Mold makers growing at double-digit rate

We've updated our North American mold makers ranking, with the top 100 listed in this weeks' print issue and the full list online.

The full list covers 135 firms, representing a total of $2.69 billion in sales, up 11 percent over last year.

The breakout of results includes 58 percent reporting no change over last year, while 34 percent report increased sales on average of 13 percent.

Not surprisingly, injection molds for automotive make up the biggest percentage of mold makers. We've added liquid silicone rubber molds to our list of tooling types and about 11 percent said they too, make LSR molds.

So with such a big automotive turnout, it follows that Michigan is the top state for mold making firms, the listing accounts for 196 plants and 131 firms reported 9,805 mold and tooling employees.

And now here are a few things of note beyond just numbers:

Happy 40th anniversary to Build-A-Mold Ltd.​ and Strohwig Industries Inc. and happy 60th to Carlson Tool & Manufacturing Corp. of Cedarburg, Wis.

Advanced Prototype Molding Inc. of Palatine, Ill.

Concept Molds Inc. of Schoolcraft, Mich.

Empire Injection Molds Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Flight Mold and Engineering Inc. of St. Clair, Mich.

H&S Mold Inc. of Gaylord, Mich.

LS Mold Inc. of Holland, Mich.

Michiana Global Mold of Mishawaka, Ind.

Powermark International Inc. of Machesney Park, Ill.

TK Mold & Engineering Inc. of Romeo, Mich.

Union Tool & Mold Co. of Maplewood, N.J.

These firms have moved up the most positions in the ranking:

Polycel Structural Foam Inc. of Somerville, N.J., moved up 44 spaces to 53, becoming one of six companies tied at the No. 53 spot.

M.R. Mold & Engineering Corp. of Brea, Calif., moved up 22 spaces to 73.

Westminster Tool Inc. of Plainfield, Conn., moved up 20 spaces to 53.

Mold-Tech Inc. of Albertville, Minn., moved up 12 spaces to rank at No. 40.

Precise Tooling Solutions Inc. of Columbus, Ind., moved up 8 spaces to rank at No. 53.

The full listing is online at www.plasticsnews.com/rankings/mold-toolmakers, the data itself can be purchased from our data store at www.plasticsnews.com/section/store.

If you work for a company that is missing from the ranking, we would like to include you next time. Please download a survey form or contact Hollee Keller at [email protected] or mail your information to Plastics News, P.O. Box 790, Tallmadge, Ohio 44278.