Published 10/11/2018

Leadtime League: What Makes Commercial Tool & Die a Winner

Thinking about entering the 2019 Leadtime Leader Awards competition? Read about Commercial Tool & Die Inc. (large shop winner from 2008 and 2009) for inspiration. Commercial Tool specializes in the design, manufacturing, repair and maintenance of plastic injection molds. It managed to stay successful through industry ups and downs by stepping up the quality of its molds.

Commercial Tool & Die Inc. was the large-shop Leadtime Leader winner in 2008 and 2009. Read about how this company pushed through difficult economic times by prioritizing quality and innovation.

Specializing in the design, manufacture, repair and maintenance of plastic injection molds, Commercial Tool has managed to stay successful through industry ups and downs by stepping up the quality of its molds. Image courtesy of Commercial Tool & Die Inc.

Commercial Tool & Die uses a concurrent design, engineering and manufacturing approach to produce large and complex molds. Image courtesy of Commercial Tool & Die Inc.

A Little History

Commercial Tool & Die Inc. was founded by Al Bouwman in 1953. His son Doug took an active position with the company in 1979. Commercial Tool—together with CG Plastics and CG Automation—provides fixtures, special machinery, custom molding and sampling, as well as plastic injection molds.

Commercial Tool has managed to stay successful through industry ups and downs by stepping up the quality of its molds, according to then vice president of Operations, Todd Finley. “Several of our competitors have set up off-shore alliances to blend programs,” Finley says. “Our response has been to shower our customers with quality. We made a large investment in high-speed machining centers. This investment helps us reduce EDM, spotting and benching operations to improve quality and reduce lead times. We also are developing our own off-shore alliances.”

Initiatives in Innovation

Examples of the company’s innovations and initiatives at the time include:

Integrating its design software with its accounting and purchasing processes,
Utilizing feature-based recognition to automate CAM programs
Improving equipment utilization through machine-monitoring software
Utilizing a one-of-a-kind, in-house apprenticeship program (CTU) certified by the United States Department of Labor
Deploying a team approach and problem-solving concepts throughout the organization

Learn More About Commercial Tool & Die Inc.

Read the company’s featured stories from 2008 and 2009:

Learn More About the Leadtime Leader Awards Competition.

Check out these FAQs, and consider these 5 things:

The Leadtime Leader Awards are all about honoring excellence in moldmaking. MMT’s Leadtime Leader Awards seek to recognize excellence in industry leaders and in those aspiring to be industry leaders.
It’s about quality, not quantity. It’s not just about whether your shop has the shortest delivery times. It’s about what you do with what you have. Any shop that performs moldmaking operations is eligible to compete.
Shops that win go the extra mile. They complete the questionnaire fully and with detail, and then they go a step further. They include things like PowerPoint presentations, photographs, employee input and videos in addition to the questionnaire. They also express very clearly a passion for their work and a desire to win!
Winning pays off. Do you need a little motivation? This is what Commercial Tool’s current president, James Bouwman, says about what the award has done for its business: “Winning the award twice is part of our heritage and part of our legacy as an organization. Being recognized provided validation that our shop could take positive action to improve delivery times. We took current resources, technologies, tools and techniques and made changes that positively impacted our lead times. The award created a renewed sense of pride in our workmanship. All employees received a copy of the issue, and we still find them around the shop. We also received accolades from customers, suppliers, former employees, the township and our insurance provider. In the long-term, winning the Award gave our team confidence in our systems, processes and approaches to improvement. And, leadership also knows that winning such an Award has a larger meaning. We entered the contest as part of a long-term plan to improve as an organization. As with most Award programs, it’s the journey that matters. Along with this journey, we learned new, more efficient ways of doing things and many of these methods are still in use today.”
There’s no time to waste! MMT encourages shops to enter online before the end of the year. Don’t let the business of the end of the year or your planning for next year’s shows prevent you from entering. You’ll be glad you did.

Enter the 2019 Competition Today.

A shop can enter using the registration form that is available online. If you have questions about the competition or the registration process, contact Editorial Director Christina Fuges at cfuges@gardnerweb.com.