By Liz Stevens, writer, The American Mold Builder
Mold manufacturing demands precision, speed and consistency in an environment where complexity and customer expectations continue to rise. As part designs grow more intricate and lead times shrink, the “shop floor” has become one of the most critical drivers of performance, quality and profitability. Effective shop floor best practices extend beyond machines and tooling to include workflow standardization, preventive maintenance, the cultivation and retention of skilled and engaged operators, and effective communication to reduce issues and keep production on track.
Accede Mold & Tool, Rochester, New York, is a moldmaker that demonstrates the value of shop floor best practices. The company specializes in complex, precision, state-of-the-art moldmaking for the plastics injection molding industry. Its services include product development/DFM, project management, engineering, mold manufacturing, mold room support, mold sampling and qualification, and turn-key systems integration. Accede also offers expertise in pilot and developmental tooling, high-cavitation molds, unscrewing systems and multi-shot applications, including traditional rotary, lift-and-rotate and in-mold rotary, as well as in-mold close, stack, rotating cube, turnkey and other design platforms.
Accede serves an array of industries, including medical, pharmaceutical and labware, consumer products and packaging, industrial and durables, automotive, military and aerospace. The American Mold Builder posed a handful of questions about the most impactful shop floor practices that Accede Mold & Tool has implemented.
What are the three top shop floor practices Accede has implemented that delivered big gains?
“Accede was facing a challenge when molds that were being delivered to our sampling lab by moldmakers arrived with loose ends,” said Danielle Fox, organization and employee development at Accede. “This approach was an inefficient use of our resources and capacity. It increased job costs and cluttered our schedule, negatively impacting throughput.”
“We implemented a three-pronged change in 2021 to address this problem,” D. Fox said. “First, leadership sets a clear expectation about the completion status of molds when they reach the sampling lab – ‘ready to sample equals ready to ship.’ Then we documented a formal quality path to support that expectation, establishing required gates to ensure that the molds are truly ready to sample and ship. And, finally, we identified and standardized best practices on our manufacturing process form. This established a mold build standard across all of our moldmakers, and it defines the characteristics of an Accede mold.”
Once implemented within Accede’s quality management system, these processes became auditable, measurable KPIs. The audits provide structured feedback on what is working and where improvements are needed – data – thereby enabling continuous improvement.
“The result,” said D. Fox, “was that immediately following implementation, the number of samples required for production molds was optimized as the first sample and validation sample following the first-sample work order. The number of times a mold has been sampled now is tracked as an Accede quality objective.”
Accede Mold & Tool’s best practices are thoughtful and transferable to many moldmakers’ shop floors.
What about sharing best practices with the company’s customers? Does Accede advise them on how to organize preventive maintenance, tool care and spare-parts management to keep molding operations running smoothly and reduce downtime?
Camille Sackett, vice president of sales and marketing, explained that Accede specializes in two-shot, high-cavitation, stack, cube molds and tech-forward, value-add tooling solutions. “To help our customers keep their molds running and reduce their downtime,” she said, “we offer focused services and several pieces of valuable advice. We strongly encourage customers to purchase spare components with the initial mold build, to reduce downtime risk and capture cost efficiencies across project management, purchasing, inspection, machine setup and mold sampling/validation.”
Accede offers contracts to hold spare parts inventory that customers can draw from as needed. Each mold is delivered with a detailed mold manual outlining recommended preventive maintenance intervals, inspection data and as-built mold design data.
“We provide customer training during mold qualification and teardown inspection onsite at Accede,” said Sackett. “We also offer the service at our customers’ facilities – holding workshops for our customers’ tool rooms. And we offer mold service agreements, which have directly influenced our decision to establish Accede’s dedicated Mold Service Center (planned for completion by the end of 2026, approximately 18,000 sq. ft.). These service agreements can include ownership of document control and as-built engineering data management after mold delivery.”
What training, cross-training or operator interactions help the team at Accede identify issues early and continuously improve processes?
“Our quality management system,” said Sackett, “plays a central role in early issue identification. Regular audits create visibility into process performance, enabling cross-functional feedback and driving continuous improvement across departments.”
How has Accede used digital tools to improve shop floor decision-making?
Mitchell Fox, Accede’s specialty department manager, explained that Accede has taken a practical and process-driven approach to implementing digital tools to improve visibility, predictability and decision-making on the shop floor. “One example,” he said, “is our digital scheduling dashboard in the CNC milling department. This dashboard is accessible to all operators and clearly displays upcoming jobs by machine, enabling our teams to proactively prepare tooling and fixturing ahead of setup. The schedule also identifies components suitable for overnight and weekend machining, supporting effective lights-out operations while maintaining Accede’s quality standards.”
In parallel, Accede uses department-level digital job tracking software to provide real-time visibility into every active mold build and the components moving through each manufacturing process, along with internal due dates. This transparency enables Accede’s teams to identify potential bottlenecks or scheduling conflicts earlier in the build cycle before they impact downstream operations or critical quality checkpoints.
“Accede also is using AI-assisted CAM programming tools to improve programming efficiency and consistency,” said M. Fox. “While still in the experimental phase, the goal is to reduce programming variability, shorten lead times and allow highly skilled programmers to focus more time on complex geometries and critical quality features.”
Mitchell Fox summed up the company’s digital tool philosophy. “Our focus isn’t digital tools for the sake of technology,” he said. “Our focus is quality. Technology is leveraged to provide data and visibility, so we can make better decisions earlier. By improving scheduling transparency and standardizing how work flows through each department, we can protect precision, reduce rework and support consistent quality throughout the mold build.”
Looking ahead, what change or investment should mold shops prioritize in the next year to remain competitive – and why?
Roger Fox, president and owner of Accede, boiled it down to one word. “Talent,” said R. Fox. “Gaining, retaining and leveraging skilled, flexible people.”
Accede’s Operations Manager Corey Fox wrapped up the discussion with a tip on a daily habit that makes a long-lasting difference. “Do a morning lap and converse with all of the guys on the floor,” said C. Fox. “Connect to make sure everything and everyone is going well, whether it is a conversation about work priorities, or a quick question about concerns, or just a ‘Good morning.’ Make sure everyone is in a good spot with the company’s work as well as with the employee’s life outside of work.”
Transferable Best Practices
Accede Mold & Tool’s best practices are thoughtful and transferable to many moldmakers’ shop floors. The pragmatic use of digital tools – for their concrete benefits, not for their technology “wow” factor – this mindset helps the company plan for the expected, manage the workload effectively and get early warnings of the unexpected and possible challenges. Accede sets out clear directions, procedures and record-keeping steps for mold quality and state of work, preventing not-quite-finished work from disrupting production.
Additionally, it provides clear recommendations and advice to its mold customers, along with services to help customers keep molds in the best working order. Accede recruits carefully, hangs onto skilled, adaptable employees and uses daily visits to the shop floor to stay connected with the team.
Addressing the opportunities for improvement on the shop floor and implementing best practices are key steps for today’s successful mold builders.
More information: www.accedemold.com