By Floyd Coates, President of American Plastic Molding Corp.

Voice: 812-752-7000, Fax: 812-752-5155, Email: Floyd@apmc.com

Plastic Injection Molders come in all sizes and flavors. Matching the molder and customer is essential for the economic well being of both.

One category of molders is the "shoot and ship shop". He is a molder who simply melts plastic materials and shoots them into molds. He might be a good supplier for products whose specifications are very broad, the quality standard low, and (if there is a part failure), there will be minimum risk to life and property. These molding companies have generally just a few old molding machines with sloppy controls. They will lack quality control departments and procedures. They will lack engineering departments; but they will usually be the low bidder.

At the other extreme you have the super high quality molder who supplies parts in a very narrow niche due to part size, material specification or other specialization. He is able to trace and certify each part made and each of its raw material components back to the earthly origins potentially through several different manufacturing processes. (This is a characteristic molder for the aircraft industry.) This company is full of auditors, accountants, attorneys, clerks, and a few people who produce the product. Lack of engineering support and lack of quality assurance procedures and standards are reasons why a "shoot and ship molder" could make what appears to be the same part for a lower price than the high quality molder.

Molder selection criteria:

And then there are molders in between. In selection of your molder, there are several questions that you need to consider.

• Does he have molding machines appropriately sized for the manufacture of your parts?
• Does he have an engineering department?
• Does he have the capability of designing your plastic part or your complete assembly?
• Does he bring design consultation to your facility?
• Does he study your manufacturing process and understand manufacturing variables of

• Does he have prototyping capability for SLA, SLS, FDM, and RTV tooling?
• Does he have on-site mold building and repair?
• Do his engineers have knowledge to ask the right questions and assure trouble-free

• Will he give his best judgment even if it means not getting the order?
• Does he over sell?

• Does he have integrity enough to do the right thing even when you are not watching?
• Would you be an important customer to him or a second-level customer?
• Does he stock raw materials for your product?
• Will he stock your finished product for multiple shipment releases?
• Does he react quickly to schedule changes or product redesigns?
• Does he return phone calls promptly? How long are you left on hold?
• Is dealing with him a pleasant experience?
• Will he tell the truth even when it is not to his advantage?
• Is he operating his plant near capacity, thus negatively affecting your delivery?

• Does he implement automation and robotization for consistency of product?
• Is the equipment state-of-the-art closed loop or ancient technology?
• Is he capable of doing assembly or performing secondary operations, pad print, ultrasonic

• Does he have proper tools for measuring such as moisture analyzers to assure proper

• Does he calibrate them regularly?
• Does he have warehousing capability?

• Does he have redundant equipment?
• Will the person you speak to this year be with the company next year?
• Is production certain and reliable?
• Do he have a labor union?
• Does he have financial strength to be in business next year?

Once these factors have been considered, you may find the appropriate molder without depending upon luck.

For more information, contact Floyd Coates, President of American Plastic Molding and author of "Our Toilets are not for customers", American Plastic Molding Corporation, 965 South Elm Street, Scottsburg, Indiana, Phone: 812-752-7000, Fax: 812-752-5155, Email: Floyd@apmc.com, Website: www.apmc.com.