Hollywood Plastics Engineering Co. offers free tooling under certain conditions, but the injection molder so far has not had any customers take advantage of the new program.
The firm introduced the “free tooling” concept early this year.
“We've had a number of inquiries ranging from individuals with new product ideas to established companies looking to continue existing products or launch new ones,” said President Mike Hamernik. “We've provided quotes and answered questions and are waiting to hear when and if their respective projects will begin.”
Under the program targeting high-volume jobs, Hollywood Plastics must be the molder.
One proposal involved 500,000 molded units per week, “but the client's target price did not make it feasible for us to pursue,” Hamernik said. “I don't think they could've found anyone in China to take on the project at the target price. Still, it shows the enormous potential for molding production runs that currently exist in various markets.”
Hollywood Plastics converts metal parts to plastic. “We are currently producing brackets and guards that were formerly fabricated in metal,” he said during a San Fernando plant visit. “Often, the metal component alone is sent to us. We can derive tooling from the component itself with no files, sketches or prototypes.”
Hollywood Plastics molds a one-half-inch-thick recreational vehicle tow-bar arm bushing using nylon 6/6 — a Clariant polyamide with a 2 percent filling of molybdenum disulfide lubricant powder — and trims the part on a computer numerically controlled lathe.
An initial run with material savers avoided the CNC, but the semi-hollow part failed tensile-strength requirements.
Previously, another plastics processor cut bar stock to make the part, but the solid material and cutting process were too costly.
Meanwhile, the company is tackling the proprietary product market. Hamernik introduced the Opener People brand during the May 15-17 National Association of Recording Merchandisers convention in Chicago.
“We co-sponsored the NARM event and provided samples in bags given to attendees” including retailers, Hamernik said.
EZ-CD Inc., a Hollywood Plastics sister company that was acquired in late 2005, focuses on promotional devices to access hard-to-open shrink-wrap packaging and, now, does business as the Opener People. Stock and customized devices in multiple shapes, sizes and colors can open packages of compact discs, preloaded memory cards, red-laser DVDs, blue-violet-laser Blu-ray discs and videogame discs.
For the biomedical market, Hollywood Plastics makes radio-pharmaceutical disposables and non-clean room products.
Hollywood Plastics, EZ-CD and an off-site third operation remanufacturing ammunition employ six full time, and temporary workers as needed; operate six injection molding presses of 100-400 tons; and occupy 7,100 square feet for molding, toolmaking, offices and warehousing.
Parent firm Hollywood Polymer Technology Inc. had 2009 sales of $1.2 million. Hollywood Plastics accounted for about $700,000 of the total.
In 2000, Hollywood Plastics alone had sales of more than $2 million.
Hamernik's semi-retired father, Peter, remains active in the San Fernando shop and is president of Hollywood Polymer Technology.
Peter Hamernik started in the tooling business decades ago as Hamernik Precision Engineering.
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