What is a Full-Service Injection Molder?
It was once commonplace that you could pull into a full-service gas station and a filling station attendant—also known as a “gas jockey”—would not only pump your gas for you, but they would also clean your windshield, fill your tires, check your oil and take your payment, all while you sat comfortably and waited. These full-service stations are nearly extinct now, as the small family-owned gas stations have given way to mammoth one-stop shops where you can buy groceries, coolers and grills, food and drink, ice and so many other conveniences.
We hear the term a lot, but what does full-service mean within the injection molding industry? Many molders that call themselves full-service are ones that started as tool shops first. They purchased an injection molding machine (IMM) to sample their new molds, and when that investment sat idle for too long or when the opportunity presented itself, they started molding production from their machine as well. The molding side of their businesses grew, and eventually they could design, build, condition, and maintain their molds while running and inspecting the production parts they molded from them. This, to many, is full-service injection molding.
A true full-service injection molder may have followed a similar path, starting as an injection mold maker but will evolve to offer more specialized capabilities and services over time.
The Voice of An Expert
To better understand the differences in injection molding companies we spoke with Tom Moyak, the Director of Business and Engineering Development for Matrix Tool to explain the concept of full-service injection molding.
We, at Matrix, refer to ourselves as a full-service injection molder. Our people set us apart, in particular with their drive and expertise. We make some of the most difficult molds and plastic molded products in the industry including a wide range of incredibly precise electrical connectors that comprise a significant portion of our molded products. We have a strong foundation in the fundamentals—in our processes, our equipment, and especially our personnel. Over 10% of our workforce are engineers, and 100% of our workforce are highly skilled and trained in their professions.
Our group focus is to provide rapid service to our customers, not to only give them what they want but to identify what they don’t know they’re missing. We apply our expertise to simplify everything—simpler, better, and faster running molds that waste less material, for example, still make parts like other molds, but they do so while saving significant capital and providing improved quality and capacity.
By adding engineering support to the front end of the process—we help improve the product design where applicable to help every downstream process thereafter. Additional support includes Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Moldflow analysis software capabilities.
We continue to
expand our capabilities including micro molding with the micro tooling and
micro molding machine capabilities to properly support this highly specialized
offering. We believe that sharing our expertise as a technology leader and
partner, often leads to being an extension to their businesses.
We believe Full-Service Injection Molding means building a relationship with the customers by filling in the gaps where needed most and doing so without being asked. It means being successful and growing together. The injection molding business can be manic. We want to make our customers’ lives easier. That means providing the best quality products and services in a timely manner, and to have an operation that does that properly means everyone is winning in the end.
Many Thanks to Tom Moyak, Director of Business and Engineering Development for Matrix Tool, Inc.
website: https://matrixtoolinc.com