“Our vision is to become the first choice for our customers by creating a lasting, positive impression on the industry,” says Steve Eberle, president of Wisconsin-based Dynamic Tool Corp. “We accomplish this with our focus on innovation and continuous improvement, which is a mindset of not accepting just what we do today but instead looking at what we can do in the future.”
Customers come to Dynamic because the team engages them upfront before the tool hits the floor. “We want to be their first call and we don’t care what they call us about. We are here to help and provide solutions for their needs whatever they may be,” says Ken Eberle, vice president of business development.
The repeat business the company receives from world-class custom molders and OEM brand owners is perhaps the most demonstrable evidence of Dynamic Tool’s on-time deliveries, exceptional customer service, engineering-based capabilities and dedicated workforce. This has earned the team the title of 2024 Leadtime Leader Award Winner.
In the past six years, the Dynamic Team has grown from 60 to 85 full-time employees, a 40% increase. As the company continues this progressive course, they are proactive in maintaining and improving their collaborative culture. After completing ISO certification last fall, Dynamic is implementing the 5S workplace organizational method to promote efficiency and productivity increases. Source (All Images) | Dynamic Tool Corp.
The Evolution of an Enterprise
A long track record of success in the delivery of high-performance production molds has enabled Dynamic to become a go-to source for their customers’ new product development teams. Along with extensive experience in caps, closures and dispensers, the company’s proficiency in tight-tolerance, high-cavitation applications brings opportunities in medical device, personal care and electronic components.
Dynamic Tool Corp. began operations as Dynamic Tool & Design in 1976 in an industrial region near the Milwaukee airport. Shortly after its inception, the company relocated to the southwest region of the city. The shop swiftly gained a reputation for quality and timely delivery, resulting in years of success serving various markets, including cosmetics, electronics, industrial, plumbing and packaging.
Around 1988, the company acquired and moved to an existing facility in Menomonee Falls, a northwest suburb of Milwaukee. Since then, this facility has undergone several expansions and refurbishments to accommodate the growth in capacity, personnel and services. Today, it houses the mold building team, consisting of designers, programmers, toolmakers and machinists, as well as materials inventory and equipment.
“It must be said that Dynamic Tool Corp. would not be here today without Roy Luther’s investment and commitment. It has been a multistage process,” says Dan Gouge, vice president of sales. “In 2017, it was all about getting stability back into the company to then assess where we could take Dynamic from there. From 2017 to 2020, we focused on rebuilding customer confidence and then transitioning out 60% of the machines. Then in 2021, we went from focusing on being a tooling provider to a solutions provider. Everything that goes into a mold and everything that goes into cell development is what we are all about.”
Together, the company’s two facilities encompass approximately 170,000 square feet in the Menomonee Falls Industrial Park. The original mold manufacturing facility covers 51,000 square feet, while the newly acquired Development Center, purchased in 2022 and currently under refurbishment for scientific sampling and manufacturing cell fabrication, spans over 120,000 square feet. The total workforce comprises 85 employees, with 75 directly involved in injection mold fabrication and the remaining 10 handling accounting/finance, general purchasing, facility maintenance and administration. The toolmaking facility currently houses a fleet of injection molding machines used for sampling and qualification, which are in the process of being relocated to the new Dynamic Tool Development Center.
Going well beyond traditional mold functional sampling and short runs, Dynamic’s processing team embraces scientific molding principles as a proven method to yield the most repeatable production processes.
“We are receiving more opportunities where presses are delivered to us for integrating the tooling and developing the process. So, we need dedicated space to offer turnkey solutions,” Ken says. “The Development Center facility is less than a mile down the road and when completed will house process development, mold sampling, a metrology lab and a customer care area with private offices and conference rooms.”
Dynamic Tool now offers a range of services, including additive manufacturing, CAD/CAM, grinding, milling, sinker and wire EDM, tool maintenance and repair, mold finishing and injection molding for consumer products, packaging, medical and electronics/computer industries. Given the diverse scope of tool builds — ranging from single-cavity prototypes to four-cavity bridge tooling to multiple high-cavitation molds (16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128, etc.) — lead times vary accordingly. The shortest lead time, as per customer request for a single-cavity bridge mold, is six weeks, while longer lead times, as an example, for a 128-cavity mold (featuring auto-unscrewing and in-mold closing technologies), is 20-24 weeks.
Most of Dynamic Tool’s core customers, specifically those involved in high-volume projects, require tooling systems for all phases of production molding. This includes prototype tools for time-critical evaluation, pilot molds for essential testing and performance verification, bridge molds for interim production quality and volume needs, and optimal steel mapping for high-cavitation molds. Notably, Dynamic Tool achieved industry recognition for delivering a 512-cavity stack mold in 2022, showcasing high-cavitation tooling packages with industry-leading uptime and productivity.
Dynamic’s exceptionally deep staff of engineering and development experience fosters an ongoing environment of collaboration and sharing. The shop’s target is a tooling system with the highest level of productivity and repeatability. The team’s diverse knowledge of design applications, materials and machining processes support their customers’ target — hitting the launch window.
In 2023, injection molds for Dynamic Tool’s customers encompassed single shot and multishot, living hinge/in-mold-closing, auto-unscrewing, insert, collapsible core, thin wall and stack systems, all with varying degrees of tight-tolerance dimensions. The complete cavitation range of delivered molds for 2023 spanned from one cavity to 256 cavities.
The Family of Business — From the Farm and Into the Future
Steve, Ken and Dan make up the current ownership team. The Eberle brothers are two of five kids who grew up on the family farm, which they both credit with teaching them the value of customer service when they were tasked with selling their crops. “That’s where we learned to talk with people,” Ken says. “Plus, our father also had a massive woodshed where we’d make things. We’ve been around making things our entire lives.”
Dynamic’s shop floor features three automation cells, each with distinct machining processes and CMM validation. In each cell — hard-cutter, sinker EDM and graphite machining — machines and metrology are integrated with a rail-mounted robot for efficient workpiece storage and management. Each system was designed and built in-house by Dynamic engineers and toolmakers.
Steve and Ken apprenticed at Dynamic 30 years ago and became journeyman toolmakers. They left in 1997 to pursue other moldmaking opportunities, returning in 2017 and purchasing the business in 2020. “We both have a passion for problem-solving, providing solutions and leading growth,” Steve says. Fast-forward to today, and their daughter and son, respectively, are working at the company.
“When I think about Dynamic and family, what comes to mind is much more than blood. It’s our team on the floor. They are our brothers and sisters, too. They’re family.” Steve says. “Every decision we make is to provide a gateway for Dynamic to live on and make progress. Every step we take is meant to move moldmaking and Dynamic long past our tenure here and into the future. That mission takes great people and great technology which equals great customer service.”
Business Dynamics and Differentiators
So much happens before a project hits the floor and that’s what makes Dynamic special. “Our investment in engineering resources — both personnel and technologies — is a key differentiator in the injection moldmaking market,” says Dan. “Engineering is a huge part of what we do here. We provide a solution from the beginning to the end whether that is cost savings, changing your automation or improving cycle times. It’s all part of our upfront engineering.”
Engineering and Design
“We are a real tool shop with journeyman toolmaker leaders. We are here to make tools, but there is so much to it,” says Bill Mentzer, development. “You must be able to design a robust tool, you have to select the right material, you need to know when to use coatings and thermal management. That’s the real engineering stuff and we have that in spades.”
Most of the team spent a lot of time on the concrete, then parked their toolboxes and got involved in engineering. “We are very passionate about plastic. It’s a big deal. Someone throws a part in front of us, and we are engaged in examining the gating, actions, knit lines and so on right away,” Ken says.
Dynamic Tool applies design for manufacturing (DFM) best practices to support the initial and evolving development process. Their DFM process is well-defined and rigorous, identifying immediate critical specifications to allow mold design to commence while optimization details are developed. “Finding ways to get a tenth of a second out of that tool is the type of solution we want to bring to each customer. That’s the value we bring to them,” Dan says.
“We have a clever approach to DFM because we don’t start off by saying you need to answer all the questions. Instead, we say you need to answer these core questions,” Bill says. “Then, we have checkpoints gathering new information as needed, ensuring everyone knows what they signed up for.”
Through in-house simulations, ranging from basic fill to comprehensive assessments, the team evaluates alternative thermal and material designs to determine the best combination of performance, cost and longevity in a matter of days. This facilitates timely cost/benefit analysis.
“Our interpretation of the data that simulation offers is what differentiates Dynamic Tool from other mold shops, and that’s because of our experienced people,” Steve says. “We can always do better, so we’ve created an environment of critical thinking to come up with the best solution. We analyze and interrogate a part’s geometry and listen to understand the scope of the customer’s full manufacturing program to find out where we can add value and where we can provide a greater solution than just an injection mold.”
Dynamic Tool’s in-house platform is Sigmasoft Virtual Molding, but they also use Moldex3D and Autodesk Moldflow analysis based on part size, geometry and material characteristics.
Diverse Internal Manufacturing Capabilities
Dynamic Tool possesses internal machining process capability for most fabrications, enabling the in-house construction of nearly all mold components. This internal capability allows Dynamic Tool to manage lead time and avoid outsourcing bottlenecks.
“We only invest in reliable, high-precision machine technology and we engage qualified, suitably experienced and equipped outsource partners for specialized machining services if required. This option enables us to maintain emergency and quick-response capacities for key customers,” Dan says.
Encompassing Mold Qualification Services
The in-house sampling team provides a range of services — from a basic shoot-and-fill mold functional sample to identify any mechanical issues to a full scientific molding protocol. They embrace scientific molding principles as a proven method to yield the most repeatable processes for most applications, exploring key attributes such as mold balance, velocity curve, short shot study, design of experiments (DOE), pack and hold, window study and initial production runs available to suit customer launch plans. Engineers design to the exact specifications of the intended production press, ensuring all phases of production are reviewed for productivity: installation, safety, mounting and preventive maintenance (PM).
“When it comes to tool validation, our ability to adapt to our customer’s workbook is what differentiates us,” Dave Hourihan, plastics operations manager, says. “It’s not a canned solution at Dynamic. It’s a collaborative solution.”
The team is excited to move into the new Development Center, a dedicated space to provide a higher level of focus on development, which includes a state-of-the-art water system, 1-2 additional presses and a new metrology center to go through a higher level of validation on Dynamic’s end to provide less need to ship molds back and forth for steel-safing and adjustments.
The Center also presents the opportunity to support the customers’ higher runs and other needs (multiple tool samples, color samples, material trials) to help develop the products they come to Dynamic to build. It’ll be the same personal treatment during validation but now in a dedicated facility.
Culture, Communication and Collaboration
The Dynamic Tool team is a cross-section of the industry that includes people from the production molding side of the business, toolmakers on the floor, engineers and designers and even experts in metrology, who possess a winning combination of attitude and aptitude.
Dynamic’s core customers include the industry’s leading custom molders and contract manufacturers. To support their goals of high-productivity molds and downtime reduction, Dynamic has created an extensive mold refurbishment, repair and preventive maintenance (PM) department. Because of the company’s extensive build experience of complicated/multiple-action molds (auto-unscrew, in-mold closing, multishot), the Dynamic PM Shop is well equipped and capable of working on tooling systems they have built and those of other shops as well.
“Our team is loaded up with a lot of experience because customers don’t come to us for the standard poker chip or the washer tool. They come to us for super-high cavitation or help with the beginning of a project with pilot tooling,” Ken says. “It’s more than a quick quote; customers are looking for solutions. They know we are going to answer the door with someone who knows and understands what they are asking for to provide the right solution.”
Customers rely on this team to design and build the molds that produce the parts and products they target to increase their market share. These are inevitably high-performance parts — with living hinges, threads, multiple materials, high aesthetic requirements and inserted components — and molds with conformal cooling channels, in-mold closing, in-mold rotation and auto-unscrewing. While the machining processes and related equipment required to make these molds and mold components are expensive and expansive, it is the Dynamic Tool human element that enables them to succeed.
The brothers believe that if you surround yourself with like-minded people, engagement improves and good things happen. “When it comes to our people, our culture is one of having each other’s backs — building people up and not tearing them down, which takes honest and open communication. I have been blessed with a great team of people who have passion for providing world-class tooling and molding solutions and we are committed to growing the next generation to continue this passion,” Steve says.
While additive manufacturing can offer significant time-saving advantages for some mold component applications, traditional hard-cutting and sinker EDM are the processes that deliver long-term performance and repeatable accuracy.
However, leadership does have an expectation of team members. “They must have a best-performance mindset, and there is no shortcut to fulfilling that focus,” Dan says. “Everyone must perform to the best of their abilities day in and day out. People who care about efficiency, doing their job well and putting the time in when necessary are key attributes we look for in a Dynamic employee.”
Employees everywhere place a premium value on salary/wage, but given that pay is close to equal at similarly sized shops, it is the extras involved that invariably generate loyalty from the employees. Those extras include recognition and rewards for individual performance, challenging projects, involvement in the creation of lifesaving/life-improving products, working with global brands, being a valuable part of a winning team, shared celebrations of company successes, and employee on-premise and off-premise social events.
Account managers, design engineers and toolmakers meet regularly to ensure the execution of a well-managed and timely project. Additional internal resources for mold simulation, DFM and material processing are brought in as required by the scope of the project.
Career Advancement
“Most importantly, we focus on providing each team member a career opportunity in a collaborative, mutually supportive, safe and healthy environment,” says office manager Tracy Rhyner. “Our culture is based on collaboration and education. Each Dynamic Tool employee is self-motivated to bring their best performance and their best support for the team to meet and exceed customer expectations.”
Shops ran differently when Steve and Ken were younger. “We both wanted to be part of discussions and projects, but that wasn’t the culture back then,” Ken says. “So, we’ve made a concerted effort to open the door and invite the young ones in to listen and learn. That invitation is a big deal to help them connect what they hear from us to what they experience on the shop floor.”
And that line of thinking doesn’t stop with Steve and Ken. “The Eberle family values integrity, hard work and excellence. With Steve and Ken holding those values at the top, they trickle down to the company and attract people to want to work here. The culture is one that fosters a place to grow, find your own way and figure out where you fit best,” says Lauren Eberle, quality management representative.
The same goes for Ken’s son, Bryan Eberle, Dynamic Tool’s account manager. “I became so intrigued by what Steve was building at Dynamic that I wanted to be a part of it, so I applied and got hired as a leadman toolmaker,” Bryan says. “Now I am a mentor to the next generation while building tools. They give opportunities to run with. It’s up to you to take it to the next level and show them what you’re made of.”
Apprenticeship and Mentorship
Dynamic Tool’s goals are to share successes to teach and motivate others and to share problems to solve them quickly and effectively and add to the team’s collective tribal knowledge. They have six employees under the age of 25 — approximately 9.1% of their workforce. During 2023, the company employed a total of eight participants in the State of Wisconsin's Tool and Die Apprenticeship program. “Currently we have six apprentices: five on the shop floor and one designer,” Tracy says.
Every one of Dynamic’s six apprentices has their dedicated mentor and the support of the entire team. The shop encourages the students to learn through observation and hands-on involvement, and is always quick to follow up and check in on progress.
They also have more than 60 journeyman moldmakers on the team in varying roles — some are hands-on, but others are the president, vice presidents, account managers, operations manager and plant manager.
“Since we’ve become ISO certified, we aim for a 4% retention rate and have kept it there over the past six years. We’ve gone from 60 to 85 people. That’s a 40-45% increase,” Tracy says. A critical factor in attracting and keeping these talented performers is an encompassing, collaborative and supporting culture. “I attribute all these new employees to Steve. People trust him and he is an incredible toolmaker. People want to work for him. We genuinely care about our people and that starts with Steve.”
Dynamic Tool has created a dedicated resource of 20 toolmakers, design engineers and machinists who actively mentor and monitor the progression of each apprentice. These toolmaker instructors meet regularly with each other and the apprentices for the timely exchange of feedback, continuous improvement plans and advice for career success. This ensures that not only modern best practices for safe and effective workmanship are passed on to the next generation, but tribal knowledge and how-to methods are also taught.
“This environment is highly valued by our team — from rookie to veteran,” plant manager Scott Matenaer explains. “My goal is to download everything I know to the next generation by having them experience it. Live it. Learn it. Retain it. Before the end of their apprenticeship, they can build a mold from start to finish. I always say: ‘Be a toolmaker first. Once you’re a toolmaker you can do anything else. Toolmaking is where it starts.’”
Dedicated Outreach
While Dynamic Tool has attracted an impressive number of experienced veterans from the regional area, it has focused its future growth on communicating with and selecting premium young candidates while they attend high school and technical college. This provides the opportunity for mentoring and collaboration, ensuring both a fit for the shop and the best environment for career development for the apprentice or intern.
“We make sure the students are a fit for us. It’s a contract. We ensure they want to work here. We look for attitude, work ethic and trainability in our apprentices,” Scott says.
Dynamic Tool has dedicated resources to supporting and interacting with its educational community. Team members regularly meet with lead instructors to review new developments in machining processes and industry best practices and engage directly with students in their classrooms and on their shop floor. They interview candidates while allowing them to get an understanding of the Dynamic Tool culture and method of using manufacturing technologies.
Ongoing training is critical to company growth and innovative thinking. Dynamic’s key supply partners play an important role in teaching best practices in machine setup, use and safety.
“For example, our sales coordinator, Cassidy Egan, is a guest instructor at Arrowhead Union High School in Hartland, Wisconsin,” Steve says. “She recently taught shop class students a best practices approach to creating their resumes. Arrowhead’s Anthony Christian, manufacturing and engineering instructor, meets with Dynamic Tool’s shop leaders to glean current process improvements and machining advancements.”
Other schools with which Dynamic Tool regularly works and hosts student/teacher/parent tours include Waukesha County Technical College, Moraine Park Technical College and Kewaskum High School . They are also regular participants in career fairs at the University of Wisconsin Platteville and Stout campuses.
“We have made it a point to concentrate on recruiting, identifying and developing young talent. We also host a general open house event every year, where we invite students, parents, teachers, job seekers, middle schools, high schools, technical colleges and universities to tour our facilities and speak with our team members about the careers available in mold, tool and die. We always have our eyes on the future as we maintain and grow our commitment to our intern and apprentice programs,” Steve says.
Innovation & Technology
While Dynamic Tool fully embraced and uses the latest advancements in traditional and additive manufacturing, a tour of the shop at any time highlights the crucial role of the craftsperson’s eye, mind and hand in designing and building critical components for an injection mold.
Dan states, “The machinery in our shop, built by leading brands and considered premium in terms of performance, tolerance and repeatability, is carefully planned, programmed and set up through the efforts and experience of the craftsperson.” All machined steel undergoes validation using appropriate metrology tools, including calipers, drop indicators, vision systems, digital microscopes or coordinate measuring machines (CMM, touch or laser). However, at every step, it must also pass the inspecting hand and eye of the moldmaker.
The diversity of machining processes and the quality of equipment on the Dynamic Tool shop floor are mandated by the technical requirements of its customers. “We need advanced gear to successfully meet the tight-tolerance specifications of our customers’ mold builds,” Ken explains. “An average Dynamic mold is hardly that. The part designs we work with require sophisticated engineering and tool building, with one or more of auto-unscrewing, multiple slides, lifters, in-mold closing, multishot, thin-wall and insert features — with production cavitation ranging from 16 to 256 cavities.”
Whether it’s 3D metal printing, five-axis milling, high-speed machining, lathes with live tooling, robotically integrated CMM inspection or automated cutting and EDM operations, you’ll find it on the floor creating injection molds. Due to their history of investment, leading machining center brands provide frequent training and updating support, keeping Dynamic Tool informed of new developments, enhancements and best practices.
For instance, two current automated machining cells — hard-cutter and EDM sinker — were designed, built and integrated by the in-house team. “That’s a big deal as they are continuously improving it. There are a lot of proposals on the table for more automation! There is a lot of pride of ownership there,” Ken says.
These cells include multiple machines with a custom rail-mounted robot for material handling and an inline CMM for component validation. The next stage involves automating the graphite machine centers and wire EDM operations.
“Automation allows us to take on more volume with the same amount of people. The skillset has changed as our specialists must be more technical,” Lucas Lemberger, lead sinker EDM specialist, explains. “They not only program the EDM, they program the robot and the CMM — it’s the whole cell. Our team built a new system and cell from scratch based on processes we had in place. We went from multiple robots feeding older machines to more throughput potential and improved quality because everything goes through the cell.”
Dynamic’s Sodick OPM 250L 3D Metal Printer’s key use is for the creation of conformal cooling channel inserts. By using the specific geometries of part design to create the shape and placement of cooling channels, Dynamic customers achieve more precise control of injection mold thermal dynamics. The machine is also used for the manufacture of injection mold components — facilitating the creation of prototype and developmental tooling systems.
The cell consists of five Makino EDM sinkers, one Hexagon CMM and even an integrated cleaning station to keep everything inside the cell. It also includes 30 12×12 Dynafix Pallets and four electrode carousels for a total of 800 electrode positions, with the ability to expand further if needed in the future, with the current setup. Only three people run the equipment, program, set up and tear down.
“The majority of my job can be done through offline programming and remote viewing and accessing of the equipment. Eventually, this area will be a bottleneck, so we are constantly looking for ways to automate to increase our throughput potential,” Lucas says.
Dynamic Tool has also developed proprietary techniques to improve long-term mold performance, interchangeability of spares/core and cavity stacks/mold components, efficient PM and robust tooling actions (in-mold closing, auto-unscrewing, rack systems).
“A lot of mold builders have closed over the past 5-10 years and customers still have tooling assets that have a lot of life left in them,” Dan says. “We are here to refurbish and maintain them. This is a growing opportunity for us. Whether we build the tools or not, our customers know our team has their backs when it comes to maintaining their molds.”
In addition, Dynamic Tool has extensive experience and success in implementing conformal cooling design into production tooling systems, having built hundreds of cores using this technology in critical areas for enhancing thermal control. Traditional mold manufacturing processes (milling/grinding/EDM) are augmented by 3D printing technologies that facilitate the creation of conformal cooling channels for more precise control of injection mold thermal dynamics.
The Sodick OPM250L, combining laser sintering technology with high-speed milling, is used to print and finish a product in one automated operation when appropriate. “This machine has offered us another bullet in our chamber. It allows us to further problem solve and even take a project to the next level,” Ken says. “For example, it’s allowing us to experiment at the pilot level to develop conformal cooling inserts… more of the work we do upfront.”
Ken emphasizes the benefits of using the specific geometries of part design to create the shape and placement of cooling channels including increased production via shorter cycle times, lower piece part cost, improved part dimensional stability, less warpage/shrinkage, improved surface finish, lower scrap rate and a minimal thermal gradient throughout the part while cooling for a more uniform temperature profile.
The system uses maraging steel (36 Rockwell before aging/53 Rockwell after aging) and offers the additional option for printing stainless. The print area is 9 × 9 × 9 inches, but the 2D footprint of a single part must be less than 9 × 9 inches. It avoids sharp corners in water channels and the surface finish depends on laser settings. This approach allows cooling channels in areas that are not possible to achieve using traditional methods, reduces the need for O-rings, simplifies mold designs, expands part design innovation opportunities and provides prototyping capabilities for 3D printed injection mold components.
Finally, Dynamic Tool’s system for quality assurance integrates metrology into its automated machining processes. With integrated in-machining cell quality reporting, any fabrication issue is detected upon workpiece completion, ensuring it is identified, corrected and not duplicated in subsequent components. This eliminates schedule-effecting rework loops.
The inline accuracy and data drive any risk of rework loops out of more than the mold build alone. This same steel data also adds value during the process validation stage, enabling part measurement results to be correlated for precise targeting and, ultimately, a larger process window. The result is inline quality validation for all related machining operations, documented and archived for any future reference needs.
Steve concludes, “This in-process metrology provides our customers with the assurance that mold components are built to specification and form the groundwork for any steel adjustments that may be required after sampling.”
Maintenance & Service
Dynamic Tool has built a strong reputation for delivering efficient and effective mold DFM services, drawing on decades of success and perspective in crafting high-performance tooling. However, the company's dedication to customer service extends beyond the mold build phase, encompassing molding and maintenance as well.
While account managers play a crucial role in project planning, coordination and communication, and the mold qualification team provides process development and validation services, Dynamic Tool also frequently offers production mold integration/qualification/launch support services at a customer’s molding site. This aids in bringing new injection tooling systems online and includes mold PM, refurbishment and repair services.
Design manager Dave Miller and president Steve Eberle discussing the results of a recent systems audit with quality management representative Lauren Eberle. Implementing ISO best practices has led to greater communications within and between company departments.
Equipped with the necessary tools, knowledge and process plans, Dynamic Tool supports customer initiatives to retain and restore molds. This involves a proficient team of toolmakers, designers, process engineers and project managers. They diligently evaluate, document and execute the job in a dedicated PM area, equipped with essential equipment and technological resources.
The PM arsenal comprises ultrasonic cleaning, material handling and the capability to accommodate large molds, high cavitation and multiple inserts. Additionally, there is a 3D metal printer, eight sampling presses ranging from 22 to 900 tons, a metrology lab, reverse engineering capabilities, manifold cleaning/baking with quick turnaround, a variety of thermocouple sizes and stocked wiring supplies, close relationships with leading coating service suppliers and expertise in medical tooling (including areas of lubrication and medical/food-grade lubricants).
“We create and sell engineered steel, but it is our service before, during and after the injection mold build that defines the Dynamic Tool experience for our customers and leads to repeat business and referrals,” Dan says.
Sustained Growth
You can have all the technology, processes and people in place, but you also need a plan to land new business and promote your company. This is where the Dynamic Tool sales team comes into play, comprising individuals who are engineers first and salespeople second.
“Each member brings years of technical experience to the customer’s table, including mold design, moldmaking, materials, processing and production molding. Their first initiative is to solve a customer’s problem by identifying challenges, options and impending decisions. They also employ and embrace sales best practices such as customer market research, targeted communications and timely follow-up,” Ken says.
The Dynamic Team is focused on productivity, progress, and safety. Everyone in the company is responsible for keeping all areas of the company clean, organized and safe. That way every day truly is 75 and sunny.
The Dynamic Tool marketing objective is relatively simple: to position Dynamic Tool as a recognized and trusted thought leader in the plastic injection molding industry. The team achieves this by promoting the company’s growth and technical success using traditional means (website, LinkedIn, select trade events) and by becoming active participants in technical events where they share best practices.
“We also communicate with our customers via brief email updates on any progress that is beneficial to their business, such as new machining purchases, facility upgrades and expansion, ISO certification and published content,” Ken says.
For example, in August 2023, Dynamic Tool earned ISO 9001:2015 certification. Under the leadership of Lauren Eberle, Dynamic quality management representative, the team developed the appropriate tracking system and procedures to document and monitor on-time deliveries. Before ISO certification, they monitored and reviewed projected/contracted lead time for each project against actual logged shop hours.
Today, Lauren manages ISO, continuous improvement and sustainability for the company. Customers were demanding ISO certification and with no one on staff schooled in the process, Lauren took it on with her father’s encouragement and the support of the entire organization.
“ISO gave us the framework to successfully implement innovation and improvements that maintain quality through our products and services, which at the end of the day helps our customers,” Lauren says. “ISO brought systems and processes into focus. It helped us improve efficiency and our internal communications. Innovation is inherent in our culture within our engineering and development mindset. It’s who we are. And ISO helps us with the framework to effectively and successfully implement improvements and innovate with our business processes. ISO created and forced necessary change and standardization that only improved the business.”
5S is Dynamic’s new initiative. They launched the MIB (Make It Better) team and are now accepting applications to be on the team — just another tool to help Dynamic continue to clean up, organize and become more efficient.
The company is also focused on developing stronger relationships with its service and technology supply partners (Sigmasoft, Krauss Maffei, Engel, Kitamura, Yasda, Sodick, Makino and Hurco) through cross-collaboration and mutual promotion. They have also started collaborating with customers’ engineering and design teams by presenting at their facilities for educational events.
“Our first lunch-and-learn events included sessions on best design practices for optimized auto-unscrewing molds and the various methods and applications of multishot molding (common core, core and cavity change). We will continue to share educational content with our customers’ engineering teams that target the geometries and designs of their specific product lines and promote industry best practices for overall improvement,” Steve says. “The path forward is exciting. We are really trying to set it up to carry on our legacy for the next generation who will lead Dynamic into the future.”
“What’s going on now with Dynamic makes me smile. It’s all coming together. It’s working. We are building this machine that continues to grow! It’s exciting. And I feel we are just getting started,” Ken says.
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