inconvenient if there is conflict about where a mold stands in either partner's list of priorities.

    Another risk is that a company actually might "be training its competition," he said. For this reason, Mengel said it might make more sense to partner with an offshore mold builder. A firm can improve its technology without the partner encroaching on its natural market geography. Alliances with Asian companies can mean cheaper components, while European partners can offer advanced technology and design.

    "The trust issue has to be paramount," said Accu-Mold's Martin. An alliance is typically a handshake agreement that relies on integrity and ethics.

    One partner has to take the lead and responsibility for each project, according to Mengel. Mold customers only want to work with one company and, to them, the alliance should be invisible.

    Customers can benefit from an alliance's broader capabilities while cutting down on the number of individual mold makers it works with, Starkey said.

    "Customers don't want 10 candidates for a mold job, they want a limited number of strategic partners," Starkey explained.

    One partner will sign on a project and be legally responsible. Partners need constant communication to avoid overlap and efficiency.

    Accu-Mold and Commercial Tool use a Nextel cellular phone system for rapid response, Martin said. Advances in Internet and other communications allow rapid delivery of computer-aided design and other data.

    International connections can be especially useful in alliances. M2M's Myers said Windsor Mold brings connections to Mexico and Brazil, while M2M has relations in Japan, Taiwan and Germany. A global network makes it easier to farm out a small part of a multimold job, such as for interior switches, to an offshore company.

    Multinational alliances can have surprising benefits, Glendan's Stoncius said. Glendan and Dollins were exhibiting at a trade show in China last year, soon after a NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, during the Kosovo conflict. Anti-American sentiment in China was rife following the incident so Glendan, a Canadian company, took the lead at the firms' trade show exhibit, while U.S.-based Dollins stayed in the background.

    "If someone prefers one country over another, it gives [the alliance] a stronger force in the world market," Stoncius said.

    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]

    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.

    logo-pn-color
    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 & Plastics News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Plastics News China
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2021. 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
        • What Keeps You Up At Night
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
        • Polymer Points Live
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • FYI Charts
        • Current FYI
      • LSR World
      • Multimedia
        • Videos
        • Galleries
        • Podcasts
      • NPE2021
      • K Show
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Best Places to Work
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • Heavy Metal
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Plastics in Healthcare
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Ask the Expert
      • Polymer Points Live
      • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • 2020 Caps & Closures Library
      • Plastics in Healthcare Library
      • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • 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
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Data Store
    • Directory
    • More+
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified
      • Digital Edition
      • Newsletters
      • Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Processor of the Year submissions