The MoldMaking Conference — All About Next-Level Mold Management

Manage

First and foremost a mold shop is a business, which requires proper workforce development, sales and marketing, global initiatives, banking and finance, regulatory compliance and industry involvement. All of this requires additional resources, more elaborate planning and closer project management.

Goal: To provide examples, analysis and discussion that provokes decision-makers to plan for how their shop and staff will look in the short and long term. We will examine challenges and strategies to further evolve from being a mold shop, to a mold manufacturer, which includes employee delegation and accountability and education/training.

Who Should Attend: Company Owners, Operations/Plant Managers, Shop Foremen, HR Managers, Accounting, Sales & Marketing

Visit moldmakingconference.com to register today!

 

Sessions

Securing Grant Funding to Increase Investment in More Modern Manufacturing Technologies, Don Shrader, Vice President, American Quality Molds

Understanding grants, identifying available funding sources, and writing award-winning proposals are essential elements for mold builders to secure grant money to enhance their manufacturing processes. So, the question becomes, “How does a mold builder or associated supplier go about obtaining grant money?” First, remember that grants can come from all levels of government and other outside organizations. So, the initial order of business is to research all the various avenues of potential grants. This presentation is a follow-up to an article by the presenter published in the March 2022 issue of MoldMaking Technology providing “A Guide to Grant Funding.”. This presentation will provide a quick review of where to find or initiate grants associated with different agencies, both government and private, then provide strategies, procedures, and tips to assist the mold builder in developing award-winning proposals. 

What Is Holding You Back from Growth and Opportunities? Entrepreneurial Program Takes Mold Shop to the Next Level, Best Tool & Engineering Owner Joe Cherluck

Come hear the story of a tool and diemaker’s 45-year journey in the moldmaking business that includes the discovery of what was holding his shop back from moving forward and how networking led him to a program that was life-changing for the business. Joe Cherluck is a shop owner whose initial success came at great personal cost as he simply out-worked the competition. Using this strategy he learned the hard way that the company would only have limited growth. In 2019 he applied and was accepted into the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program – a free “masters of business” that covers managing growth, money metrics, leadership, marketing, sales and negotiation. Joe calls it an ‘MBA for entrepreneurs in a box’. He now runs his business and outthinks the competition as he focuses on overlooked opportunities.

Joe will also share lessons about the value of accepting help to grow your business, such as government programs, government/private partnerships, private entities and participation in roundtable discussions with other business owners across industries. Come learn about the stages of implementation and how this journey increased his confidence and provide valuable tools to plan for future growth and success.

How to Improve Efficiency in 3 Key Toolroom Areas, James Jergens, General Manager, Penn Erie Tooling Division, The Plastek Group

Efficiency gains in a toolroom are more than just fancy new equipment and software. Foundational building blocks within an organization set the stage to drive efficiency and productivity. This session shares how a tool shop can make improvements with tool design, equipment, and work in process.
(1) Early involvement with a cross-functional team in tool design will increase overall shop efficiency by driving machining processes, fit and assembly, and maintenance-friendly tools.
(2) Understanding your team’s skills and machine capabilities will drive shop floor efficiency and allow the shop to be more flexible to process more work through current assets.
(3) Understanding the work priority and shop capacity using current business systems will help identify sales gaps and help identify opportunities for additional capacity.

The How and Why of Starting Up a Next-Level Mold Shop Today, NextGen Mold Technologies, Dennis Goggin, President and Nicola Geyser Business Administration Manager

NextGen Mold Technologies Windsor Inc. launched in December 2021 and offers a quick and effective turnaround on feasibility, design, mold maintenance, engineering changes, repairs and new builds servicing both the automotive and consumer industries. Amalgamating with the former Enterprise Mold in Windsor, Ontario, NextGen is a fully equipped tool shop with 3D, 2D, sinker EDM, moldmaking, spotting and landing Support capabilities coupled with over 30 years of industry know-how. Through significant investment in technology and pulling together a strong team of experienced individuals, NextGen has quickly established a strong reputation in the injection mold industry with its eye on high-tolerance tooling for automotive interiors and lighting.

The story here is the journey which led to the launch of this new and exciting mold manufacturing facility and the owner’s journey transitioning from a well-established mold manufacturing family business. The focus is set on continuing to add the right people to the team, maintaining an adherence to the organizational vision while remaining adaptable, developing the right culture not policy, creating a sense of ownership in every employee, using technology to its fullest potential, investing in ongoing developmental growth and more. Come learn how they did it and where they see the future of mold manufacturing heading.

How to Engineer, Build, Maintain and Manage a Strategy to become a Profitable Mold Manufacturer, Beau Ganas, Science of Business

Many mold builders today are struggling to put money on the bottom line because of the myriad of challenges facing them today. From supply chain issues, to inflation, to the lack of skilled workers (even unskilled ones at this point!), there’s no shortage of obstacles standing in the way. However, in spite of the challenging environment, the opportunity exists for mold shops to take back control of their profitability by questioning many common, conventional management practices. However, for those willing to examine these practices, the potential for improvement is enormous.

Beau Ganas is a Theory of Constraints (TOC) expert and CPA known for applying TOC to job shop and custom manufacturers to develop holistic strategies that put more dollars on his customers’ bottom line. Beau understands the dynamics involved in managing a mold shop, from the competing demands of responding to the urgent needs of repair work, to planning and executing large projects to bring new molds online – all the while the demands placed on the business seem to only increase and the resources available to do so seem to only decrease.

This session will demonstrate how a mold shop can quickly develop a strategy linked directly to improving the bottom line by identifying the largest levers to pull and providing clarity about how to sequence which actions to take.

Visit moldmakingconference.com to register today!