Case Study: Custom Molds, Inc.

Tina Cere, Nathan Kiner, David MercuroLaurie Simmonds, Kurt Strandson

  Agenda    

Overview

Analysis

Alternatives

Clear Recommendations

Detailed Next Steps

Custom Molds, Inc.

1987 • Founded by father/son team Tom and Mason Miller • Custom design molds for plastic parts 

1990's • Decided to expand into a limited manufacturer of plastic parts • Growing reputation as a supplier of high-quality plastic parts

2009• Changing Sales Mix• Delivery and Quality Issues

Analysis

 

Primary Focus - Mold Fabrication • High Customer Contact• Made-To-Order   • In between job process & small batch processing- High customization- Low product

volume

Now as the sales mix has slowly changed the company is moving towards a large batch line process  

Plastic Parts• Lower Customer Contact• Assemble-to-Order• Large batch line process - Products standardized - High volume

Process Flow Chart

• Total process time: 2 to 4 weeks• Fabrication: 3 to 5 days• Testing and inspection: 1 day

o Injection machine resource shared with part process • Clean and polish: ½ day• Packing and shipping:  ½ day

Mold Fabrication Process

Process Flow Chart

• Order review - verifies raw materials and part specifications  • Raw material orders are placed: Received with one week• Dry Mix:  ½ day• Wet Mix: ½ day• Injection Machine: 5000 parts per day• Cut and trim• Testing and inspection • Packing/shipping or assembly

 Plastic Parts - Mold Already Made

Bottlenecks occurring...                      

Custom molds division - "Made to Order Strategy" Plastic parts division -  "Assembly to order strategy" Need to minimize idle time and keep process moving                     Allocation of equipment and manpower• Limited injection machine resources• Injection machines required for both part fabrication and mold test• Same machinist required for design and fabrication phase, creating a potential

bottleneck                            .Mold Fabrication - Work flow issues• Wait to receive materials before they review work load• With a typical 3 week lead-time for raw materials they could be determining

scheduling  Plastic Mold-raw materials received in one week?  

Competitive Priorities 

Custom mold• Lead time not critical• Quality is very important in meeting demand specifications• Typically not price sensitive• Low volume

Plastic parts• Lead time critical• Quality very important• Price sensitive• High volume

Plant Layout Analysis

Initial vs. Proposed Layout 

Alternatives

1.Continue operating as is2.Discontinue custom mold fabrication and focus on high

volume plastic parts3.Restructure and reorganize plant to adjust to the changing

sales mix • Reduce emphasis on mold fabrication• Restructure plant layout • Increase part production capacity• Change pricing to reflect changing market

o Offer larger bulk discounts for plastic parts• Flexible workforce - make sure any machinist can work on any

job• Review quality control processes

Clear RecommendationsImprove Lead Times•  There are only four weeks (maximum) accounted for in the

process chart for mold production and a nine week lead time quoted.o Flexibility exist with process and with customers expectations.o Leverage this flexibility to improve plastic part deliveries

 • Company was historically driven by custom molds. 

o Plastic parts production is not being allocated its due time. • Maximize use of time of injection machines (capacity=5000/day)

o Proper scheduling needs to take place to allocate time for small  (0-500), large (500-5000) and custom mold testing. Operations before and after injection machine is a day or

two so bottleneck is with machine itself.

Clear RecommendationsEliminate one machinist● Custom Mold, Inc. operated with overtime staffing in 2006 and 2007 for mold manufacturing● 2008 volumes allows for elimination of one master machinist.

○ Currently being reassigned to help expedite other functionsOrder Size Total Molds 2006 Total Molds 2007 Total Molds 2008

1 80 74 722 120 140 1503 120 153 1654 20 24 205 15 25 206 24 48 307 14 0 78 80 48 329 99 72 45

10 150 100 50Total: 722 684 591

Available Capacity(250 days/year,5 days/mold,13 machinists)

650 650 650

Clear Recommendations     Revise block layout

• Improve closeness factor of key groups• Allocate more space to injection machine• Acquire more injection machines to increase capacity• Reduce space for mold fabrication 

 Review and focus on who their customer base is  • Market to other customer base to increase plastic part

manufacturing business if now equipped to handle it.• They should create a subsidiary for plastic part manufacturing

(Plastic Parts, Inc.) and operate them as more distinct business but under one roof.

 Renewed focus on quality• Improved scheduling time and better layout should open up

possibilities and time for quality measures to be put in place.• 3rd party quality audit.

 

Detailed Next Steps

• Implement Recommendations• Continued review of process flow and process layout • In the future, Custom Molds may consider moving testing to

a more central location to mitigate back and forth time between departments. 

o Cost prohibitive at this point.o We are not recommending this immediately due to uncertain

costs associated with retro-fitting and plumbing