Leadtime Leaders Made Their Presence Known at Amerimold

Since 2003 the outstanding efforts and growth of North America’s premier mold manufacturers have been recognized by MoldMaking Technology’s annual Leadtime Leader Awards competition. So, before we kicked off the networking party, we recognized and honored the hard work and dedication of this year’s honorees.

2016 Leadtime Leader Krieger Craftsmen team of family and friends take two-hour bus ride to Amerimold to celebrate their win! Krieger Craftsmen unloaded in front of Surburban Collection Showplace to take in the Expo and take on the recognition they deserve for being part of a winning team.

The crowd gathers for the annual Award that honors outstanding moldmakers who best demonstrate overall innovation, efficiency, quality and commitment.

The 14th annual Leadtime Leader Awards are presented by MoldMaking Technology and once again sponsored by Progressive Components, a mold component supplier that understands the importance of innovation and the need to speed mold manufacturing. Progressive president Glenn Starkey said a few words before kicking off the ceremony.

MMT Senior Editor Cyndi Kustush announced this year’s honorable mention, MSI Mold Builders of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Accepting the Award is sales manager Toby Bral.

MSI takes this year’s Honorable Mention title with its high level of efficiency and consistency in operations through constant evaluation of company processes and a focus on solutions, state-of-the-art machinery and continuously improving project management—a combination that drives more efficient mold setup times, maximized unattended machining and increased mold-building capacity.

With so many past Leadtime Leaders in attendance this year (flagged with red ribbons), Editorial Director Christina Fuges decided to call Brian Bendig, president of last year's Leadtime Leader Cavalier Tool & Mfg. to the mic before we moved on to our top honoree."It has been an honor and a responsibility to hold this title for the past year. MMT's Leadtime Leader Award is THE coveted recognition for our industry. The decision to participate, to do the homework to enter and then continue living up to the recognition that the Award has brought us, was more than with it!” said Cavalier’s Brian Bendig.

Brian shared what this Award has meant for his company this past year, encouraged all shops to enter next year's competition, and then “passed the torch” so to speak to this year’s winner. Brian’s single most important word of advice is to make the decision to nominate then commit to seriously analyzing your business to provide MMT with a comprehensive look at your shop. It not only improves your chances of making the final round, it gives you an opportunity to really check in on how things are going with the business, employees, etc.

Editorial Director Christina Fuges announced Krieger Craftsmen as the winner of this year’s competition. At the sound of their name, the Krieger crew exploded with prideful cheers. Both honorees received a round of applause. These winners were ready to party after the build up and excitement of the Awards Ceremony.

Our 2016 Leadtime Leader Winner is Krieger Craftsmen of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Accepting the Award is company founder and president Tim Krieger and general manager, Durbin Haas.

This mold manufacturer is “a small shop that acts like a big shop”. Staying current with technology is a main ingredient to its success and to reducing leadtimes while maximizing quality, accuracy and efficiencies in its operations.

Krieger has reduced its leadtimes from 12-14 weeks down to 9 weeks by investing in automation, lights-out manufacturing, accuracy and a well-planned machining schedule.

Tim and Durbin are a dynamic duo for this Leadtime Leader mold builder.

"You have to engage in technology to succeed today, but you also you have to learn, grow, train and develop. It’s not one thing; it’s the combination of all of them."

“I’ve been fortunate to have the right people with the right equipment in a safe, positive work environment.”

"Our team shares the same fundamental philosophies of integrity, honesty and quality that I had from the start of the company. They also share a vision, and that is to make Krieger Craftsmen a world-class company that anyone would want to do business with.”

Each year, MMT sets out to find companies that have raised the bar in mold manufacturing innovation, efficiency, quality and commitment. Both of our 2016 winners have set the bar a little higher with strong leadership, planned technology investment, a culture of teamwork and training, smart business management and continuous improvement strategies to optimize leadtimes and deliver results.

MSI Mold Builders combines continuous improvement strategies with machining power to maximize growth and opportunity.

MSI Mold Builders specializes in building injection, structural-foam, compression, blow, gas-assist, and structural-web molds with its primary markets in medium- to large-size injection and structural foam molds. MSI operates with 69 employees in its recently expanded 47,000-square-foot facility in Cedar Rapids and an additional 28 employees in a 20,000-square-foot facility in Greenville, South Carolina.

MSI is known for its niche in large molds for presses of 500 tons and higher. The molds are mostly one- or two-cavity constructions in a wide variety of size ranges, including small to medium molds for presses ranging to 600 tons; large molds for presses to 2,000 tons; and “giant” molds for presses of 2,000 to 7,000 tons. MSI serves the agriculture, heavy truck, medical, recreational, industrial, automotive and residential industries.

Krieger’s team is proficient in building applique, gas-assist, unscrewing, two-shot and multi-color tooling.

Krieger Craftsmen manufactures molds for the automotive, medical, consumer products and aerospace industries. Among the shop’s specialties are molds for front and rear automotive lighting, including those with complex optics such as reflex, Fresnel and pillow lenses.

Krieger's value-added services include full sampling and validation, providing setup parameters for mold installation, and dispatch of moldmakers and engineering services to customers in emergency situations in order to expedite repairs and get molds back into production more quickly.

Attendees stopped by to visit Krieger at its free booth 235. The show was such a success for Krieger that they already signed up for a bigger booth next year!

Krieger Craftsmen was rebuilt with an emphasis on core values and a “productionized” moldmaking strategy designed to reduce leadtimes.

If you’re interested in nominating your shop for our 2017 competition, visit: www.moldmakingtechnology.com/awards You can get a virtual glimpse of both shops in a video feature produced by Creative Technology at short.moldmakingtechnology.com/2016lla.