AMBA Conference Sets Leadership Cadence - American Mold ...

Spring 2015

AMBA Conference Sets Leadership Cadence CAE Overcomes Product Development Challenges Encouraging Mold Maintenance Strategies 7KH2IŅFLDO3XEOLFDWLRQRIWKH$PHULFDQ0ROG%XLOGHUV$VVRFLDWLRQ

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contents Spring 2015

cover: Conference photos courtesy of Creative Technology Corporation

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18 FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

6 Technology Using CAE Assistance to Overcome Challenges in Multi-Component Molding Product Development

26 Conference Awards AMBA Mold Builder of the Year and Chapter of the Year Announced

Mold Design for Reduction of Offline Assembly and Secondary Operations

30 Focus Succession Planning: Three 15-Minute Activities to Start Preparing for Tomorrow

16 Outlook Encouraging Healthy Mold Maintenance Strategies 18 Trends Fall Protection and Hazard Communication Top OSHA’s List of Common Citations 22 Conference Review AMBA Annual Conference Sets the Cadence for Organizational Leadership

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32 Management Top 5 Ways to Keep Your Customers Happy 34 Show Preview amerimold 2015 40 Strategies The Employee Handbook: A Pandora’s Box of Unfair Labor Practices

4 13 38 43 45

Speak Out Product Association Industry Calendar

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Ad Index

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Speak Out

AMBA Members – The 2015 Annual Conference now is behind us, but the energy created by the event and those in attendance still is fresh in my mind. Wednesday night’s reception with all our exhibitors and partners was a great way to kick off the conference. The networking and interaction this year was the best that we have had at an annual event. Of course, the conference programming was top notch as well. Our management team does such a great job of building Michael Bohning a value-oriented agenda each year. There were several thoughtAMBA President provoking speakers who seemed to have everyone taking notes on what to think about or try when they got back to their respective shops. My favorite sessions were the Ignite sessions, where members actually gave everyone a look under the hood around some key business issues. I overheard a lot of follow-up Q&A throughout the balance of the two days after these presentations were made. The roundtables and topical breakouts also were very beneficial in getting at real-world issues and challenges that are facing members right now. I know that I took a couple of great ideas away from these forums. Congratulations to Tim Bartz for being recognized as the Mold Builder of the Year. Mold Craft runs a first-class organization with people who are a big part of the company’s success. Tim and his partner, Justin McPhee, are wonderful examples of how servant leaders can fuel organizational excellence. The leadership of Tim and his wife, Kim, for the iWarriors program is an additional example of how they give back. This was a welldeserved recognition. Congratulations also go out to our Chapter of the Year winner – Chicago. This chapter has been building momentum over the last few years. They are doing phenomenal work in the area of recruiting and developing talent in the industry – something the AMBA Board of Directors hopes to leverage for the benefit of members across our association. Thanks again to all those sponsors and exhibitors who help make the 2015 Conference another great event. Raising the bar again in 2016 will be a tall order! I want to close with a couple of updates from the Board. At our May meeting, we confirmed our commitment to investing money back into our chapters, recruiting new talent to our industry and educating our industry workforce. Our chapters are an important part of building the AMBA community, and the Board will provide chapters access to monies needed to develop their membership and better position our industry in their respective markets. We also plan to bring together AMBA shop leaders and owners who are making a difference in the area of recruiting new talent to mold manufacturing. The AMBA needs to support these efforts more directly and then share the learnings with the rest of our membership. Finally, we have turned the corner on our certification program and now are ready to roll this out and put it in the hands of members for use in hiring and development. The AMBA has made a significant investment in this program, and we need members to use it so that we can realize a return on that investment. We have such a great industry with great member companies who do amazing things each and every day. I wish everyone a happy, safe and prosperous Summer 2015. We are America’s Mold Manufacturers! Michael Bohning Creative Blow Mold Tooling

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American Mold Builders Association 7321 Shadeland, Station Way, #285 Indianapolis, IN 46256 p 317.436.3102 • f 317.913.2445 [email protected] • www.amba.org

Officers and Board of Directors President Michael Bohning, Creative Blow Mold Tooling Vice President and Treasurer Justin McPhee, Mold Craft Secretary and Legal Counsel Alan Rothenbuecher, Ice Miller LLP

Board of Directors David Bowers II, JMMS, Inc. Toby Bral, MSI Mold Builders Raymond Coombs, Westminster Tool, Inc. Robert Earnhardt, Superior Tooling Greg Eidenberger, Paragon D&E Todd Finley, Commercial Tool & Die Laurie Harbour, Harbour Results William Moore, Delta Technologies Group Mike Mullholand, Freeman Co. Paul Novak, South Coast Mold Jim Sperber, Master Tool & Mold

AMBA Team Troy Nix, Executive Director Kym Conis, Managing Director Susan Denzio, Business Manager

Advising Editor: Kym Conis Advertising/Sales: Susan Denzio Published by: ZZZSHWHUVRQSXEOLFDWLRQVFRP

2150 SW Westport Dr., Suite #101 Topeka, KS 66614 P: 785.271.5801 Managing Editor: Dianna Brodine Assistant Editors: Jen Clark, Brittany Willes Art Director: Cara Pederson Opinions expressed in this publication may or may not reflect the views of the Association and do not necessarily represent official positions or policies of the Association or its members.

spring 2015

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and the manifold build, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make your hot runner/manifold system work to your complete satisfaction. We’re committed to your success. Find out more. Call us today at 248.373.0800 or visit us at www.petsinc.net.

Technology

Using CAE Assistance to Overcome Challenges in Multi-Component Molding Product Development by Dr. CT Huang, CoreTech System (Moldex 3D)

Fig. 1 Multiple functions at one product: (a) multi-color in cosmetics packaging, (b) in-mold assembled in toys, (c) earphone hook

I

a

b

c

n modern plastic product fabrication, multi-component molding (MCM) widely has been applied to diversify product design and simplify the assembly process. Ideally, MCM is a process in which two or more materials (two different materials, the same material with different colors or recycled and raw materials), are injected into the mold to produce the product. The product not only combines multiple colors, but also multiple functions, such as a combination of soft skin hard core. The MCM process faces many challenges when used in the real world. First, there are a variety of cavity interchangeable mechanisms and multiple plastication unit setups from which to choose. Moreover, the general rules for a single material molding cannot directly apply to MCM. Finally, due to its complicated nature and the unclear physical mechanism for the MCM process during injection, conventional trial-and-error methods have their limitations in terms of their ability to effectively catch crucial factors that compromise product quality [1-8]. To get a clearer understanding of the way this works, we can categorize the other diversified MCM processes as shown in Fig. 2 as two groups. The first group is the most common process which produces products with a distinct interface. This includes insert molding, overmolding and sequential multiple-shot molding. The second group has an uncertain interface between the two materials. This indistinct interface poses a great challenge for the part designers. The designer must speculate the correct gating location in order to get desired material distribution. Usually, this only can be done through molding trials, and the geometry complexity of the part also is limited. Co-injection (sandwich) molding and bi-injection molding fall into this group. Also, these processes require coherent movement of the injection and nozzle shut-off, which complicates the mold design and injection machine/barrel design. Therefore, to resolve the complicated nature and the unclear physical mechanism of the MCM processes, CAE mold filling simulation may become a very powerful tool for problem diagnosis and design validation. For example, a touchpad originally was developed through combining separately injected pieces. This created less warpage, but caused the part to suffer from poor interfacial bonding strength.

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spring 2015

Fig. 2 Multi-component molding processes can be divided as: (left) with distinct interface systems, (right) with uncertain interface systems.

Through the use of the overmolding process (Fig. 3a), interfacial strength was improved. However, serious warpage problems easily can occur. This is due to the heat accumulated on the interface between the two materials (Fig. 3b). The original design and process conditions in single piece injection molding cannot directly apply to the MCM. The warpage problem is resolved through new product designs and different processing conditions [1-4].

Furthermore, most skin/core material combines soft touch skin and hard core, virgin skin/recycled core and unfilled skin/ fiber-reinforced core in commodity, automotive and structural applications using the co-injection molding process. The main challenge faced today is controlling the material spatial distribution inside the cavity [5-8]. For example, Fig. 4 shows the earphone hook design. The hook connects the phone and microphone assembly. The design has a flexible soft skin to provide better feel while in contact with the ear and should have enough stiffness to withstand deformation. page 8 X

HASCO App Download Today.

a

Download the new HASCO App for the latest Jompany and product news, calculators and conversion tools right on your phone and always available wherever you are. b

Fig. 3 Touchpad development using multi-component molding processes: (a) WKURXJKPROGURWDWLRQWZRPDWHULDOVWRXFKSDGLVIDEULFDWHGZLWKDVLJQLŅFDQW warpage problem, (b) the warpage is due to heat accumulated along the interface between two materials.

– Apple Store – Google Play Store

HASCO America Inc., 270 Rutledge Road, Unit B Fletcher, NC 28732 USA, www.hasco.com Toll Free 877-427-2662, [email protected]

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7

Technology

W page 7

a

b

Fig. 4 Earphone hook: (a) geometry design; (b) made PP for core and TPE for skin by the overmolding process

The prior art combines PP as the core and TPE for skin using the overmolding process. The co-injection process later was tested for a simplified workflow and a better joining strength between the materials. During the process engineering stage, it was unclear what the skin/core ratio should be. Fig. 5 shows the CAE results. According to the prediction, a 50-percent skin ratio will create a core breakthrough, leading to defects. A 70-percent skin ratio is expected to have a better skin/core ratio, but unfortunately this great of a warpage level leads to functional problems. The simulation tool suggests modifying the gate locations as shown in Fig. 6. One design leads to a very low core-filled area at the lock region. Harnessing the aforementioned core breakthrough behavior will resolve this issue nicely. While keeping the 40-percent skin ratio, breakthrough happened at 0.07sec. And, after the breakthrough, the hook portion has the harder PP material to provide better mechanical strength to fit the specification.

Fig. 5 The co-injection process for ear hook development: 50 percent skin ratio is to be broken through. A 70 percent skin ratio is expected to have a JRRGVNLQFRUHUDWLREXWIDLOHGWRŅWWKHVSHFLŅFDWLRQIRUZDUSDJH

Summary Multi-component molding (MCM) widely is applied in modern product development. However, due to its complicated nature and the unclear physical mechanism, a conventional trial-anderror method cannot catch crucial factors effectively. Today, no matter what kind of overmolding system (with a distinct interface) or co-injection system (with an uncertain interface), CAE can prove to be a very useful tool for design validation in optimizing gate locations, evaluating the maximum core ratio with or without causing breakthrough and estimating shrinkage and warpage concerning the interaction between materials. „ References 1. US patent #3,051,994. 2. Multi-material Technology, Battenfeld. 3. Web source http://www.engelmachinery.com 4. Chao-Tsai Huang et al, SPE ANTEC, 1888-1892 (2006). 5. P.J. Garner and D.F. Oxley, British Patent 1,156,217 (1971). 6. V. Goodship and J.C. Love, Multi-Material Injection Molding (2002). 7. R. Seldén, Polymer Engineering & Science, 40, 1165 (2000). 8. F. Ilinca, J.F. Hetu, and A. Derdouri, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, 50, 1445 (2006).

Fig. 6 CAE helps to make gate relocation validation.

Dr. CT Huang is senior director, technical marketing at CoreTech Systems (Moldex3D). He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and has spent the majority of his career devoted to the study of various areas of polymer processing and applications. CoreTech System Co., Ltd. (Moldex3D) has been providing the professional CAE analysis solution “Moldex” series for the plastic injection molding industry since 1995, and the current product “Moldex3D” is marketed and supported worldwide. For more information, visit www.moldex3d.com. Fig. 7 (a) Reconsider 40 percent skin ratio: breakthrough happened at 0.07sec; (b) after breakthrough, PP material was used on the hook portion WRSURYLGHEHWWHUPHFKDQLFDOVWUHQJWKDQGWRŅWWKHVSHFLŅFDWLRQ

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the american MOLD BUILDER

spring 2015

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9

Technology

Mold Design for Reduction of Offline Assembly and Secondary Operations by Kerry Smith, Industrial Molds

T

he goal of many OEMs in the automotive and industrial markets is to reduce requirements for assembly and secondary operations in their products as a way to reduce costs. This can be done in several ways, including designing the mold so that all the component parts are molded in a single cycle; designing the mold for two-shot or two material molding; and designing the mold for in-mold operations, such as insert molding or in-mold labeling or decorating. Moldmakers need to be competitive in today’s global market, and that means finding innovative solutions to OEMs’ most challenging molding manufacturing problems when it comes to improving cycle times and quality and reducing overall costs to manufacture. Design of the mold is critical to the success of the project and to enable optimum solutions for parts. That means design for manufacturing (DFM) must be the goal from the outset. That typically begins with a material flow and mold analysis using one of the software analysis systems available to moldmakers today, such as Moldflow and Moldex 3D, to ensure optimum design for the type of mold needed for the solution. The goal of this article is to provide moldmakers with the steps needed to provide creative solutions for the mold build to reduce or eliminate offline assembly and secondary operations. First steps in DFM The first step in DFM (Design for Manufacture) includes the choice of material(s) for the part. Reducing costs may involve converting a part from metal, such as aluminum, to plastic, which provides greater flexibility in design and also allows for the part to be manufactured with fewer processes involving secondary operations or offline assembly. It is becoming very common in today’s automotive and industrial markets to reduce weight while achieving strength and functional properties by converting metal parts to plastic. This also helps automotive OEMs, in particular, achieve the demands of the latest CAFÉ standards for attaining higher mileage through the weight reduction of all components. The next important step is to determine what the customer is trying to achieve with respect to solving a manufacturing challenge, what secondary operations they are trying to eliminate, what type of assembly they need to eliminate and how the mold design can address all of these requirements, resulting in the overall reduced costs to manufacture and improved quality. Providing the information to the customer and working with the customer to develop an acceptable part design and the optimum molding process to achieve what the customer requires are critical to the success of the program. Case Study I One example of combining several parts into a single injection molded component is the 10-Port Water Outlet assembly, a metal-to-plastic conversion that integrated two components into one assembly. The thermoplastic replacement is a single molded product that delivered the customer, a Tier 1 automotive supplier, greater than 25-percent cost savings and a 450-gram weight reduction over its metal counterpart. 10

the american MOLD BUILDER

spring 2015

The 10-Port Water Outlet assembly was made possible through the development of a complex injection mold, incorporating multiple sequential valve gates to prevent material over-pack and gas entrapment. The 10 male ports were created without the parting line usually required with conventional injection molding. Seamless hose joints were made possible through precision timing of multiple valve gates and multiple slide actions to properly form this complex product in one piece. Through the collaborative efforts between the engineering teams of Industrial Molds Group and the customer, the part design and mold design was developed using Moldflow™ analysis to determine feasibility of injection molding the component in a single piece. The material chosen for the metal-to-plastic conversion was glass-filled nylon, a material that made the molding of this part more complex. Several “what if?” scenarios were performed using Moldflow to understand how to fill the mold and then eject the part. To accommodate the GF nylon, the optimum grade of steel had to be used to withstand the high temperatures. Additionally, the molding machine had to be upgraded and the molding process customized to ensure that this multi-piece assembly could be molded in a single piece and still meet the customer’s specifications.

By converting the 10-Port Water Outlet to a single piece injection molded component, the customer eliminated the need for 18 machining operations and two leak paths. The 10-Port Water Outlet achieved machined metal tolerances right out of the mold without any secondary machining processes. The customer noted that the injection mold will last the life of the five-year program, with annual volumes of approximately 800,000 pieces. Case Study II In another project, a customer needed help on a part the customer was supplying to the automotive industry. The customer’s process always had required molding the parts in a nylon resin in one injection molding press, then moving the parts to another injection molding press nearby before placing the parts into the cavity of a second mold and overmolding the nylon parts with a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). This process was done by physically moving the parts from one press to the other, which presented not so much a logistical problem – how to move these small parts from one press to another – but one of needing a better processing technology. From the customer’s viewpoint, there was a logistics problem that included how to pick the parts from one mold and place the parts successfully in the second mold using a robot, which proved very difficult. Even if it could be done, that process wouldn’t get the customer to where it needed to go with respect to cost and productivity. page 12 X

Since 1958, the automotive trucking industry has come to rely on the technology and expertise INCOE extends. From big rigs to heavy haulers, INCOE has provided the innovative hot runner systems and creative solutions for large scale, road tough and durable components.Trucking demands nothing less; it has to be on time, every time. After all, when you compete in an uncompromising and demanding marketplace, you can’t afford to leave your molding solutions to just anyone. Look to INCOE... we’re tried, tested and true. INCOE Corporation Global Headquarters 1740 East Maple Road Troy, Michigan 48083 USA T +1.248.616.0220 F +1.248.616.0225 E [email protected]

Expertise you can trust. Technology you can rely on. North America | Europe | Asia | South America

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We’re everywhere. © 2014 INCOE® is a registered trademark of INCOE Corporation, USA and in other countries

www.amba.org

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Technology

W page 11 The customer was paying a very high part price, something that wouldn’t improve if the traditional manufacturing process was followed. The current cost structure included two molds, two injection molding presses and the robotics to interface the two presses. All of this made the total costto-manufacture of these parts too great for them to be profitable. This part was perfect for a two-shot molding process. A two- shot mold was built that molded the nylon substrate first, then a second shot overmolded the thermoplastic elastomer to make complete parts in one press and without the use of robotics. Using the two-shot molding technology brought the customer’s part cost down so that even with the expenditure for the new mold, the customer easily could cost-justify it on the bottom line and get a quick return on investment. Conclusion Moldmakers today have to be innovative and creative when solving customer’s challenging problems. Designing for Manufacturing & Assembly (DMFA) always should be at the forefront of the moldmaker’s planning to help customers not only save costs to manufacture, but also to help them realize the tremendous value that moldmakers provide by developing creative manufacturing solutions. „

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Product

Meusburger Assembly Table Available in a New Size Meusburger, Wolfurt, Austria, announces the H4062 Assembly table is now available in a new size. Developed to facilitate operations in repair and assembly work on injection molding, die casting and punching tools, until now the table was available in sizes 496x1, 156mm and 796x1, 496mm. Meusburger has extended its range with a third table sized 996x1, 846mm. This enables the use of the assembly table for repair and assembly work on even larger tools. In addition, Meusburger now offers its solid-carbide drills WZB 10224, 10225, 10227 and 10229 in more diameters. The drills are particularly suited for the materials used in moldmaking applications and ensure the highest drilling accuracy. The solid-carbide drills WZB 10231 and 10233 with inner coolant supply now are available in diameters 3 to 12mm and in the new lengths 25 and 30xd, making them suitable for the drilling of cooling holes. For more information, visit www.meusburger.com.

Kurt Workholding Introduces DoveLock Jaw System Kurt Workholding, Minneapolis, Minnesota, introduced a new six-inch Steel DoveLock™ Quick-Change Jaw System for Kurt industry standard six-inch vises and towers, following the introduction of the Aluminum DoveLock™ Quick-Change Jaw System. Kurt is expanding its DoveLock™ line with Master and Quick Change Steel Jaws for machinists who prefer steel jaws. The DoveLock™ Quick-Change Jaw System enables fast jaw changes and repositioning with high-precision. Jaw change time is reduced 90 percent to less than a minute, with jaw positioning repeatability of up to ±0.001". Exclusive to the DoveLock™, the machinable jaws can be rotated 180° and machined on both sides for two different part setups. For more information, visit www.kurtworkholding.com.

HASCO Expands Its Push-Lok Cooling System HASCO, headquartered in Germany, has expanded its offerings with new marking rings, Z8080 PL, and a further variant of the system hoses, Z858 PL, used in the HASCO Push-Lok system, in blue and red colors. This allows the inflow and outflow lines to the mold to be readily recognized and reduces the risk of confusion when the mold is being connected. Marking rings also are available in yellow, which can be used for other purposes. The HASCO Push-Lok system has simplified and sped up the connection of molds to the cooling agent circuit even further by permitting rapid repairs to be carried out directly at the workbench. Additional accessories, such as hose clips or crimping sleeves, no longer are required. This reduces the time and cost spent. An end point inscribed about the marking ring ensures that the hose is reliably mounted on the coupling. The new system has hoses and quick-action couplings, both with and without a shut-off valve, and straight or angled variants at 45° or 90°. The coupling geometry and specially developed hoses ensure a reliable connection during the molding process. For more information, visit www.hasco.com.

Haas Builds All-New Bar Feeder Haas Automation, Oxnard, California, first introduced the Servo Bar 300 bar feeder in 1999. For 2015, Haas engineers introduced the all-new Haas Bar Feeder, which provides a simpler way to automate part production on Haas turning centers. The new feeder has a re-engineered, heavyduty, compact design exclusively for use on Haas ST-10 through ST-35 and DS series CNC turning centers. Features include a rollaway design that provides easy access to the rear of the lathe spindle for quick liner adapter and liner changes, quickchange pushrods, built-in storage racks, belt-driven bar-shuttle system, optical sensors and easy-to-read, on-screen icons. For more information, call 800.331.6746 or visit www.HaasCNC.com. page 14 X www.amba.org

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Product

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Cimatron is now part of 3D Systems THINGS ARE GETTING BIGGER AND BETTER As one of the early pioneers developing CAD/CAM software for manufacturing, Cimatron will continue its 33 year legacy going forward as part of 3D Systems. Look forward to new opportunities for

MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE!

For more information go to: www.3dsystems.com | www.cimatrontech.com

The Objet1000 Plus 3D Production System delivers up to 40 percent faster printing speeds than its predecessor and provides lower cost-per-part.

Stratasys Large Scale Objet1000 Plus Brings Enhanced Versatility and Speed Stratasys, Ltd., Eden Prairie, Minnesota, has introduced the industrial scale Objet1000 Plus 3D Production System, which offers extra-large print size and accelerated speeds for demanding manufacturing applications, including aerospace, automotive, medical devices and consumer products. The Objet1000 Plus brings versatility to the world of large-scale 3D printing in its ability to mix materials and part sizes while maintaining ultra-fine precision. Its extra-large build envelope (1000x800x500mm or 39x31x19") efficiently is traversed with a new optimized print block movement that accelerates print speeds up to 40 percent faster than its predecessor. The Objet1000 Plus can produce tough parts with smooth surface finishes in high-speed mode while taking advantage of the new Endur Digital Materials, which combine two resins in a single material for a wider range of material properties. For more information, visit www.stratasys.com.

Mold ID Offers Transparency in Mold Handling Balluff, Inc., Florence, Kentucky, introduces Mold ID, which supports condition-based maintenance and provides more transparency in mold handling. By means of industrial RFID, Mold ID makes the use of injection molds traceable and ensures their optimal utilization. Mold ID is backed by an autonomous system that can be retrofitted anywhere and at any time on all machines, without the need for manufacturer intervention. In addition to the mold identity, a rugged RFID data carrier at each mold stores the current shot count and various mold-specific process parameters in non-volatile memory without making contact. All Mold ID systems can be connected to the control level, an ERP system or an MES system via web services by means of LAN, Wi-Fi or Powerline. The result is access to the data and the processes from everywhere. For more information, visit www.balluff.com. „ 14

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spring 2015

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15

Outlook

Encouraging Healthy Mold Maintenance Strategies by Dianna Brodine

The time and craftsmanship that go into the creation of a highquality tool can seem like wasted effort when customers fail to implement effective preventative maintenance schedules. What can be done to ensure long tool life? More importantly, how can mold builders ensure maintenance moves to the forefront of the priority list? Building for the long haul “It starts at the very beginning when you take a project on,” said Jeromy Arnett, production administration manager for United Tool & Mold in Easley, South Carolina. “You have to make sure you know and understand what the customer’s specifications are, what press the mold is going in, what the target cycle time is… All of these things are important so you can build a quality mold that can meet those requirements.” Additional factors that can affect tool longevity, such as heating and cooling at the processing facility and the number of changeovers that might happen due to machine scheduling issues, are out of the tool builder’s control. However, any factor that can be anticipated can, and should, be addressed. “Ensure you’re on the same page as your customers as far as expectations so you aren’t setting yourself up for failure,” said Arnett. Once a tool is delivered to the customer, United Tool provides guidelines in terms of when it would like to see the tool back to provide preventative maintenance, often based on the number of shots. Simplifying repairs In addition to building new tooling, United Tool is tasked with repairing molds, too. Arnett has seen the positive effects a preventative maintenance plan has on the types of repairs needed. “As you get through the life of the tool,” he explained, “you’ll always have issues of wear with parting lines, gas burns that would affect whether you have flash on a part or galling issues with internal components on a mold. Even a strong preventative maintenance program won’t stop every problem, but the problems are a lot less expensive to fix!” The team at United Tool works with its customers to develop long-term relationships, which helps them to know how each 16

the american MOLD BUILDER

spring 2015

processing facility treats its tools – which can provide valuable information when it comes time for repairs. “Some folks are a little rough as far as clamping pressure and how hard the tool hits when it’s in production,” he said, “which tells us to re-vent the tool where the parting line has been hammered down.” Also important in understanding what repairs need to be made is the actual part being created by the tool. “One of the most crucial things when it’s time to make a repair is making sure the processor provides the last good parts on the mold,” Arnett explained. “If the part is sent with the mold, the moldmaker knows exactly where the problem is, and that’s more effective than a picture. The mold is the entity we work on, but the part is the story that tells us what’s going on internally.” However, parts aren’t always provided, and Arnett said that’s just part of the job. “Customers call repair houses like us to take headaches away, not create more,” he said. Tracking tool data Many of United Tool’s customers have an experienced tool shop staff on hand, but Arnett said his company always is happy to help set up a preventative maintenance program at the customer’s site. “We can walk them through potential catastrophic failure points and give them a road map as to how often maintenance tasks should be done,” Arnett said. “However, especially when there is a down economy and the money gets tight, the first thing that goes out the window is preventative maintenance.” Despite acting proactively to ensure customers know United Tool is available for preventative maintenance activities, tooling managers often don’t have the budget funding. In addition, the need for regular maintenance may not be clear. Arnett said a lack of understanding of true cycle counts can lead to delays in necessary maintenance. “The schedulers only know so much,” he said. “If the molds are dry cycled or you’re doing a setup change or a color changes, those are cycles that won’t be referenced on the schedule. If those changeovers happen 10 times, that could mean hundreds of shots the schedulers didn’t know you ran on that mold.”

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Accurate data tracking is the key, and unlike modern cars, molds don’t have built-in computers to capture information. “That’s where Progressive’s CVe monitor has helped us,” Arnett explained. “It helps a tool builder know how many shots a mold actually ran. We recommend it to our customers, and there is not a mold we’ve built that doesn’t have a CVe on it.”

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The CVe Monitor v2 is offered by Progressive Components, along with sister company AST Technology’s Monitoring Division. The monitor and its accompanying OnDemand software making it easy to track a mold’s performance and activity, from cycle count and cycle time to efficiency percentage, which tracks the amount of time the mold has been actively cycling. Preventative maintenance has taken on a bigger role with the new Preventive Maintenance (PM) tab in the OnDemand software, featuring user-definable PM stops for every mold. “When we first introduced the CVe Monitor and OnDemand software, users were given the ability to program the initial preventive maintenance action and the regular PM schedule, but now it’s all completely customizable, whether incremental or absolute,” said Sujit Sheth, general manager of AST’s Monitoring Division. “Users can specify the timing and type of PM required, and each scheduled PM has a corresponding workbook that contains a customizable checklist of mold maintenance procedures that must be completed.”

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The CVe monitor alerts users when PMs are due and – more importantly – continues to alert the user until the maintenance is recorded. It’s not a perfect solution, but it may move tool builders and tool room managers closer to ensuring each mold receives the maintenance it deserves. „

www.amba.org

17

Trends

Fall Protection and Hazard Communication Top OSHA’s List of Common Citations by Jen Clark

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ccording to a recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) report, “Adding Inequality to Injury: The Costs of Failing to Protect Workers on the Job,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found “approximately 4,500 workers are killed on the job each year … and that employers record nearly three million serious occupational injuries and illnesses annually.” These records are mandated by a nearly 40-year-old legal obligation to provide safe workplaces. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 required employers to provide workplaces “free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” OSHA inspectors cite thousands of companies for unsafe working conditions every year, usually resulting in costly fines. OSHA annually provides a list of the Top 10 violations for the fiscal year during the National Safety Council Congress and Expo, which took place in San Diego, California, last September. For the fourth year in a row, OSHA’s Fall Protection Standard (1926.501) was the agency’s most frequently cited violation (6,143 violations), followed by hazard communication (5,161 violations) and scaffolding (4,029 violations). For owners and managers, knowing about these violations can help them assess their companies’ risk potential, which could help avoid business disruption, citations and/or fines.

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1. Fall Protection OSHA requires that fall protection be provided at elevations of 4' in general industry workplaces, 5' in shipyards, 6' in the construction industry and 8' in longshoring operations. In addition, fall protection should be provided when working over dangerous equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance. Appropriate fall protection gear can include railings, personal fall arrest systems or warning lines. 2. Hazard Communication In 2012, OSHA revised its Hazard Communication Standard, aligning it with the United Nations’ global chemical labeling system. It will be fully implemented in 2016, with the goals of reducing confusion about chemical hazards in the workplace, facilitating safety training and improving understanding of hazards. Employers should identify and evaluate all chemical hazards in the workplace and then make that information readily available to all employees through safety data sheets. Keeping an up-to-date list is just as important as having one. Training also is a key component of the HazCom standard (see sidebar on page 20 for more information). 3. Scaffolding Established guidelines help protect employees who are working on or near elevated, temporary work platforms at heights of 10' or more. OSHA noted that a big problem is people using scaffolding as ladders and ladders as scaffolding, assuming one could work for the other. Other problems include holes in platforms, not having an adequate point of access, lack of fall protection and not having a competent person assigned to select and direct employees, asses the weather, train employees, inspect scaffolding and determine if scaffolding is structurally sound.

6. Lockout/Tagout According to OSHA, nearly 200 workplace deaths occur each year because hazardous energy hasn’t been controlled during routine maintenance or machine servicing. Proper lockout procedures help prevent the accidental startup of machinery. There are nine steps to a general lockout/tagout procedure. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Prepare for shutdown Notify others Shut down the equipment Isolate the equipment Lockout/tagout the equipment Release stored energy Verify isolation Perform service Release from lockout/tagout

page 20 X

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4. Respiratory Protection Air quality or breathing hazards – such as dust, fumes, gases, mist, sprays and vapors – may require the use of respiratory protection either with a respirator or dusk mask. Respirators protect the user in one of two basic ways – by removing contaminants from the air or supplying clean air from another source. Employers must have a written program to show how they are implementing various parts of the standard. 5. Powered Industrial Trucks Powered industrial trucks, commonly called forklifts or lift trucks, are used in many industries, primarily to move materials. Employers must ensure that each powered industrial truck operator is trained and competent to operate a powered industrial truck safely. No one under the age of 18 is allowed to operate a forklift. Training must be provided for each type of equipment the company operates.

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Trends W page 19 7. Ladders Similar to the fall protection standard, ladders only should be used for what they are designed for and must extend 3' above the upper landing surface. OSHA prohibits ladder use as a walking platform or lifting device. Ladders also must be in good shape.

9. Machine Guarding Guard the machinery to help protect operators and others from hazards, such as rotating parts, flying chips, sparks and other dangers. OSHA uses the 1910.212 standard to cite employers for lack of guarding on several types of equipment.

8. Electrical: Wiring Dangers such as electric shock, arc flash, electrocution, fires and explosions are possible. To help avoid potential violations, inspect wiring and insulation, plus take steps to ensure proper grounding of electrical equipment.

10. Electrical: Systems Design Stay in compliance and avoid workplace injuries by following factory instructions when designing, installing and using electrical equipment. Using equipment in the workplace that only has been labeled or listed for home use is an OSHA violation. „

Full Implementation of Hazard Communication Standards Expected in 2016 Three years ago, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) aligned its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). Once fully implemented in 2016, OSHA expects the changes will impact over five million facilities and over 40 million workers. HazCom 2012 provides a common approach to classifying chemicals and communicating hazard information on labels and safety data sheets (SDS). The definitions of hazard were changed to provide specific criteria for classification of health and physical hazards and for the classification of mixtures. Chemical manufacturers and importers now are required to provide a harmonized label that has six standardized elements for classified hazards, including product identifier, manufacturer contact information, hazard pictograms, signal word (DANGER or WARNING), hazard statements and precautionary statements. 20

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SDSs, previously known as Material Safety Data Sheets, remain the backbone of HCS. Employers must ensure they are readily accessible to employees. The major change here is a required, standardized 16-section format, which include identification; hazard(s) identification; composition/ingredient information; first-aid measures; firefighting measures; accidental release measures; handling and storage; exposure control/personal protection; physical and chemical properties; stability and reactivity; toxicological information; ecological information; disposal considerations; transport information; regulatory information; and other information. To be compliant, an SDS needs all 16 sections; however, OSHA will not enforce sections 12-15, which fall outside of its jurisdiction. For more information on complying with the standards, visit www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom.

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21

Conference Review

AMBA Annual Conference Sets the Cadence for Organizational Leadership On May 6, 2015, mold building professionals descended upon the JW Marriott hotel in Indianapolis, IN, for two days of intense, industry-focused learning and sharing. The following pages provide only a glimpse into the power of this year’s event.

Kicking Off with the Right Cadence AMBA Executive Director Troy Nix kicked off the conference in his typical high-energy style, as the sounds of a military cadence rolled across the dimly lit ballroom and a video lit up two large screens. Relating the leadership skills of the military cadence caller to the expertise necessary to successfully lead within a business environment, Nix explained the characteristics of an effective cadence caller. • The cadence caller’s leadership is always present, visible and motivational. • The cadence caller knows the strengths and weaknesses of the people in his column. • The cadence caller understands the staffing and placement of key resources. • The cadence caller ensures everyone is in step. • The cadence caller ensures full engagement from everyone in the column. With a theme of Impact Influence Ignite, this year’s AMBA conference was designed to provide attendees with a chance to reflect on their own leadership traits, study their strengths, examine their purposes and aggressively search for ways in which to impact their company and the lives of the people they lead. Nix explained that fractional improvements in leadership can dramatically improve company performance as a whole, and he challenged each attendee to dig deep to pursue knowledge that would positively impact his or her business. The room was filled with cadence callers from mold building businesses around the US. All were challenged to spend 36 hours gaining inspiration and gathering insight to ensure they were singing a cadence that set the right tone for their organizations. 22

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Learning How to Have Crucial Conversations Stacy Nelson, Vital Smarts (www.vitalsmarts.com) Stacy Nelson, senior consultant at VitalSmarts, is a trusted leader in corporate training and organizational performance. He has trained major organizations, including BMW, Allstate and Walt Disney Company, in skills that include Crucial Conversations – the ability to create an open dialogue that allows people to speak the truth to those in power, enhance innovation through spirited debate and feel engaged in the workplace. During the AMBA keynote address, Nelson described the two problems of leadership: What should we do? (strategy) and How do I get everyone to do it? (influence) The least effective way to influence those in an organization is through a display of power, whether power of position or power of intimidation. Instead, influence is created by encouraging an atmosphere where employees can be honest about the environment in which they work and have it be received with respect and candor. When it’s safe for employees to disagree with those in leadership roles, said Nelson, the magic begins to happen. Research conducted by VitalSmarts showed an 85 percent failure rate of high-stakes initiatives when crucial conversations either were not held or failed. When those conversations succeed, the execution failure rate is reduced by 50-70 percent. As Nelson explained, “If you don’t talk it out, you act it out.” A workforce that does not feel engaged and involved in change creates mediocrity. What makes a conversation “crucial”? Nelson described a triangle with each side labeled “opposing opinions,” “strong emotions” and “high stakes.” The way leadership handles the crucial conversations within its organization determines the culture of the organization and, in many ways, the success or failure of the business itself. By making conversations safe – and making disagreement safe – employees feel engaged and more likely to give their best effort. When everyone is engaged, according to Nelson, mistakes are caught more quickly decisions are implemented more effectively and innovation becomes commonplace.

Looking at the lifetime value of a customer, rather than each individual sale, changes the way you view your customers. – Steve Riddell May 2015 Indianapolis, IN

World-Class Customer Service at Blinds.com Steve Riddell, Blinds.com (www.blinds.com) Steve Riddell currently is the chief operating officer for Blinds.com, the largest e-commerce organization in Houston, Texas, with sales of $100 million. He is an entrepreneur and motivational speaker who has been credited with leading Blinds.com to receive awards that reflect on cultural and customer service excellence, including Best Places to Work in Houston, Most Engaged Workplace in America and Best Call Center in the US. Riddell’s presentation was a lesson focused on his role in growing Blinds.com through exceptional customer service that often may have seemed unnecessary when compared to its competitors’ practices. As a company that does not make its own product, warehouse its own product or ship its own product, customer service was the sword by which the company would live or die.

In a company’s culture, unwritten rules always trump written rules. What you permit is what you promote. – Stacy Nelson May 2015 Indianapolis, IN

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Conference Review

The economic recovery gave us a false sense of improvement. We’re chasing revenue, but not fixing the things we can control to be sustainable. – Laurie Harbour May 2015 Indianapolis, IN

Building Customer Relationships through Storytelling Kindra Hall (www.kindrahall.com)

W page 23 The first step was to stop focusing on today’s sale and, instead, view each customer in terms of lifetime sales and referral sales. As Riddell explained, looking at the lifetime value of the customer changes the way each transaction is viewed. Once that viewpoint changes, the emphasis is not on making quick sales or taking the most calls through the call center, but rather on creating a deep and meaningful customer experience where the customer feels safe in making a purchase decision. Riddell provided 10 guidelines for creating that customer-centric culture. 1. World-class customer service for existing customers is cheaper than the money expended to gain new ones. Do not treat customers like a commodity. 2. Culture of competency is always better than a culture of compliance. Teach employees to do their jobs well and empower them to make decisions. 3. Angry employees make for angry customers. The culture in which employees work becomes the culture in which customers buy – or not. 4. Buyers love to buy from companies intent on doing things right. Corporate reputation and community involvement have an impact. 5. When customers brag about you, that has a direct impact on lifetime value. World-class customer service leads customers who return in the future and to referral sales. 6. In the absence of any other reason to purchase, people choose price. 7. Customer service is a profit center, not a cost center. Invest in customer service. 8. The key to long-term growth is customer lifetime value. 9. When things go wrong, customers will give you the benefit of the doubt. Even if mistakes are made, customers will stay if the situation is handled with honesty. 10. When employees are empowered, so is the customer.

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Anyone can tell a customer that the product will be delivered on time, the original quote will be honored and the quality will be excellent. Customers and prospects hear those things from each and every company with which they interact. By shifting the focus to storytelling, said Hall, customers are shown those qualities in a tangible way. Hall explained that storytelling works because it creates an emotional connection that often leads to action, and stories are memorable long after a recitation of fact fades. Storytelling can build trust with customers and prospects, enhance communication and grow the brand of companies that use it effectively as a strategy. Hall said determining what stories to tell could be as simple as thinking about the following defining moments: • Your “firsts” – first customer, first time creating a mold, etc. • Your proudest moment • Your biggest challenge From those moments, craft a story with three simple elements: the “normal,” the “explosion” and the “new normal.” First, set the scene by describing the people and places in the event. Include the emotions felt and specific details. Be strategic in thinking about where the story is heading. Then, describe the moment – the explosion. Finally, describe the new normal. Use a detail from the “normal” to pull the listener back to where you started. Provide a progress report on what was learned from the event. And, finally, offer a directive – a way for the customer or prospect to connect with what was learned through the experience. With a story to share, customers, prospects and even employees will feel a deeper connection to the words you attribute to your organization. Instead of telling them that the organization has strong family values, a commitment to quality and a willingness to go “above and beyond,” show them through stories that can be told during client meetings, through videos, online via social media or a company website, in print material and through presentations.

Book Recommendations Conference attendees were gifted with Crucial Conversations, written by the cofounders of VitalSmarts, the company by which Keynote Speaker Stacy Nelson is employed. In addition, several book recommendations were given throughout the event by speakers. • Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business, by Harley Manning • The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell • Good to Great, by Jim Collins • Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, by Simon Sinek • First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham • How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie • Leading from the Inside Out, by Samuel D. Rima • The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell • Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know, by John C. Maxwell

The strength of your brand is not how well you can communicate what you do, but how well your customers can communicate what you do to their peers. – Kindra Hall May 2015 Indianapolis, IN

Awards Banquet Unveils Video Meant to Encourage Future Careers in the Industry On Thursday evening, attendees turned out in their best attire to honor members of the industry. First, Todd Schuett of Creative Technology Corporation took the stage to introduce a video with the ability to impact the industry for years to come. Schuett and his team unveiled Mold Making – Your Road to Success, a 10-minute video featuring employees from AMBA Member companies speaking about the work they perform on a daily basiss. The video will be made available for use by mold building companies to help recruit young talent into the industry. Tim and Kim Bartz were on hand to provide an update on the iWarriors program, which provides iPads to combat-wounded veterans through the generous support of many of the mold building companies and suppliers in attendance. Since 2011, iWarriors supported more than 300 servicemen and women and more than $200,000 has been raised. The evening culminated in the presentation of the Mold Builder of the Year and Chapter of the Year awards. More information on the recipients of these prestigious industry awards can be found on pages 26-29. „

Photos courtesy of Creative Technology Corporation. For more photos from the conference, visit creat.com.

www.amba.org

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Awards

Tim Bartz Named AMBA Mold Builder of the Year Photos courtesy of Creative Technology Corporation

by Jen Clark

Tim Bartz knows what it takes to build a mold, while also building customer relationships and community pride – qualities that made him an easy choice for American Mold Builder Association’s Mold Builder of the Year award. He was honored during the AMBA Annual Conference Awards Banquet with a $5,000 endowment, sponsored by Progressive Components, for continuing education in moldmaking, to be presented to the educational institution of his choice. “Tim has a great ability to connect with customers,” Don Snow (with CS Tool Engineering, Inc., Cedar Springs, Michigan) wrote in nominating Bartz for the award. “He is the real deal when he is around people. He isn’t afraid to share his ideas. He takes time to listen and help in any way that he can.” The vice president of operations with Mold Craft, Inc., Willernie, Minnesota, also is humble. “Tim would probably be the first one to tell you that our wounded servicemen and women are the people that should be honored and not a moldmaker from Minnesota,” Snow wrote, “but it is time for our industry to recognize this guy who gives his time to those in education, fellow moldmakers and a cause dear to his heart, iWarriors.” Snow was right. When contacted following the AMBA Annual Conference and the presentation of the Mold Builder of the Year award, Bartz was quick to point out that the men and women of the Armed Forces are the ones who deserve our thanks and support, while admitting he still was a little shocked that he had even been nominated for the award. “It was a big surprise,” he said. “I had no idea. Everyone was pretty tight-lipped, and it still is sinking in. Mold Builder of the Year is a pretty elite group. When you get nominated and selected by your peers, it makes it pretty special.” Bartz, along with his wife, Kim, started the iWarriors campaign in 2010 when they challenged AMBA members to support a group of Marines who had recently returned from Afghanistan. Each of the Marines had suffered debilitating injuries during the battalion’s six-month deployment to Helmand Province. Contributions tallied $10,000 in just a few short weeks. iPads and accessories were purchased and presented by Bartz and his family in a ceremony at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, California, in 2011. Since that time, more than $200,000 has been raised to support more than 300 service members from all four branches of the US Armed Forces, and the drive continues at www.iWarriors.org. 26

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Tim Bartz (center) accepted the Mold Builder of the Year award and acknowleged the outstanding team at Mold Craft, including Justin McPhee (left) and Tom Emmons (right).

“Kim and I dedicate a lot of our time to iWarriors,” Bartz said. “It is our way of giving back.” As iWarriors continues to grow, he said the next step of the program is to work with Workshops for Warriors, which also is based out of San Diego. “They are training Marines in manufacturing-style jobs. We are trying to work with them to get them involved with the AMBA so we can hire guys out of there as well.” An AMBA member for 15 years (Mold Craft has been a member for 30 years), Bartz currently is president of the Minnesota Chapter of AMBA. He is involved with the Education Committee of the chapter and its annual golf outing. He also is on the WITC New Richmond and St. Paul Technical College advisory boards, where he provides input as to the direction the courses should be headed, updating the educators on the state of manufacturing and gaining feedback from them on the forecast of the graduating talent pool. “Tim personally delivers scholarship applications to three or four local technical colleges and talks to classes about careers in moldmaking,” Justin McPhee, co-owner at Mold Craft, added to Snow’s nomination. “Mold Craft always has been open to local schools, and over the last 10 years, the company has completed no less than 20 presentations to high school, middle school and elementary students and teachers.” Bartz said finding and training the next generation of mold builders is very important. “We just had a class from Mahtomedi High school here,” he said. Twenty-five students from Matt Young’s Fab Lab were split into three groups, with one watching

a Moldmaking Technology video created specifically to entice a new generation into mold building. “We are just getting their feet wet, actually,” he added. “In the past we’ve had two or three of the same kind of tours. In fact, one of the girls that came through before – she is 16 and now is an intern with us. She works two to three hours after school each day. A career in moldmaking interested her that much.” Bartz’s primary role at Mold Craft is sales and quoting. Prior to taking an ownership interest in 2009, he ran the shop for 10 years while also programming and running milling machines. “He was instrumental in our journey into the One Page Business Plan, which has driven our growth the past four years,” McPhee said. “With growth comes the need for technology, innovation and minimizing risk for our customers. Tim is able to foresee problem areas and acquire the right machines not only to add capacity, but redundancy, which reduces risk for our customers.” Added Bartz: “This award isn’t just about me at Mold Craft. It is everyone here who makes things like this happen. We throw out some ideas here and there, but it’s the guys in the shop, sales, Justin, my wife… without everyone working together, we can’t do what we are doing. And, without them, this award wouldn’t be possible.” „

The introduction of Tim Bartz as Mold Builder of the Year was provided by last year's honoree, Don Snow of CS Tool Engineering.

www.amba.org

27

Awards

Chicago Chapter Honored as AMBA Chapter of the Year by Jen Clark

Members of the Chicago Chapter accepted the Chapter of the Year award in recognition, in part, of their outstanding efforts in education and recruitment. Photo courtesy of Creative Technology Corporation

I

ts use of innovative means to promote education and apprenticeship, as well as developing current and future talent in the mold manufacturing field, made the American Mold Builder Association’s Chicago Chapter stand out amongst nominees for the 2015 Chapter of the Year award. “This is a great recognition for all the hard work our members put in to the chapter,” said Karen Norville, chapter coordinator, after receiving a $5,000 endowment from Progressive Components to donate to the educational institution of the chapter’s choice during the AMBA Annual Conference Awards Banquet in Indianapolis, Indiana. “We have a basic core of 10-12 people that put a lot of time in, but I can reach out to our entire membership for help with something and we get a variety of people stepping up. The fact that the whole chapter steps up and participates is unique – it’s not just one or two people doing everything.” 28

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Norville said the chapter realized several years ago that there was a need to find and educate a new generation of moldmakers. Current moldmakers, on average, she said, are in their late 50s. “There are a lot of people who will be retiring in the next five years. We need a younger workforce to take over.” The Chicago Chapter utilizes several initiatives to reach out to schools to put moldmaking careers center stage for students, some as young as seven or eight years old. The Earn While You Learn career fair booth is “staffed by members and, whenever possible, their apprentices,” said Francine Petrucci, president of the Chicago Chapter and B.A. Die Mold Inc. “In addition to being very active on our Education Steering Committee, many of our members also have strong relationships with their local schools, sitting on the local school’s advisory committees.”

The Education Steering Committee reached out to over 60 schools in the Chicago area to remind them of the chapter’s willingness to provide plant tours or classroom guest speakers for their programs and to tell them about a new initiative – Tools for Schools. “We ask our members to bring perishable shop supplies (i.e., grinding wheels, end mills, etc.) to our dinner meetings,” Petrucci explained. “The tools are collected and then donated to one of the local machining schools/classes in the area.” Last September, the chapter expanded its normal career fair booth into a week-long tradeshow. It participated in the International Machine Tool Show (IMTS) SMARTFORCE Student Summit. It was “probably our most exciting achievement for the last year,” Petrucci said, adding over 450 schools attended the event. “Many of our member shops arranged for their apprentices to staff the booth in shifts over the course of the show. It was awesome!” The Chicago Chapter also participated in Toshiba Machine Tool’s Manufacturing Day. “AMBA members from Matrix Tooling and Janler Plastics discussed mold manufacturing as a profession,” Petrucci said. “The students – some as young as seven and eight years old – and teachers were introduced to mold manufacturing, the injection molding process, scientific molding theory and injection machine screw technology – and they got a freshly molded Frisbee to take home.”

Norville said the chapter didn’t set out to target such young students, but it sees a need for that age group, too. “Parents come to these career fairs or job fairs, and they bring their kids to see what careers are out there,” she said. “Giving them an awareness of where plastics come from is important because they don’t know. We can take the opportunity to teach them and their parents about plastics, as well as inform them about jobs that are available in the industry. We can show them that jobs are in demand, not just in the US, but worldwide. You can get trained by the company you work for and be very successful.” Additional ways the chapter promotes mold manufacturing include the following: • www.moldyourcareer.org, a website that aims to build student, parent and educator awareness of a diverse range of career opportunities in mold manufacturing • The Benchmark, a quarterly newsletter that keeps members apprised of manufacturing matters before Congress • The Mold Your Career Award for employees of chapter companies who have been with their employers for over one year and who show promise as future mold builders, designers, CNC machinists or die makers • Regular dinner meetings in which members are provided with the latest information on technologies for mold building Congratulations to the Chicago Chapter on its outstanding achievement. „

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29

Focus

Succession Planning: Three 15-Minute Activities to Start Preparing for Tomorrow by Heather Haas, ADVISA

Succession planning is planning for the future success of your business. It is a deliberate, ongoing process of selecting and preparing the right people to assume leadership positions at all levels of your company. However, some of even the most prosperous and forward-thinking organizations have not made succession planning a priority. Why is that? The reasons are many, but I would offer that most business owners and leaders simply don’t know where to start.

2. 9 Box Exercise – 15 minutes Purpose: This exercise requires that you evaluate your current talent according to actual performance and perceived leadership potential. Instructions: Take a piece of paper and draw an X and Y axis. Label the X axis Performance and the Y axis Potential. Draw two more vertical lines and two more horizontal lines to create a grid of nine boxes as shown in the diagram below.

1. Now and Later Assessment – 15 minutes Purpose: This exercise forces you to think about the knowledge, skills, abilities, values and personality traits that are required for success in your role, now and later. Once you understand how to quantify the kind of leadership that’s required, it’s easier to set about the task of finding or developing talent for the future. Instructions: Set the timer on your iPhone for 15 minutes, open a Word doc and type your answer to the following two prompts. Don’t overanalyze. Just think for a moment or two and start typing. • Describe what success looks like in your present role. That is, what does someone have to know and be able to do in order to succeed to the highest standard? • Fast forward five years: does success in your role look the same? If not, what’s different? If you can’t confidently predict what will be different, why is that? Next steps: Ask each key leader in your company to complete the Now and Later Assessment and discuss at your next management meeting. Any common themes? Was this exercise easy or hard? Why? What was the mix of descriptors – behavioral/ personality, explicit knowledge/skills, performance outputs, values or intellectual capabilities? What does your team need to do as a result of this exercise?

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Potential

This article provides a starting line for those of you who haven’t begun the process. For those of you who have, this article will help gauge your progress.

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Performance Assess your talent pipeline by writing down people’s names according to your subjective assessment of their current performance and leadership potential. People in Box 1 are Low Performers with Low Potential. People in Box 9 are High Performers with High Potential. Next steps: Reflect on the results. Was this difficult to do or easy? Why? Any surprises? Do you think the individuals you ranked would assess themselves close to the way you did? What’s the implication of that? Do these individuals know specifically how to “move up and over” to another box? Why or why not? Are you formally evaluating and coaching on relevant leadership competencies? If yes, are they the right ones? If no, what’s the risk? 3. Urgent • Important Matrix – 15 minutes Purpose: This activity causes you to prioritize and rank the organizational task of succession planning against all of the other business initiatives to which you are committed. It should help quantify the business imperative for investing time, energy and resources into succession planning.

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Instructions: List the top five priorities or initiatives for your company this year. Then, give each one an Urgency score and an Importance score from one to 10, with one being least and 10 being most. Multiply the factors together to get a score for each item you listed. For example, if you ranked “open a new production facility” as a three on Urgency and a 10 on Importance, the score for that item would be 30. Now, add “succession planning” to the list. How does that rank? Next steps: Consider asking your executive team or Board of Directors to do this activity individually and then share responses in a meeting. How similar was everyone’s list of priorities? How about the rankings? Given everything on the organization’s plate, is it realistic to think succession planning will get the necessary attention? Whose responsibility is it? What’s at risk if a deliberate, systematic approach isn’t taken to selecting and preparing the right people to assume leadership positions at all levels of your company? In conclusion, succession planning requires reflection, clarification, communication and deliberate planning. It should not be a one-and-done event. It requires a balance of short-term and long-term thinking, which is why the activities in this article are so important. They force you to think. In succession planning, as with any worthwhile pursuit, knowing where you are starting from is just as important as knowing where you want to end up. The first step is the hardest, but take it. The future success of your company – and quite possibly, your personal or family legacy – depends on it. „ Heather Haas is the president of ADVISA, a management consultancy organization focused on helping leaders and businesses improve performance since 1986. ADVISA provides assessments, workforce analytics, training and high-touch consulting aimed at helping leaders find, keep and grow their people. Haas was a speaker at the 2015 AMBA Annual Conference and can be reached at 317.574.1550 or [email protected].

Corroplast FM is the new stainless steel mold base material available exclusively from SCHMOLZ+BICKENBACH. The team of metallurgical engineers from Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH specifically developed this grade for the plastics tooling industry. Corroplast FM offers the benefits of an improved microstructure, superior machinability and excellent corrosion resistance compared to other free machining stainless grades. Corroplast FM is ideally suited for mold bases, manifold plates, hot halves and other plastics tooling associated with processing corrosive resins (PVC) or used in corrosive manufacturing environments. For more information about Corroplast FM, please visit our website or contact us at (800) 323-1233. s+bi GROUP s+bi USA & CANADA Ph. (800) 323-1233 www.schmolz-bickenbach.us www.schmolz-bickenbach.ca

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Management

Top 5 Ways to Keep Your Customers Happy By Brittany Willes

Y

our customers are the lifeline of your business. Their satisfaction with your products and services determines your revenue stream. Happy, satisfied customers mean a more profitable business. How can you make sure your clients are happy, and remain that way, to boost your bottom line? Here are five ways to show your clients that you value their business. Pay Attention Your customers need to feel that you are listening to them, which involves much more than simply waiting to hear that they are satisfied with your products and services. Paying attention means learning to anticipate your clients’ needs, knowing their expectations and being able to interpret those needs in a way that ensures all parties are satisfied with the end goal. Pay special attention to any concerns your client has expressed. Few things are more frustrating than feeling as though apprehensions are falling upon deaf ears. By paying close attention to your customers, you demonstrate that they are valuable to you, reinforcing their trust and confidence in your business. Don’t Believe the Multi-Tasking Myth We live in a society where attention deficit is common place – expected even. Multi-tasking is considered one of the most valuable job skills and perceived as a necessary business practice. It’s no surprise then when businesses take on more work that is wise, encouraging employees to multi-task projects in the misguided belief that it will save valuable time and resources. As a result, full and complete focus goes out the window. Juggling multiple projects means no one project will receive the concentrated attention it deserves. This can lead to reduced quality and dissatisfied customers. So, slow down. Don’t take on more projects than is reasonable to ensure customers receive the best quality you can offer. Don’t Play the Blame Game No one likes to admit when they’re wrong. Your first reaction is usually to cringe, deny and look around for the nearest scapegoat. If you make a mistake, don’t try to slough the blame off onto someone else – especially the customer. Acknowledge your error and reassure your customer that you will do everything you can to rectify the situation. Most clients understand that mistakes happen and no one is perfect. Trying to stop looking bad by avoiding responsibility actually makes you look worse in the end. Customers are less likely to trust your word or your professional abilities. As a result, they will be less likely to seek you out in the future. 32

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Remind Your Customers You Value Them – And, They Should Value You Like you, your customers get busy and may not always remember everything you do, or have done, for them. There’s nothing wrong with a friendly reminder that they have one less thing to worry about because of your customer service. This can take the form of a quick phone call, a friendly email or even a monthly newsletter. Keep your customers happy by reminding them that while you do value their business, they also should value yours in return. Don’t Forget the Personal Touch Technology has made it easier and more convenient to communicate with anyone, anywhere, at practically any time. Yet, how often do we become frustrated when reaching a voicemail or automated recording instead of an actual person? Or while waiting for a response to an email sent a week ago? Keep your customers happy by keeping it personal. When possible, arrange to talk to your customers in person. Make use of emerging video messaging technologies so your customers always have a face to put with your name/voice. While it may seem old-fashioned, don’t discount the value of a handwritten note or thank you card sent to your most valued customers. Let them know how much you continue to appreciate their business by adding a personal touch to your business relationship. Some items on this list may seem obvious, but that doesn’t make them any less valuable or that you’ve been practicing them effectively. The best time to determine if you’re keeping your customers happy is now. So, take stock. Have you established a personal connection with your clients? Do you devote your full focus to each project you undertake? Are you hearing clients when they express their concerns, as well as their satisfaction? If not, it’s time to devote more of your efforts to keeping your customers happy to keep your company growing. „

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Show Preview amerimold returns to suburban Chicago’s Donald E. Stephens Center, June 17-18, 2015. From product technology to process improvement, business development to management strategies – amerimold 2015 offers solutions for every part of mold manufacturing. Connecting mold manufacturing and plastic injection molding, amerimold ’s show floor will feature exhibitors displaying products used for designing, machining and repairing injection molds. Products on display include machine tools, cutting tools, CAD/CAM, 3D printers, mold components, materials, mold/die/tool services and more. The technical conference will deliver expert insights into the production and management challenges facing die/mold machining and injection molding businesses. Topics will include 5-axis machining, conformal cooling, mold maintenance, material selection, injection molding and customer and workforce development. These exhibitors may be of interest to The American Mold Builder audience. American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) Booth #625 www.amba.org Serving as the premier trade association for the US mold manufacturing industry, with financial and operational metrics, cost-saving programs, educational resources and so much more. Membership information, AMBA Sourcebook, The American Mold Builder and the new Moldmaking Matters video will be available at the AMBA booth. BORIDE Engineered Abrasives Booth #1106 www.borideabrasives.com Showcasing its newest products: Premium Stoning Oil and Golden Star Polishing Stone. Attendees will have the opportunity to try these new products and see live product and equipment demonstrations. Also displayed will be the company’s full line of mold polishing supplies. BORIDE has developed and manufactured abrasive products for industrial and consumer applications for nearly 40 years. CGS North America, Inc. Booth #1223 www.camtool.com Demonstrating the latest version of the Elite CAD/CAM software, CAM-TOOL Version 11. CAM-TOOL’s ability to machine a mold or die with minimal to no polishing will be shown by the parts on display. Parts will include a side milling rough tool path, a new tool path for bump/box cycle cutting and switches for conventional cutting. Also available will be version 5.1 of the CG CAM-TOOL, an add-in to SolidWorks. Cimatron Technologies, Inc. Booth #1013 www.cimatrontech.com Cimatron is part of 3D Systems, a leading provider of 3D printing centric design-to-manufacturing solutions including 3D printers, print materials and cloud sourced on-demand custom parts for professionals and consumers alike in materials including plastics, metals, ceramics and edibles. CimatronE and 34

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GibbsCAM are two major CAD/CAM software for manufacturing product lines. They cater to all manufacturing sectors, offering specialized solutions for mold and diemakers, as well as solutions for 2.5-5 Axis production milling, turning and MTM. Creative Blow Mold Tooling Booth #501 www.creativeblowmold.com Presenting information on how to progress from an idea to a 3D design, through engineering and development and, finally, into extrusion blow mold tooling that creates superior consumer packaging. Creative also offers case study analysis utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation technology, which takes the complexity out of the initial mold design process. DMS Booth #1211 www.dmscomponents.com Featuring several products, including Metal Rust Guard, Koolflow water manifolds, PlatenGuard locating rings, Worm Gear (which allows users to remove plates without having to disassemble/reassemble the mold), REDE Vault and full-color mold plaques. Dynamic Tool & Design Booth #500 www.dyntool.com Specializing in building close tolerance, high-cavitation molds for the packaging, personal care and medical markets, including multi-shot molds, stack molds, spin stack and unscrewing molds. Dynamic offers design and engineering services, mold building and in-house sampling. With the addition of a 17,000 sq. ft. Technology Center, Dynamic now offers turnkey services and full mold qualification. Electroform Company, Inc. Booth #908 www.injectionmoldmaking.com Specializing in injection molds for multi-shot and in-mold applications, product-development, single-cavity prototypes to multi-cavity, high-volume, hot-runner molds and stack molds,

as well as manufacturing cell development, injection molding, and mold validation. Electroform serves a variety of industries including medical, closures, consumer products and select areas of automotive. EROWA Technology, Inc. Booth # 930 www.erowa.com Presenting the new ITS 50 Holder C, which offers enhancement to the company’s ITS 50 holders that have been a standard in the industry. In order to increase process safety and provide contamination protection, the new holder comes equipped with a sealing plate which, when combined with the sealed chuck, forms a barrier to prevent any debris from entering the chuck. GPI Prototype & Manufacturing Services, Inc. Booth #428 www.gpiprototype.com Offering prototypes and end-use parts with complex geometries once thought impossible to produce by using Direct Metal Laser Melting (DMLM). As one of the first metal additive manufacturing service providers in the US, GPI has the expertise and capability to take clients from the early prototype stage to full production, producing molds and mold inserts in aluminum, cobalt chrome and maraging steel. Graphic Tool Corporation Booth #527 www.graphictool.com Displaying samples and components of select mold pieces, as well as finished products produced by its molds. Graphic Tool

is a mold builder that supplies molds for the medical, automotive, consumer, cosmetic and telecommunication markets. HASCO America, Inc. Booth #907 www.hasco.com Presenting a large number of new additions to its standard metric mold base plate and component product range. On display will be the new applications HASCO App and Magic Lens, a range of standard DLC components, the A8001 clamping fixture, the Z1246 temperature controller and HASCO’s line of DLC coated collapsible cores, which range from 8-200mm. Hirschmann Engineering USA, Inc. Booth #423 www.hirschmannusa.com Offering EDM submersible rotary index tables, including a full line of programmable high-speed spinning, single and multiple axes for integration directly to the machine control, as well as pallet systems for integrated parts management with “Solid Referencing” for machining centers, wire and sink EDM, grinders and any application requiring accurate, quick change of work pieces. INCOE Corporation Booth #819 www.incoe.com Displaying a new, low-cost timer Valve-gate Sequence Controller (GSC Mini), molded parts using SoftGate Technology and the new, smaller-sized, hydraulically actuated HEM cylinder. INCOE is a USA family-owned company specializing only in hot runner solutions. page 36 X

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Show Preview

W page 35 Industrial Molds Group Booth #817 www.industrialmolds.com Promoting its expanded capabilities with the addition of machinery, equipment and production floor renovations. This $2 million investment includes a new Mikron HSM 400 ULP connected to a second carbon cutting machine and three new Haas CNC milling machines – a V4 and two V2s; two Makino U6 wire EDMs, one OKK 1000 Horizontal mill and a gantry system.

LaserStar Technologies Booth #506 www.laserstar.net Featuring the latest in laser welding and deep engraving for the mold industry. The only US manufacturer designing and manufacturing a complete range of Nd:YAG and fiber laser systems for micro-welding, marking, engraving and cutting applications. Makino Booth #913 www.makino.com Offering a wide range of high-precision metal cutting and EDM machinery, including horizontal machining centers, vertical machining centers, 5-axis machining centers, graphite machining centers, and wire and Ram EDMs. Makino’s flexible automation solutions provide reduced labor costs and increased throughput in a variety of production volumes and designs.

Materion Performance Alloys Booth #918 www.materion.com Featuring a variety of MoldMAX alloys, including copper beryllium and beryllium-free MoldMAX products, tailored for all types of plastic molds, resisting abrasive wear and exhibiting excellent wear resistance when used for injection mold components and inserts in direct contact with plastic parts in the injection molding process. Available in rounds, square and rectangular bars, plat and forged rings. MGS Manufacturing Group Booth 923 www.mgstech.com Providing optimized manufacturing solutions for high-precision plastic products, with services including engineering and design-for-manufacture, moldmaking, sampling, development and qualification, injection molding and value-added operations, multi-shot technologies, scalable automation, assemblies and complete turnkey manufacturing systems. Mold-Tech, Inc. Booth #627 www.mold-techinc.com Designing and building precision injection molds, with information for multi-cavity production, hot runner, auto unscrewing, in-mold decoration, insert, micro, MIM, multishot, silicone, shuttle, and stack molds. The company is ISO 9001-certified and ITAR registered. National Tool & Manufacturing Co. Booth #631 www.ntm.com Supplying quality mold bases and mold steel for the moldmaking industry. Along with its products, the company offers grinding and milling services for its customers’ orders, fast quotes and on-time delivery.

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Omega Tool, Inc. Booth #1234 www.omega-tool.com Focusing on high-end, tight-tolerance plastic injection mold builds. The company services all industries, including consumer goods, packaging, aerospace, medical, automotive, etc. Omega can supply turnkey full service needs, from part development and design to build and sample. Progressive Components Booth #1105 www.procomps.com Presenting new products and services, including innovative solutions that will advance customers’ mold design and build capabilities and optimize production. Progressive Components will feature Z-Series alignment locks with new lifetime warranty, the newly expanded line of SRT Series Slide Retainers, Z-Series Bar Locks, wear plates and more. SelfLube Booth #924 www.selflube.com Featuring Trunnion Lifter Slides, which automatically conform to any lifter rod angle to reduce machining and build time. Models are available with angles of travel of up to 15 degrees, with an optional rod length adjustment feature.

SelfLube’s product line includes self-lubricating and conventionally lubricating items. Suburban Tool & Die Booth #809 www.suburbantool.com Servicing the electronics, medical, aerospace, communications, consumer products, automotive, industrial equipment and defense industries by producing quality molds and tooling on time. Suburban has mold design and build experience in injection, transfer, compression, two shot, MIM molding and die cast tools, while specializing in the design of complex contoured tools requiring multiple actions. Synventive Booth #614 www.synventive.com Serving customers in the automotive, electronic, medical, consumer, industrial and packaging markets by manufacturing hot runner systems and components for injection molded plastic parts. Synventive has manufacturing operations in North America, Europe and Asia, each with its own manufacturing, design, and research and development departments. ToolingDocs Booth #408 www.toolingdocs.com Featuring products designed to streamline efficiencies in the plant, including Toolroom Bench, Mold Status Tags and Mold Light Bar. Also, ToolingDocs will present an informative workshop titled “Making Maintenance Profitable,” focusing on helping attendees better understand true tooling maintenance costs and how to reduce them through the use of accurate data collection and proper bench skills. TST Tooling Software Technology, LLC Booth #617 www.tst-software.com Featuring VISI CAD/CAM/CAE and VISI-PEPS laser/wire software. VISI and VISI PEPS are known for the competitive advantage they provide to the tooling industry in the design and manufacture of plastic injection molds, 2D through 5-axis milling, electrode production and others. TST Tooling Software services several manufacturing industries, including automotive, electronic, medical and aerospace. Vincent Tool Technologies Booth #526 www.vincenttool.com Manufacturing custom injection mold bases, from single-shot prototype to multi-cavity over molded high-volume production tooling. The company will be presenting information regarding its machining expertise and custom molds. Vincent Tool offers quality assurance and the ability to react within minutes of a requested design change during the building of any mold base. Westminster Tool, Inc. Booth #600 www.westminstertool.com Manufacturing complete injection mold solutions serving the medical, consumer packaging and aerospace markets. Westminster provides customers with DFM services, SPI Class 101 injection molds and a fully debugged and proven scientific molding process. „

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Association

AMBA Launches Leadership Summit in Sunny Riviera Maya AMBA is pleased to announce its Fall Leadership Summit in Sunny Rivera Maya, Mexico, November 4-8, 2015. This Summit will allow moldmaking executives the opportunity to reflect on their current business situations while providing activities and engagements that will challenge each leader to establish new robust plans for an improved business model. AMBA understands its member company leaders face challenges in running their moldmaking companies. The aim of this Leadership Summit is to establish an environment where executives can focus ON their business while rejuvenating

their mental mindset. When’s the last time you took a step back to focus and work on your business? The all-inclusive, five-star lodging for this summit promises to have something for everyone, with two choices at Karisma Resorts: El Dorado Casitas Royale (adults only) or Generations Riviera Maya (family friendly). From snorkeling, parasailing and golf to relaxing at the spa or dining at one of 15 restaurants, the Summit will offer endless ways to spend time and connect with fellow mold builders amongst incredible surroundings. Programming, resort details and registration for the first ever Leadership Summit will be available June 2015. For more information, visit www.amba.org.

AMBA Plant Tour Workshop July 16, 2015; 8:00am – 12:30pm Grand Rapids, MI Paragon D&E – Creating a Sustainable Future by Design Serving a variety of industries including automotive, heavy truck, oil and gas, aerospace and defense, marine and nuclear, Paragon D&E is known for its accuracy and precision in medium- to largetonnage injection molds, compression molds, hydro form tooling, fixtures and contract machining. The company’s reputation for innovation is built on more than 50 years of looking outside of the box – creating and designing processes, procedures, software and even machinery to ensure greater efficiencies, quality and capacity.

Tour attendees will have the opportunity to explore Paragon’s expertise in customization in a number of areas including program management, job scheduling, aggressive apprenticeship programs, tool design, lights out machining and Paragon’s newest project – a custom, 5-axis high-speed finishing machine that the company designed and built through a partnership with Fidia and Delcam. Tour includes lunch, cross-talk and a Wednesday night reception sponsored by Industeel, Makino and SelfLube.

Special Thanks to Paragon Tour Sponsors

New Webinar A Mold is Gold – Protecting Your Assets from Fraud June 24, 2015 • 12:00 – 1:00pm CST $25 – AMBA Members, $50 – Non-Members According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ Report to the Nations, a typical organization loses 5 percent of its annual revenue to occupational fraud. In addition, a fraud scheme goes on for 18 months on average before detection, and nearly 45 percent of US organizations reported that they suffered some type of fraud within the past two years. This presentation will provide insight on what fraudsters are looking for, particularly in a mold building company. Why should business owners and executives attend? • Learn what red flags to look for and understand what is truly at risk 38

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• Benefit from a practical, understandable overview of data protection methods • Determine how to protect your business and intellectual property (i.e., customer data, R&D information and proprietary business practices and methods) • Understand the threats posed by your employees, vendors and fraudsters • Learn common behavior traits of fraudsters • Find out how these risks impact your business value • Discover the latest in fraud prevention tips Presenter: Adam J. Herman, Partner and Director of Consulting Services, Mueller Prost For more details and to register, visit www.amba.org. Presenter: Adam J. Herman, CPA/ABV/CFF, CVA, ASA, CFE Partner and Director of Consulting Services

AMBA Welcomes New Board Members Greg Eidenberger Greg Eidenberger has been employed with Paragon D&E the past 34 years. Currently, he is vice president of sales with responsibilities for sales of Injection Molds, Compression Molds, RTM Molds, Prototype Molds, Lay-Up Tooling, Repair and Mold Maintenance. He is also managing the Estimating team, the Program Management team and is directly involved in the management of Paragon D&E’s Brownsville, TX facility, Rio Grande a Paragon Company. Paragon D&E manufactures medium to very large molds for the plastic industry. In addition to mold making, Paragon D&E also provides tooling and machining for Metal Hydro-Forming, Oil and Gas, Aerospace, Defense, Marine and Nuclear applications. Greg has worked in several capacities at Paragon D&E as a Mold Designer, Project Manager and Technical Sales Engineer. Greg agreed to serve on the AMBA Board of Directors in order to give back to both the AMBA organization and the industry that has provided him with so much over the years. Raymond Coombs Raymond Coombs, Jr. is the president of Westminster Tool Inc., a custom injection mold manufacturer supplying complete injection mold solutions to the medical, aerospace, consumer packaging, and automotive industries. Westminster bridges the gap between concept and production by providing customers with DFM services, SPI Class 101 injection molds, and a fully debugged & proven scientific molding process. Ray also serves as the president of the Eastern Advanced Manufacturing Alliance (EAMA), a consortium of local manufacturers and schools who work together to promote manufacturing as a viable career option. During his time as president, Ray has worked diligently to create a unified political voice for local manufacturers, and to promote and coordinate educational programs to meet their demands. Ray has been recognized by the industry and the local community for his work. He was the recipient of the Manufacturing Leadership 100 Advocacy Award, named an honorary member of the Epsilon Pi Tau Honor Society, and was also presented the Merit Award by Quinebaug Valley Community College (QVCC) for his efforts in successfully having QVCC recognized as a Manufacturing Center of Excellence.

NEW MEMBERS IDEAS Inc. • North Canton, OH Brad Borne, president 330.896.2300 IDEAS Inc. is a product design and development company with turnkey mold building and molding services. The company specializes in rapid injection molding. Bentonville Mold & Die • Bentonville, AR Chuck Law, general manager 479.273.3497 Bentonville Mold & Die has served customers nationwide, maintaining the traditions of outstanding service and delivery. The company focuses on making quality count. Chicago Math & Science Academy • Chicago, IL Irene Bermudez, community outreach 773.761.8960 Chicago Math & Science Academy is a college prep public charter school serving Rogers Park. The school’s mission is to prepare students for college with a STEM focus. St. Cloud Technical & Community College • St. Cloud, MN Chris Raffety, machine tool instructor 320.308.5481 St. Cloud Technical & Community College offers a machine tool program that trains students in the machining profession. Triton College • River Grove, IL Antigone Sharris, chair, eng. tech. 708.456.0300 Triton College is a Chicagoland area community college offering the education needed to support industry, from machining to jig and fixture design. NEW PARTNERS Bilz Tool Inc. • Lombard, IL Tim Fara, managing director 847.734.9390 / www.bilzusa.com Bilz Tool clamping systems are used worldwide on a wide variety of machines and in a multitude of applications. The company’s success is due to a continual process of development, leading to improvement of existing product lines and innovative new products. BICO Steel • Mogadore, OH Jeff Ford, sales & marketing manager 800.670.4311 / www.bicosteel.com BICO Steel is a complete, single-source steel plate processor, providing timely solutions to an infinite variety of needs in a wide spectrum of industries. The company’s unmatched equipment and facilities mean it is ready to bring the items BICO’s customers require. „

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Strategies

The Employee Handbook: A Pandora’s Box of Unfair Labor Practices by Justin Spack, Ice Miller

Employers thrive on efficiency, stability and consistency. In this fast-paced, constantly changing business climate, the employer that can adapt to every situation by applying a set procedure is the employer that usually comes out ahead. In the realm of human resources and employee administration, employers typically achieve that stability and consistency through an employee handbook. It is the employer’s scripture, its set of Golden Rules, its creed and doctrine, its ultimate authority. And now, that employee handbook could force employers to spend substantial money, time and effort fighting unfair labor practice charges. For several years now, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) has expanded the scope of its application of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”). Now more than ever, the Board examines every employer, even those whose employees are not affiliated with a union, to ensure compliance with

mutual aid or protection. Stated more plainly, if an employee would reasonably construe an employer’s work rule to prevent employees from engaging in activities they are allowed to do by law (such as discussing wages, hours or other terms or conditions of employment), the employer will have committed an unfair labor practice even if that work rule never has been applied. Therefore, in order to avoid costly litigation, employers will need to carefully review and modify many areas commonly addressed in employee handbooks – rules regarding confidentiality, professionalism, anti-harassment, trademark, photography/recording and media contact, just to name a few. The devil truly is in the details. When analyzing whether the maintenance of a work rule violates federal labor law, the Board scrutinized specific word choices or phrasing, often focusing on one or two words in the rule to determine if the rule was unlawful. The Board also dissected how multiple policies operate in conjunction with one another. Even if one work rule standing alone would not violate the Act, its interaction with another work rule might cause employees to reasonably construe the rules to “chill” their rights under the Act, thus causing the employer to commit an unfair labor practice and violate federal labor law.

By engaging counsel early, employers can relieve themselves of the headaches of future costly litigation, and the employee handbook once again can become a set of Golden Rules that provides stability and consistency, rather than a Pandora’s Box. federal labor law. Recently, the Board’s General Counsel issued a 30-page report summarizing the various ways that employers violate the Act simply by maintaining certain work rules—even if those rules never have been applied in an illegal fashion. The potential impact on employers is staggering. Every employer, whether unionized or not, potentially is at risk of being brought up on unfair labor practice charges before the Board, based solely on the language in the employee handbook. Under Board law, simply maintaining a work rule can violate the Act if the rule has a “chilling effect” on employees’ federally-guaranteed rights to act together with other employees for

By way of example, the following nuances in the language of employee handbook provisions caused the Board to determine the following work rules are unlawful, even if they have never been applied:

• A rule prohibiting employees from discussing “customer or employee information” outside of work or disclosing “confidential or proprietary information” is unlawful, but prohibiting disclosure of “business secrets or other confidential information” is lawful; • Requiring employees to “be respectful” to the company, employees and customers is unlawful, but preventing “rudeness or unprofessional behavior” toward a customer is lawful; • Prohibiting employees from making “defamatory, libelous, slanderous or discriminatory comments” about the company, employees or management, or taking any action that would “harm the company’s business or reputation” is unlawful, page 42 X

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spring 2015

ZERO STOCK CUTTING. NO HAND FINISHING. VIRTUALLY NO SPOTTING. IN DIE/MOLD, IT’S THE DETAILS THAT MATTER MOST.

You’ll do anything you can to reduce delivery times and operating costs. And Makino is doing everything possible to help. Makino technologies enable you to bypass time-consuming steps to deliver mirror-like finishes on even the most complex geometries. All in record time. Because when you make what matters, making it better— and faster—is what matters most. Don’t wait. Get the whole Makino die/mold story right now: MAKINO.COM/DIEMOLD

WHEN YOU MAKE WHAT MATTERS www.amba.org

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Strategies

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but requiring employees to be courteous and respectful to a customer or any member of the public while in the course and scope of the company’s business is lawful; A rule stating employees cannot “pick fights,” make insulting, embarrassing or abusive comments about other employees online, or send “unwanted, offensive, or inappropriate” e-mails is unlawful; but preventing threats, intimidation, coercion, harassment or interference with job performance is lawful; Forcing employees to refer all media or government agency inquiries to a specified company official is unlawful; but stating that only one person speaks for the company is lawful; Preventing employees from using company logos or trademarks in social media is unlawful; but telling employees to respect copyright and trademark rights is lawful; Stating that employees cannot take photographs or make recordings on company property or while “on duty” is unlawful; but preventing such photography or recordings during working time is lawful; Prohibiting employees from “walking off the job” is unlawful, but allowing for termination if an employee “walks off a shift” is lawful.

Obviously, the differences in these variations are slight, and it is not readily apparent at first glance why certain language is unlawful and others lawful. The General Counsel’s report attempts to explain the rationale used by the Board, but in this regard, the old proverb that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” rings particularly true. The most prudent course employers can take is having legal counsel carefully review and update the phrasing in an employee handbook to ensure that each rule (and the interaction between rules) complies with the Board’s rationale. By engaging counsel early, employers can relieve themselves of the headaches of future costly litigation, and the employee handbook once again can become a set of Golden Rules that provides stability and consistency, rather than a Pandora’s Box that could unleash chaos and turmoil if the Board opens it and looks inside. „

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the american MOLD BUILDER

spring 2015

Justin Spack is a member of Ice Miller’s Labor and Employment Group. For more information, contact him at 317.236.2495 or [email protected]. This publication is intended for general information purposes only and does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice. The reader should consult with legal counsel to determine how laws or decisions discussed herein apply to the reader's specific circumstances.

Industry

Moldmaking Matters Recruitment Tool Launched Launched at NPE, the Moldmaking Matters: Your Career Can Make a Difference video, produced by Creative Technology, serves to help the mold building industry with its number one problem: recruiting the next generation of workers. In this video, sponsored by MoldMaking Technology, American Mold Builders Association, Society of the Plastics Industry, Mold Making and Mold Design Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers and Project Lead the Way, a team of young manufacturing professionals at NyproMold explains what it takes to make a life-saving medical device, taking viewers through the various steps of the process, explaining their jobs, sharing how they feel about their current careers and helping to dispel the many myths of manufacturing along the

Upgraded Manufacturing Day Site Promises More Features and Ease of Use The partners responsible for producing Manufacturing DaySM at the national level have announced the refresh of its website, MFGDAY.com. The upgraded site boasts more resources for sponsors, companies, supporters and volunteers, making it easier to participate in this year’s annual celebration of manufacturing, which is scheduled for Friday, October 2, 2015. Users now can sign up to host events, find MFG DAY® events in their area and learn more about sponsorship opportunities through the newly updated interactive site. With user-friendly links to social media channels, scholarships and success stories, potential participants, manufacturers, educators and students can better collaborate and access important industry resources. For more information, visit www.MFGDAY.com.

way. The concept was to allow young professionals currently working in the industry to share their own personal journeys and thereby help educate a future generation of workers about the fulfilling, lucrative career opportunities available in mold manufacturing. The end result is a new recruitment tool, which can be shared with local communities, schools and government officials, at job fairs and even open houses at mold manufacturing facilities. In addition to the video, a teacher’s discussion guide and DVD were published and mailed to 5,000+ Project Lead the Way STEM educators. The video can be viewed online at short.moldmakingtechnology. com/mmcareers and also will be distributed at amerimold in June in the MoldMaking Technology and AMBA booths.

aggregated and queried into custom reports, as well as manufacturing trend reports, white papers and various other technical reports. Clinton Aluminum is among the first companies to sponsor Harbour IQ. As part of its PRO-level partnership, Clinton Aluminum will provide industry-related white papers and technology insights that will be available to Harbour IQ participants. For more information, visit www.harbourresults.com or www.clintonaluminum.com. page 44 X

Volvo Slashes Production Time with Stratasys 3D Printing Stratasys Ltd., Minneapolis, Minnesota, has announced that Volvo Trucks dramatically is decreasing turnaround times of assembly line manufacturing tools by more than 94 percent since incorporating Stratasys additive manufacturing technology at its engine production facility in Lyon, France. The company has reduced the time taken to design and manufacture certain tools traditionally produced in metal from 36 days to two days in thermoplastic ABSplus using Stratasys Fortus 3D production system. These gains in time also are improving the production plant’s overall efficiency and flexibility; delivery times are upheld and the use of additive manufacturing has saved costs by reducing waste. For more information, visit www.stratasys.com. Clinton Aluminum Announced as PRO-level Partner for Harbour IQTM Harbour Results, Inc., Royal Oak, Michigan, announced Clinton Aluminum as a PRO-level partner of its newest product offering, Harbour IQTM. Partners and participants will have access to relevant industry data and information that can be www.amba.org

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Industry 44

W page 43 Gilman Precision Teams Up with GPS to Prepare Students for Future Careers Dedicated to changing the lives of students for over a decade, GPS Education Partners, Butler, Wisconsin, has since grown to be a nationally recognized program. Participating school districts, located near GPS education centers throughout Wisconsin, collaborate with GPS to place students aspiring to pursue a technical career in the manufacturing industry through real-world training. Offered to juniors and seniors enrolled in participating school districts, the program allows students to gain industry credentials, employability skill and transferable post-secondary college credits. The student engages in two hours of classroom learning, followed by working at their designated intern locations. Ideally, this program can provide an experience that will have lasting effects on the student’s future. Gilman Precision, Grafton, Wisconsin, hopes to continue a long-term relationship with GPS. For more information, call 262.226.2001 or visit www.gpsed.org.

the american MOLD BUILDER

spring 2015

EOS Names Glynn Fletcher President of EOS of North America, Inc. EOS, Novi, Michigan, announced that Glynn Fletcher has been named president of EOS of North America, Inc. Fletcher previously was the president of GF Machining Solutions (GFMS) Americas LLC, Lincolnshire, Illinois (formerly known as GF AgieCharmilles). Fletcher brings longstanding manufacturing expertise to EOS at a time when the company is seeing increased application of its lasersintering technology to create end-use products. He will be managing two companies within the EOS family: Advanced Laser Materials (ALM), a provider of high-performance polymers, including customized blends, for the AM industry, and Integra Services, which offers high-quality service and support for rapid prototyping and AM technology. For more information, visit www.eos.info. Westminster Invests in Skilled Workforce Westminster Tool, Plainfield, Connecticut, faces the challenge in the coming years of replacing key individuals who are preparing for retirement. Recognizing this challenge, Westminster President and CEO Raymond Coombs Jr. has been able to produce a sustainable pipeline of skilled workers

NPE2015 Sets Records at SPI The Plastics Industry Trade Association, founder and producer of NPE: The International Plastics Showcase, has released final data for NPE 2015, showing the event attracted 2,029 exhibitors over 1,128,200 net square feet (104,813 sq.m) of exhibit space – exceeding the previous records of 2,009 exhibitors and 1,041,000 net square feet (96,712 sq.m) set in 2000. In addition, registered attendance for NPE 2015 was 65,810 – 19 percent greater than three years ago. Registrants came from 23,396 unique companies – 22 percent more than the 19,198 companies at NPE 2012 – representing a substantial increase in buying potential. This was the second NPE to be held in Orlando, and SPI has signed contracts to keep NPE at the Orange County Convention Center in 2018 and 2021. To learn more, visit www.npe.org. „

JUNE AMBA Webinar: A Mold is Gold – Protecting Your Assets from Fraud, June 24, 2015, www.amba.org

CALENDAR

through a comprehensive training program utilizing a combination of outside educational institutions and its own internal training program, Westminster Academy (est. 2014). This approach began by working with local academia to establish Quinebaug Valley Community College’s Advanced Manufacturing Certificate Program. Westminster continues to support this program by offering job shadows, internships and jobs to students. Upon graduating from this program, workers can join Westminster with a solid foundation in manufacturing basics and then be enrolled in Westminster Academy to help them continue to advance their careers. For more information, visit www.westminstertool.com.

amerimold, June 17-18, 2015, Rosemont, IL amerimoldexpo.com PLASTEC East, June 9-11, 2015, New York, NY, www.plasteceast.com

JULY AMBA Plant Tour Workshop: Paragon D&E, July 16, 2015, Grand Rapids, MI, www.amba.org

SEPTEMBER AMBA Plant Tour Workshop: Westminster Tool, September 24, 2015, Plainfield, CT, www.amba.org

OCTOBER PLASTEC Texas, October 13-14, 2015, Houston, TX, www.plastectexas.plasticstoday.com

HEAVYWEIGHT

SHIPPING

STARTS

HERE YRC is the leader in 2-5 day cross-country and cross-border LTL (less-thantruckload) service with the most comprehensive network in North America. American Mold Builders Association members can receive significant www.amba.org savings with YRC, simply go to www.enrollhere.net or call 800.647.3061.

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Ad Index 3D Systems/Cimatron E .......................................................... www.3dsystems.com/www.cimatrontech.com .................................... 14 A. Finkl & Sons Co. ................................................................ ZZZŅQNOFRP .................................................................................... 27 Acrisure .................................................................................... www.acrisure.com................................................................................ 36 AMBA...................................................................................... www.amba.org ....................................................................................... 9 amerimold ................................................................................ www.amerimold.com ........................................................................... 15 BORIDE Engineered Abrasives .............................................. www.borideabrasives.com ................................................................... 46 CGS North America, Inc. ........................................................ www.camtool.com ............................................................................... 43 Crystallume, a Division of RobbJack Corporation .................. www.crystallume.com.......................................................................... 12 Ellwood Specialty Steel ........................................................... www.ess.elwd.com............................................................................... 21 EROWA Technology, Inc. ...................................................... www.erowa.com .................................................................................. 29 Gesswein .................................................................................. www.gesswein.com.............................................................................. 35 Grainger ................................................................................... www.grainger.com ..................................................... Inside Back Cover HASCO America, Inc. ............................................................. www.hasco.com ..................................................................................... 7 Hirschmann, Inc. ..................................................................... www.hirschmannusa.com .................................................................... 37 INCOE Corporation ................................................................. www.incoe.com.................................................................................... 11 Makino ..................................................................................... www.makino.com/diemold .................................................................. 41 Midland Technologies, Inc. ..................................................... www.midlandtechnologies.com ........................................................... 42 Millstar, LLC ........................................................................... www.millstar.com ................................................................................ 17 Milacron ................................................................................... www.one.milacron.com ........................................................ Back Cover Mold-Tech Midwest................................................................. www.mold-tech.com ............................................................................ 44 National Tool & Manufacturing, Co. . ..................................... www.ntm.com ...................................................................................... 19 Ohio Carbon Blank, Inc. .......................................................... www.ohiocarbonblank.com ................................................................. 21 Plastic Engineering & Technical Services, Inc. ....................... www.petsinc.net ..................................................................................... 5 Precision Laser Technology ..................................................... www.PrecisionLaserTech.com ............................................................ 12 Precision Marshall Steel .......................................................... www.MarshalloyMQFM.com .............................................................. 33

AD INDEX

Progressive Components.......................................................... www.procomps.com ..................................................Inside Front Cover SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH USA Group ............................ www.schmolz-bickenbach.us............................................................... 31 Superior Die Set Corporation................................................... www.superiordieset.com ...................................................................... 42 Ultra Polishing, Inc. ................................................................. www.ultrapolishing.com ...................................................................... 44 Vincent Tool ............................................................................ www.vincenttool.com .......................................................................... 14 Wisconsin Engraving Co. Inc. / Unitex ................................... www.wi-engraving.com ....................................................................... 35 YRC ......................................................................................... www.enrollhere.net .............................................................................. 45

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the american MOLD BUILDER

spring 2015

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COME SEE WHAT YES BUILT. There is no challenge we will say no to. Because we know that with the widest range of products, technologies, expertise and services, there is no solution we can’t conceive. Contact us to see how our philosophy of Yes has reshaped the very fabric of our brand. Explore all that’s possible with injection, extrusion, blow molding, co-injection, hot runner systems, mold technologies, process control equipment and fluids.

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New high precision and high cavity mold bases for medical and packaging applications.