Eifel Mold & Engineering Celebrates 50 years in Moldmaking
Under the leadership of founder Josef Hecker and his son, Rick Hecker, Eifel has developed a reputation for producing high-quality injection molds, in addition to playing an active role in giving back to the industry.
Photo Credit: Eifel Mold & Engineering
This year Eifel Mold & Engineering is celebrating 50 years in business. The company was founded by Josef Hecker, a German-born pattern and model maker, in 1973. Josef provided a solid foundation, which his son, Rick Hecker, continued to build upon when he took over in the early 1990s, inspiring growth in both size and capabilities. Under Rick’s leadership, Eifel developed a reputation in safety systems for efficiently producing high-quality injection molds for airbag covers, housings and steering wheels.
Today, with Rick’s son, Eric, in a sales/program management role and longtime Eifel veteran Michael Nye in the general manager role, Rick believes he has the company poised for the next big thing.
Eifel Mold & Engineering has seen the addition/expansion of:
- Injection molding services on a state-of-the-art 360-ton Nissei Electric molding machine;
- Advanced five-axis milling/moldmaking services on a new Hermle C650 milling center with a 6-pallet automation cell. Machine travels are 43.3 inches (X-axis), 35.4 inches (Y-axis) and 23.6 inches (Z-axis). It has a weight capacity of 3,000 kilograms, with up to 1,200 kilograms on the HS Heavy Flex System
- The launch of the PPT Process for program management,
According to the company, reliance on current capabilities is not enough. Eifel leadership continues to give back to the industry through active roles in apprenticeship training with the Michigan Department of Labor, Lincoln High School, Fraser High School, the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) and the Society of Plastics Engineers, Mold Technologies Division (SPE-MTD).
Community involvement includes support of the American Red Cross, Toys for Tots and Forgotten Harvest Food Bank.
