Several years ago, a customer we had limited dealings with contacted us to help supply product that was arriving sporadically from their off-shore partner. Numerous quality issues with the molded parts caused a high scrap rate, and the lure of low cost tooling and production wore thin when product was regularly delayed entering the USA. Matrix quickly built low-cavity tooling to keep a stream of parts flowing, allowing time for the transfer of six tools to the States. Once the tools arrived, the molds were disassembled, damage was repaired and mold modifications were performed to enhance their performance. For the next two years, we ran production using the refurbished off-shore tools. In the meantime, customer demand was increasing and production was ramping up so high-cavitation hot runner tooling proposals were submitted. Part of our proposal to the customer was financial justification calculations, including amortizing a portion of the tool cost into each part. Payback to the customer was rapid, in most cases less than 15 months, and with the faster hot runner tools, part prices dropped dramatically. In addition, quality problems went away, and with Matrix covering the tool maintenance for the life of the program, the cost to the customer was predictable and affordable. For more information on our transfer tooling capabilities please visit our main website.
Written By:
Paul Ziegenhorn
President
