Do most plastic injection molding companies have and in house Tool? What are the capabilities and is it an area of focus for upgrading?

IN House Tool Room

I've found that most do to some extent. We house two different companies. A tool shop as well as our company that does injeciton molding. The benefit is huge and creates value for customers. Turnkey operation from start of mold design through production runs of parts. Not to mention superior repairs and care for the tools in short time frames. I've found that the better injection molders DO have tool rooms at least somehow associated with them. Maybe consider a synergy with another company.

We used to be just a mold shop and most of our customers did not have in house tooling. I ended up moving in with an injection molding company to offer in house tooling. I think it makes sense to be able to provide for all your customers needs under one roof, and like Edrick said no one is going to care for your tooling the way you would.

Hello! Definitively a good injection molding company must have in house tool room for preventive and corrective maintenance. Response times are shorter and costs are lower. There is always room for improvement in a tool, and small changes and adjustments are always required. Sending tooling to be repaired or improved some where else is more expensive and time consuming. Also, the sinergy of experience between tool room machining and injection molding is multiplied. We do have a complete tool room not only for preventive and corrective maintenance, but also for tool improvements and new tooling fabrication. Regards

Is most of the equipment in the Repair area old manuals? I know many advertise the ability to do quick prototype, engineering changes and repair yet it appears they have some guys that can do PM's and hand grind weld if needed. In order to really do engineering changes, I would think that it would be necessary to update the toolroom with new technology every so often. This is just not what I see in the ToolRooms I have visited, where the ability to do a repair that is dimensional correct would take a highly skilled "old school toolmaker". I was just curious how most are outfitted, since in many cases it appears there is an exaggeration of many injection molding tool rooms and their real capabilities. I have been told by many a toolroom manager that management will not drop a dime into the tool room yet they use it to sell the "Single Source Provider" concept.

If you claim to be a one stop shop you need the equipment to build, maintain and repair any tooling that is sent your way. We do have old school manual mills and lathes but with the complexity and speed needed in todays market you need at least a CNC with CAD programming and EDM also. I was trained as a mold maker so this equipment came with me when I joined the injection molding company. A lot of people just don't understand what it takes to build tooling so when you give them a cost of tooling up a shop they are surprised but if you are claiming to be a "Single Source Provider" then you should have the correct equipment to back it up.

I could not agree more. I see time after time where one stop shop is advertised when its smoke in mirrors. You can get away with lower end equipment if you pay a skilled craftsmen, but that means someone with 10 plus years in all aspects of Milling, Grinding,EDM. This person is going to command 30 plus dollars an hour and its going to take time for the craftsmen to make the correct adjustments manually. What is more common is guys who can take a mold apart, sandblast it, grease the pins and slides and reassemble or who can take a welded area are finish it with a pencil grinder. This is far from anything close to full-service. Also the fact that you can procure a mold overseas does not make you full service either. There are a lot of smoke in mirrors in this area. Mold Repair for some is considered a necessary evil to keep production from shutting down when an ejector pin or spring breaks, when in reality it can be a big contributor to profitability. The bottom line is you must pay a craftsmen or buy good equipment to make to realy offer full service. Otherwise it is misleading, plain and simple.