Controlled, Manageable Growth Leads to Record Sales
“Growth beyond this point will be measured by our customers’ needs and the needs of manufacturing in our area,” he explains. “We are about as large as we wish to get at the present time and still want to be able to support our customers with quality tools and great service that they have come to expect.”
Trifecta Tool & Engineering specializes in plastic injection molds with complex, 3D shapes from single-cavity up to as many as 48 cavities in the 50- to 750-ton range.
Dayton, OH-based Trifecta Tool & Engineering LLC—a designer and builder of plastic injection molds for the automotive, medical, container, cap and closure, appliance, rubber, defense and electrical connector industries—opened its doors in 2004 and has prided itself on its ability to not only grow slowly over the years, but expand its customer base even though the industry has endured some difficult changes due to the global marketplace.
According to Trifecta Manager/Partner Bret West, the company started out as a three-man shop with some very basic machines doing repairs and engineering changes. As its customer base increased, Trifecta purchased some CNC mills, lathes and EDM machines. “Starting a shop this way gave us more of an out-of-the-box way of thinking strategy when it comes to being competitive with cost and timing,” West states.
The company developed a sales strategy to diversify as much as possible. West believed that this would ensure a consistent work flow year-round. Trifecta geared itself toward the production of injection molds with complex, 3D shapes from single-cavity up to as many as 48 cavities in the 50- to 750-ton range. This strategy also allowed the company to double its shop size from 13,500 square feet to 27,000 square feet—and add three employees. Trifecta gained two CNC programmers/operators and a project manager. “The CNC operators fill a need we have for the increased workload in the automotive, medical, container, closure and the electrical connector industries,” West explains. “The project manager was hired to help with estimating, project management of domestic and offshore tooling, and technical sales. The increase in workflow from these industries is what has led to record sales for the company for the last four years.”
As far as the facility expansion, West notes the company is located in a multi-business complex that is owned by two of the five partners of Trifecta, and the front half of the building has become available—allowing the company to double its size. A crane system was added above the CNC and assembly areas. Trifecta plans to add more Hurco CNC machines in the upcoming months for potential work in the automotive, medical, container, cap and closure, appliance, defense and connector industries over the next year.
West is satisfied with the company’s steady growth and plans to keep the business at its current 10 employees with the potential of adding an additional two or three positions—while striving to carry zero or very little debt. “Growth beyond this point will be measured by our customers’ needs and the needs of manufacturing in our area,” he explains. “We are about as large as we wish to get at the present time and still want to be able to support our customers with quality tools and great service that they have come to expect.”
For More Information
Trifecta Tool & Engineering LLC / (937) 291-0933
bwest@trifectatool.com / trifectatool.com
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