Industrial builds on value of collaboration

Industrial Molds Inc., the No. 6 company on Plastics News' Best Places to Work ranking, wasn't always a pleasant place to work.

“Our history was built on a superstar mentality. It wasn't a very fun place to work at that time,” said Vice President Tim Peterson. “It was competitive; there was a lot of contention.”

Oddly enough, machines helped bring people together.

“What really brought about a change in attitude was in the early 2000s, when we switched to automation,” Peterson said recently by phone. “You have to collaborate, communicate and work well together to make sure the work is done correctly.”

“If someone isn't a team player, they won't like our culture,” he added.

Peterson's father, Jack, founded the tool-making company in 1968 and turned it over to his sons in 2006.

“My father has always valued employees,” Peterson said, an attitude that apparently rubbed off on his sons. In return, the firm's workforce is loyal.

The employees are vital to the company's success, he said. “It really is about the employees. We facilitate it by encouraging it, but we have a great group of guys who will pitch in and make it work.”

The Rockford, Ill.-based company has many veteran employees among its staff of 56. “The people who have stayed with the company have built the culture more than any master plan,” he said. “The employees really do help each other and foster teamwork, getting things done.”

When something doesn't work out, the employees collaborate to figure out what happened and then do a better job the next time.

“It leads to a good environment. Ultimately, people like who they're working next to, rather than seeing them as a competitor.”

Peterson said the staff appreciates not being micro-managed. They are given autonomy and feel that the company trusts their judgment, he said.

Industrial Molds also promotes a work-life balance by limiting meetings and staff-only events to during work hours only, and allowing flexible hours to accommodate things like school events or taking a family member to the doctor.

The company offers a 401(k) with matching contributions and discretionary annual bonuses based on profitability. There's also an annual golf outing and Christmas party.

Industrial Molds helps support the Rockford Rescue Mission, which provides food, shelter and personal items to the local homeless community. It also contributes to the iWarriors project to help U.S. military men and women wounded in battle.

The company serves custom injection molders and OEMs.

Industrial Molds is completing a new engineering account management system and in the next couple of months will be adding two new electromagnetic discharge machines and one Erowa robot system. The company is streamlining its space to make it more user-friendly and to create two new conference rooms with video conferencing capability, Peterson said.

Find an overview of the selection process and links to other Best Places to Work here.