Moldmaking, the Relentless Pursuit of Innovation … Oh Yeah!

A wise person once told me, "moldmaking is the relentless pursuit of innovation in all areas of the process and business." This statement inspired the theme for MoldMaking Technology's 2023 MoldMaking Conference that took place last month in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That person was Eden Tool & Eden Manufacturing President Dave Tomic. Dave attended the conference in 2022 and found enough value to return this year for more opportunities to learn and network in the small-group setting headlined by mold builders and molders sharing best practices and technology solutions for better moldmaking. 

Building off last year's conference and because they are so intertwined, the MMT and Plastics Technology teams brought together the moldmaking and injection molding industries with two separate programs and a few joint afternoon sessions and networking opportunities.

Speakers highlighted innovative technologies and best practices necessary for the critical decision-making that must take place by the mold builder and the mold buyer. And that's who was in the room! We not only had mold builders and mold designers, but we also had process engineers, tooling managers, project managers, presidents, CEOs, manufacturing engineers and design engineers from molding and OEM facilities.   

This is important because … let's face it … 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 a product. They must also understand and connect with the right people in their supply chain to recommend appropriate changes to deliver a better end product.

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. Over the two days, I watched this intimate group engage in some productive discussion and Q&A after each presentation and during networking breaks.

Making this event possible were not only the generous speakers who committed their time and talent and braved the stage to share their stories but our platinum, gold and silver sponsors as well: Hexagon, Custom Mold & Design, Crystallume, Grob, Haimer, Progressive Components, Punch Industry USA and Alliance Specialties and Laser Sales.

Onsite feedback from attendees revealed the event's success in connecting the moldmaking supply chain on important issues and challenges in person.

• 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, successful adaptation of new technologies

  Molding Growth Changes Moldmaking Strategy

  MoldMaking Technology's Christina Fuges and Tony Deligio with Plastics Technology were onsite together at the Dynamic Group in Ramsey, Minnesota, to see how its moldmaking and molding capabilities come together to grow the business as part of an AMBA Facility Tour.

  Click here for a quick video tour.

  backed up by facts and data. Ryan Delahanty, Christina Fuges and the folks at Gardner Business Media, Inc. answered the call and in 2022 organized the first MoldMaking Conference which I was fortunate enough to attend. The second MoldMaking Conference was held last week in Minneapolis – not only did I attend but I was asked to speak there on automation and moldmaking.   While it was collocated with the Molding Conference, the quality of topics on the MoldMaking side precluded attending talks on the molding side. The two day conference was content rich. The speaker list was dominated by mold shops sharing best practices and lessons learned. As much as the daily sessions contained interesting and relevant content, the networking events and the plant tour provided lots of opportunity to meet informally with industry peers and share opinions, facts, and insights. Economic, political, technological discussions were enjoyable as the demographic attending an event that costs over $1,000 to attend insures serious players are at the table. Huge kudos to the team from MoldMaking Technology for providing a vehicle that offers attendees serious take-aways that will help them build their businesses. Looking forward to future conferences!"

To respect those who participated in the conference, I won't break down specific insights and experiences shared; however, stay tuned for deeper coverage in MMT of a couple of key topics. As we plan for the future of this conference, which will go dark in 2024, join us as the moldmaking community comes together at Amerimold on June 5-6 in Columbus, Ohio.