Moldmaking is a Relentless Pursuit of Innovation

A wise person once told me, “moldmaking is the relentless pursuit of innovation in all areas of the process and business.” That person was Eden Tool & Eden Manufacturing President Dave Tomic. A statement like that is where MMT comes into play. We aim to bring the expertise and experience of the community to the pages of the magazine, website and even events — including innovative technologies and best practices necessary for the critical decision-making that must take place by the mold builder and the mold buyer.

This is important because an OEM must understand how a mold is designed, manufactured and maintained to have a better quality, more cost-effective product and must learn what the moldmaker and molder know to employ the best way to make it. To deliver a better end product, they must also understand and connect with the right people in their supply chain to recommend appropriate changes.

So far this year, my general takeaway is that the moldmaking industry has some challenges across its supply chain regarding each link’s true value to the end product. The answer is better collaboration and communication, which yields innovation.

The MoldMaking Conference, which took place this summer, was an opportunity for that collaboration and communication. We received positive feedback from that intimate community event:

Joe Cherluck, Best Tool and Engineering: “Although we are not ready to implement much of what was presented, we are better for it because when we are ready, we know what to do and whom to reach out to.”

Kimberly Wojtkowiak, Crescent Industries: “Hearing from other moldmakers validates where we are as a moldmaking business and where we want to go. It helps us determine what kind of moldmaker we want to be in the future.”

Tim Galbraith, Cavalier Tool & Mfg: “As a knowledge seeker, I often thought it would be great to attend an event that was free of sales hyperbole and rich in technical information. Somewhere, industry leaders share best practices and successful adaptation of new technologies backed up by facts and data. The two-day conference was content-rich. The speaker list was dominated by mold shops sharing best practices and lessons learned. I'm looking forward to future conferences!”