Home-grown 
technology: R&D/Leverage shows off 
technology, training program

Lee's Summit, Mo. — The biggest buzz at the R&D/Leverage open house was about a bottle. Or, more specifically, the technology used to make the bottle.

At first glance, the bottle looks unusual, but not groundbreaking. It's tall, green, with a slender shape and a molded-in design.

The bottle made several appearances at the Sept. 21 event. But every time, including during demonstrations of the tool and production on a Nissei ASB blow molder in the unit tool development department, out came the “no photography” signs.

Anyone can see a photo of the bottle on the Lee's Summit-based toolmaker and packaging designer's LinkedIn page. But you can't see what makes it innovative: internal threads in the neck, plus some more magic that the company wants to keep secret.

The company walked a fine line between featuring the technology at the open house and keeping some details under wraps. CEO Mike Stiles explained that R&D developed the technology a few years ago, then shelved it. When he was named CEO in April, one of his first moves was to bring it back.

“When I took over, I thought that we needed to figure out how to do it [commercialize this],” Stiles said.

R&D has a patent pending on the mechanism that forms the internal threads and ejects the bottle from the machine. Stiles said the company kept the technology under wraps until the open house and hinted to prospective customers that they needed to attend the event to see something special.

He almost gave away the secret when a customer, just weeks before the open house, came looking for some technology like what's featured on the sample green olive oil bottle.

“For us, it was a big deal to show it off at the open house. There was lots of enthusiasm for the internal threads and other features,” Stiles said.

Technologically speaking, R&D also highlighted its Liberty IBM system at the open house. Liberty incorporates 15 patents filed this year related to injection blow mold tooling.

Liberty technologies are designed to solve problems inherent to the IBM process, especially for the start-up of the run, according to Jeff Chen, director of research and simulation. The tool saves time and material.

The open house also was an opportunity to show off new equipment, including an R&B Plastics blow molding machine, a 500-ton all-electric Toyo injection press for mold tryouts and a five-axis machining center for fast, accurate and highly automated metalworking.

But R&D has a focus that's on more than mold making. The company highlights how it has brand development, design and even customer research expertise that can help molders and brand owners bring innovative products to market.

R&D/Leverage was founded 43 years ago by Ivan and Ardith Drienik as R&D Tool & Engineering Co. Ivan Drienik, who was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, served in the U.S. Army and later became a citizen, died in 2007. Ardith Drienik, who is still active but keeps a low public profile, still owns the company.

In 2008, R&D added a structural brand development firm, Leverage, to its services. The idea was to help the toolmaker get more involved in product development.

The theme of this year's open house was breaking down silos in plastic packaging. That means getting creative and technical people talking to one another.

“As a mold maker, we live in a world where … designs come our way and we say it can't be made,” or can't be made at the price point that brand owners want, said Bob Schiavone, global marketing director. “Time and money get squeezed at the most critical section of a package launch, at the mold build.”

Getting rid of the silos that separate toolmakers and brand owners can save money and foster innovation. “Molds don't cost money; molds make money,” he said.

Gerry O'Brion, a marketer with experience at Procter & Gamble, Coors Brewing Co., Quiznos and Red Robin restaurants, gave the keynote address.

R&D has a large, five-building campus in Lee's Summit with 240 employees, plus a European plant in Sutton-in-Ashfield, England, with 90 employees. Together, the operations generate annual sales of about $40 million, Stiles said. Sales are on pace to grow about 7 or 8 percent this year, he said.

Asked about challenges to growth, the first on Stiles' list is the age of the company's workforce. The company has a wall of photographs of employees with 20 years tenure, and it seems to grow every day.

About seven years ago, R&D established a structured four-year apprentice program, which matches new workers up with veteran toolmakers. To date, four workers have completed the apprentice program, six are currently enrolled, and R&D wants to add two more before the end of 2017.

Jacob Denney, 22, and his brother Isaac, 19, are two of the current crop. Jacob is almost finished; he's been in the program 3½ years. Isaac, a recent high school graduate, is just getting started.

“Every six months, I get a $1 raise. They treat us really well,” Jacob Denney said.

He's learned that trained toolmakers are the company's future.

“Anybody can buy the same machines that R&D has. It's the people who run those machines who make the difference,” he said.

He has friends who went straight to college after high school, and some are struggling to find jobs in their chosen professions.

“I think I made a good choice. I get this all the time from my friends, ‘I wish I had done that.'”

Isaac Denney feels he will have “endless opportunities” once he learns a trade, adding that he feels “a lot of loyalty” to R&D for investing in his training.