American Quality Molds (AQM) not only set company production records as it met new demand for mold bases to produce medical equipment for the COVID-19 pandemic but it pulled off the feat while relocating from Ohio to Indiana.
AQM was in the process of moving from a rented site in Hamilton, Ohio, where it had been for 20 years, to a larger facility in Richmond, Ind., when orders needing rapid delivery started coming in from new and old customers.
The producer of aluminum mold bases for injection molding was ready. AQM owner Rick Shrader had been building an inventory of standard mold bases ever since buying AQM two years ago.
“It was this increased inventory that helped AQM meet the record shipment of mold bases in response to increased demand from customers responding to the immediate need for medical devices, even while completing the move from its original shop to its new facility,” according to a news release.
No one is letting up, however. The new facility is twice the size as the previous space and has room for a recently purchased vertical machining center (VMC) that will allow AQM to increase the size of products it produces.
The larger floor space also will improve productivity for machining, assembly and shipping mold bases.
In addition, the new facility has larger shop offices and a conference room for customer and vendor meetings.