MMT Chats: The Value of Digging Deeper

Brian Dippel is an operations manager who works with the engineering, quality, program management, and molding departments at X-Cell Tool and Mold in Fairview, Pennsylvania. X-Cell was MoldMaking Technology’s 2019 Leadtime Leader Winner, and Brian is also one of MMT’s newer Editorial Advisory Board members.

Brian and I have something in common—The Plastek Group in Erie, Pennsylvania. Brian worked there back when owner Joe Prishcak founded MoldMaking Technology magazine, and gave me my very first mold shop tour.

Here are tidbits from our conversation:

• When at Plastek on average, we would be about 98% cavitation and we’d run anywhere between 3700 and 3200  cavities per day.
• Most notable mold project was a deodorant package that I see on the grocery store shelves now.
• I want it to be more than a customer relationship, I want it to be a personal relationship.
• Earned a degree in Business Administration and management from Edinboro University.
• It's about your work ethic and you're willing to put in those long hours, and the wherewithal to understand the business and what's going on around you in terms of tooling and molding.
• Mold building gives you a pretty well rounded knowledge of mold design, but I think something that gives you even more well-rounded knowledge of molds, is when you start running them.
• We've put in a 440 Arburg two-shot press to sample a medical device that is not being set up for production.
• We treat people here as their individuals and we listen to them so that if they have something to contribute to a program, or to a design, or to a process. We try to draw on the experience of the people here.
• Listen for Project Morpheus and Project Steve.
• X-Cell is Sybridge’s first venture into medical. It's been a good acquisition, so far. We are integrating their policies and procedures for running the company right now.
• We just added another robot, and another CMM and are getting another Yasda.
• The amount of hours you put in is a challenge when trying to maintain work/life balance.
• From water baby to scuba diver, Brian loves checking out shipwrecks. 
• He used to dive twice a week during the day and at night. He is a certified ice diver too.
• Little known facts:  Lake Erie has over 5,000 shipwrecks and in fresh water, wood does not rot. It looks just like the day it went down.

Watch the full video chat above, and for more of our archived MMT Chat conversations, click here.