Plastics Technology Alliance: Evolving to Meet Customer Needs

By Dianna Brodine, managing editor
The American Mold Builder

Just prior to NPE2018, three AMBA member companies announced the formation of a joint venture meant to offer the plastics industry a one-stop solution for engineering, moldmaking and production. Mold Craft, Willernie, Minnesota; Westminster Tool, Plainfield, Connecticut; and Extreme Tool and Engineering, Wakefield, Michigan, joined forces to maximize resources, with the ultimate goal of simplifying response to current and potential customer needs. The Plastics Technology Alliance will offer a single quoting source, according to the press release, providing access to three state-of-the-art facilities specializing in innovative design, automation development, tight tolerances and best-in-class processes and procedures for program design through production.

Hillary Coombs, vice president at Westminster Tool, answered questions about the creation of the PT Alliance, the benefits the three companies envision offering to customers and future plans.

How did the Plastics Technology Alliance get its start?

The three companies have known each other, as colleagues and competitors, for years. However, Mike Zacharias of Extreme Tool was the main driver behind this project, as he approached us in June of 2017 with a desire to work together from a best practices standpoint. As our conversations evolved, we determined the possibilities could take us far beyond “best practices,” and a joint venture became a more realistic approach.

Our three companies are very different, in terms of the strengths we bring to the table. Mold Craft is an expert in micro tolerances; Extreme Tool is a leader in advanced technologies; and Westminster prides itself on its “culture of curiosity.” As a group, we have in-depth capabilities, from engineering to production and press sizes from 50 to 500 tons. That provides a lot of flexibility for customers.

By formalizing our partnership as a joint venture and an LLC, we protect ourselves and our customers with more than just a handshake. It was important for us to celebrate the relationship between our three companies. The Plastics Technology Alliance is bigger than our current businesses – in some ways, it’s a promise to the companies we serve.

Who is the target audience, and what benefits does the PT Alliance provide?
There are two audiences we want to reach: existing customers and prospects whose larger size may have prevented us, as individual companies, from serving their needs.

For our existing business, the bottom line is that our customers deserve what the PT Alliance can bring to them. Not only did we triple in size by joining together – with access to three facilities and 160 employees – but we also increased the capabilities we offer. Each one of our businesses brings different things to the table, so now all of our existing customers are gaining access to the breadth of these abilities.

Another way our existing customers gain is through the learning that will result from our collaboration. As mold builders, it’s our job to get better every day for our customers. Extreme Tool has already sent six of its employees to Westminster with a specific objective to learn about culture. Westminster is planning to send people to Extreme Tool to learn about technology utilization. And, employees will be going to Mold Craft to learn about tolerances and accuracy.

Of course, the benefits of the Plastics Technology Alliance don’t just extend to current customers. A large prospect base exists of OEMs that our individual businesses couldn’t deal with directly before because of our size. There are medical device projects out there with 10 to 20 different parts, and we weren’t able to quote those before because of the scope of the project. Now, we can target those larger jobs with a single source for quoting and purchase orders. And, the risk is diversified for the OEM because three organizations are fulfilling mold orders.

What combined capabilities does the PT Alliance offer?

Together, we have the ability to serve customers in markets from medical device, automotive and aerospace to consumer packaging and industrial industries. From an engineering standpoint, our combined businesses have expertise in design for manufacture, mold flow analysis, parametric mold design, 3D part modeling, documented tolerances and much more. In moldmaking, the PT Alliance can offer tight tolerances and micro molds through to high-cavitation, 1 to 128 cavity builds, with in-process inspection, validation and metrology.

If a customer requires production, whether samples or full runs, we have presses from 50 to 500 tons, with the capability to perform insert molding if necessary. Our combined businesses also can offer mold repair, laser welding, secondary machining, product decorating, specialty packaging and inventory control.

How will the three companies work together through the PT Alliance?

This, obviously, was the subject of a lot of discussion. As the Plastics Technology Alliance, we have created a uniform quoting form that is used for new customers. Once the scope of the project has been defined, the three companies hold a conference call to discuss the options and pricing for the quote, while also assessing which of the three companies has open capacity and the capability to perform the required work. A funnel already has been defined, with steps to take based on each request, particularly if a potential customer comes to the table with a need that is specific to the specialty of one company over another.

If selected, the PT Alliance would then make a final determination as to where the work will go based on capacity, expertise and customer needs. The primary shop will take over as the direct contact for the customer, but the Plastics Technology Alliance remains the lead for billing and related customer communication.

The important thing is the element of collaboration – this entire concept fails if it makes things more difficult for the customer, so we’ve worked out all of the details ahead of time.

What’s the hope for the future?

Immediately, the hope is to learn from each other. We all want to grow, so our primary goal goes back to the conversations that began the entire process – we want to share best practices to improve our companies while growing our businesses.

Beyond that, it’s tough to say where we want to go – I think the PT Alliance will evolve into whatever our customers need it to be.

What role did the AMBA play in the Plastics Technology Alliance?

AMBA fosters collaboration – as an association, it forces and encourages you to work with your competitors, rather than against them. It’s that energy and encouragement that helped support the idea of the PT Alliance – just knowing that it’s okay to talk to other mold builders and learn from them. We know the industry is moving toward greater collaboration, and we don’t want to be last. In fact, we want to be the first companies to take it to this level so our customers are getting the direct benefit of everything we learn.

Learn more at www.plasticstechnologyalliance.com.