Published 8/29/2018

News and Reviews from Industry Organizations, August 2018

News and reviews from the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA), the Mold Technologies Division of The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPEMTD) and Canadian Association of Mold Makers (CAMM).

Edited by: MMT Editorial Team

From the left: Mike Hicks of DMS, Janet Kelly (Chair of the Rotary Club of Windsor (1918) Centennial Legacy Projects Committee), the City of Windsor’s landscape architect Stefan Fediuk and CAMM Chair Jonathan Azzopardi of Laval International gather alongside one of the gateway markers that greet visitors to the new Rotary Club of Windsor (1918) Centennial Plaza. CAMM members donated their time and skills to design and machine these sculptures out of aluminum and then polish and coat them. The striking plaza is located along the City of Windsor’s riverfront.

Chuck Klingler, vice president of Janler Corp., was named Mold Maker of the Year by the Mold Technologies Division of the SPE for his many contributions to the industry. He is president of the American Mold Builders Association’s (AMBA) Chicago Chapter and has served for years on its education committee, which has made notable strides in its efforts to increase the exposure of moldmaking to young people in junior high and high schools in Northern Illinois. Additionally, Chuck has been instrumental in organizing and working with major manufacturing companies to put on career fairs and volunteers his time to talk with students, their parents and teachers about rewarding career opportunities in moldmaking.

The American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) held a plant tour workshop at Quest Industries in Lapeer, Michigan, in conjunction with Amerimold 2018. The tour focused on the way that Quest Industries optimizes its operations by using a combination of ERP software, quality management software and workflow and document management software. The company works backward based on the delivery date instead of using more traditional methods of planning jobs from start to finish.

Members of CAMM recently participated in a civic project that required their metalworking skills on a more artful level than even moldmaking requires. “Our Rotary Club is 100 years old this year,” Janet Kelly, Chair of the Rotary Club of Windsor (1918) Centennial Legacy Projects Committee, says. “The City of Windsor has a five-year plan to develop pieces of the river front and asked us if we would like to work with them to develop the piece of land just west of the Festival Plaza,” she says.

Enter CAMM, whose members were asked to partner with Rotary by machining and assembling five sculptures (two large and three smaller versions of the same design), which were designed by Windsor’s landscape architect Stefan Fediuk out of aluminum. “CAMM Chair Jonathan Azzopardi of Laval International and Mike Hicks of DMS (Canada) Ltd. were instrumental in bringing fellow CAMM members, including Cavalier Tool and Mfg., Omega Tool Corp., Windsor Mold Group and Integrity Tool and Mold, into the project. CAMM stepped up largely to build the sculptures for us and helped us with some design modifications because they had better ideas than we did,” Kelly says. “They’re very creative. The sculptures needed to be cut, polished and coated—it was quite a process.”

On May 29, 2018, Rotarians and CAMM members alike gathered at the Centennial Plaza to officially open it to the public. Visitors to the plaza’s main entrances were greeted by the large-sized gateway markers that feature shell-shaped gears meant to communicate that the Rotary Club’s service to the community is eternally ongoing, according to Kelly. These, and the three smaller versions placed at other entrances, welcome visitors in 40 languages.

The Mold Technologies Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers

The Mold Technologies Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) honored Charles (Chuck) Klingler, vice president of Janler Corp. in Chicago, Illinois, as Mold Maker of the Year. The award was presented during Amerimold 2018 in Novi, Michigan.

Each year, the SPE Division recognizes individuals who have supported and advanced the moldmaking industry by making contributions above and beyond the norm. Both a Mold Maker of the Year award and a Mold Designer of the Year award are presented along with a $500 honorarium that is donated to the trade-related education program of the honorees’ choosing. Lake Park High School in Chicago will be the beneficiary of Chuck’s check from SPE. SPE named James Baldwin of Western Carolina Tool and Mold in Horseshoe, North Carolina, the SPE Mold Designer of the Year. His grant money will go to benefit the Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation for its mold design and injection molding programs.

American Mold Builders Association (AMBA)

The AMBA supplemented activities that were offered during Amerimold week by hosting an educational tour of Quest Industries in Lapeer, Michigan. Attendees were treated to an informative and in-depth view of how the company uses its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system—backward—to optimize the way it schedules and moves work through the shop. That’s right. They plan jobs by looking at the delivery date first and then working backward. This strategy did not happen out of the gate in 2006 when Quest purchased its JobBoss ERP software, but today, JobBoss is its primary ERP system with the addition of Unipoint quality management software. As discussed in MoldMaking Technology’s May issue feature, Exact Synergy Enterprise (ESE) is the glue that ties all of the information together so that detailed information about every job, from start to finish, is always accessible to anyone who needs it.

Additionally, the AMBA conducted a Tech Talk session at Amerimold that presented workforce development strategies for closing the skills gap. Representatives from four AMBA member companies participated: Tim Myers with Century Die Co., Britteny Willis with Paragon D&E, Kylee Carbone with Westminster Tool and Tom Barr with TK Mold and Engineering. The representatives from these companies shared how they are creating apprenticeship and training programs, are partnering with area schools, are developing software training and are investing in equipment or software. These companies discussed how they are hosting open houses, are developing videos and other promotional materials, and how they are are participating in career fairs and industry advocacy at government and community levels. .