Mold Tooling Relocation Case Study:
We were contacted by a Saint Louis based company looking to move their injection tools and part production from Texas to a location closer to their corporate headquarters. The main interest of Verdtech, Inc. was in relocating their injection tool that makes their retaining wall blocks.
Our location in the center of the country, with great shipping access was very attractive to them. It is only a short drive from their headquarters in Saint Louis, MO. to our shop in Salem, IL. and that made it very easy for them to keep an eye on sampling, production and quality. Our location also offered some great economies in shipping to their customers nationwide, from one central inventory location.
Varden™ Block and Rail Tools:
Verdtech had their existing plastic formulation set and needed to duplicate the product performance they were getting from the Texas molder, while expanding color options. The set of tools consisted of a double cavity tool for the main body of the retaining wall block and another double cavity tool for side rail accessory parts. Those side rails snap into each block to make a complete block for construction use and they need to be precise. Our 390 ton injection machine we a good fit for the side rails and the Robot Arm made production fast and accurate.
Additionally, the block tool would require a large press and our 720 ton unit was a great fit. Few shops can run parts this large and we were fortunate to be able to serve them.
Moving the tools:
This step took quite a bit of guidance since the team at Verdtech was only somewhat knowledgeable about the tooling and it’s needs in transportation. We were able to give great guidance and even set up the carrier in order to have the tool picked up, loaded and delivered directly to our facility in Salem, IL. with minimal risk. All of the tools arrived without incident but they were in need of maintenance and cleanup.
Our shop went right to work in rehabilitating the tools to a near new condition and ordering in many new parts in order to get ready to run fresh production for their spring orders. This was no small task and we are fortunate to have the great technical staff here and all of the tools and equipment needed in our mold shop to do just about all maintenance and repairs on site.
The rehabilitated injection tool is currently running well as we produce initial inventory of the Varden™ plantable retaining wall blocks from Verdtech, Inc. and we look forward to expanding production as their sales increase.
