Custom injection molder and toolmaker Moldworx LLC recently moved into a larger facility in Gilbert, Ariz. The company credited growth in the silicon wafer and medical markets.
"We've expanded our operations and we recently added another shift, even in a time that's presenting some challenges," President and CEO Tim Taylor said in a July 17 telephone interview.
Moldworx had been located in two facilities: a 6,400-square-foot original plant that housed tool building, and a leased 8,700-square-foot facility that has been the home to its molding operations since 2015.
The new 24,000-square-foot facility combines both tooling and molding, allowing for improved efficiency and collaboration, Taylor said. Moldworx completed the move at the end of May.
"We have quite a bit more space now, and we could potentially double the size of our molding operations," he said.
Taylor established Moldworx in 1995 as a tool shop. He added mold trials, then low-volume molding, and full-fledged production molding around 2015. The company currently employs 35 and runs three shifts, five days a week.
"We added the third shift just before we moved, and next we'd like to add weekend shifts, too," Taylor said. "We've added three people in the last 90 days. Our forecast is pretty positive. We feel very fortunate that we've been able to continue on, working overtime, keeping everyone employed."
Taylor owns the company with Joe Moytka, Moldworx's vice president.
Moldworx's injection molding department recently added two injection molding presses: a 50-ton Roboshot and a 150-ton Calypso, bringing its total to 10 machines ranging from 55-400 tons of clamping force. The company plans to begin offering white room molding services for the medical industry.
In addition to tool building and repair, the molder's specialties include automation for product assembly. It has provided press-side automation to some medical device OEMs.
Recently the company began making Food and Drug Administration-approved face masks to help fill the demand for these items due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Someone sent the company a message through its Facebook page, asking if Moldworx could 3D print masks through the #makethemasks movement.
"The next day I started designing it to make an injection molded version," Taylor said.
The company quickly built the mold and started producing the parts.
The masks are made from a pliable thermoplastic polyurethane material, comfort fitting with reusable, replaceable N95 filter elements. To date, Moldworx has produced 2,000 masks, which have been donated to health care professionals in Arizona.
"We estimate we can produce and ship 2,400 units a week with the ability to quadruple production if needed," Taylor said.
Plastics News estimates the company's injection molding sales at $1.7 million.