Outsourced Mold Making

Many people have had bad results buying Chinese Molds. There are literally thousands of tiny Mold Making shops around China. The average Chinese Mold Maker makes very poor domestically-oriented molds. As a quality-obsessed American you might ask, "Why would a mold maker make poor molds?" The answer has several components, all of which come into play to some degree...

Labor is cheap in China. Reworking shoddy products is not a large issue. We have seen molds running where 4 girls were needed to trim flash. No Problem in China. Secondary operators are paid less than $1 per hour and there are hundreds lining up for the jobs.

Cheap, Soft Chinese Steel does not last many cycles. This is not a big problem either, since domestic materials and abundent labor are so cheap, it is a simple matter to make another (lousy) mold for the product.

Sub-standard components such as leader and ejector pins bend and break, causing downtime and repair issues. This no problem since most mold makers make about $5 per hour and the replacement components will be just as low cost and quality as the originals.

Other Life Shortening Factors such as poor water cooling systems and bad mold designs contribute to the poor quality of domestically-oriented tools.

On the other hand there are many great Mold Making Shops that specialize in "export" molds. Here, molds are built to exacting SPI standards using US and European steel and high-quality, long-lasting professional components. The molds are designed by talented mold engineers who design hundreds of molds per year for export to USA, Japan and Europe. Quality standards are strictly established and maintained. These shops produce excellent molds that rival any made in the USA or anywhere else in the world.

Clients are welcome to visit the factories; meet the engineers and observe their molds being made in process. Extensive set-up and testing is always included and first article parts are carefully measured to assure compliant tolerances. The molds are well-prepared for shipping with anti-rust treatments and are packed appropriately for either Ocean or Air shipment to your molding shop.

Have only a portion of your tooling projects produced offshore - Limit risk

Send the simplest molds with the longest lead times - Keep the crucial tools in-house to protect Intellectal Property and to keep your own high-quality staff employed

Using a combination of in-house and offshore resources, your total project prices will be lower and your sales hit rate will be higher

Use offshore sourcing for overflow and very competitive jobs

Avoid taking on long-term employees during short-term business peaks

Avoid buying new equipment that cannot be productively employed over time in order to get jobs bigger than your shop can handle

In other words, in order to provide you with the utmost FLEXIBILITY when quoting and producing tooling projects, use high-quality, well-managed offshore production facilities to even out your expenses and allow you to write excellent quotes for larger jobs.

There are three fundamental ways for you to take advantage of the savings and flexibility provided by having Plastic Injection Molds made for you in China:

--> Buy from an Independent Chinese Broker

--> Buy from a Chinese Factory Agent or Website

--> Buy from a US Engineering Company

See below...

* The Worst Way to Buy a Mold
* Brokers often have No Technical Skills
* Broker will source the mold from the Cheapest Maker
* The broker may not even know the maker
* Or Worse, he may be cut in for Secret Kickbacks
* The broker may have no assets and be gone tomorrow
* No one on site to look out for your interests

A factory agent works for the factory and is responsible for protecting the factory's best interest. Often these agents are family members of the owner. They seldom have technical training and are little help when there are problems. You are limited to one factory and will experience price and deadline creep.

Companies such as Premier Industries US offer a better way to take advantage of Low Chinese Prices while maintaining high-availability USA-Based project management.

* Business is done with USA company under USA laws and finance
* Your interface is with a Plastics Professional who understands US mold standards and practices
* The US Company will be doing business with many factories and can direct your project to the best factory for your application
* This type of company places orders for many molds each your and has leverage with the factory staff and management
* They make frequent visits to China to manage and observe WIP and to research new sources
* Companies establish on-going relations with independent locals who perform periodic inspections on your behalf

There are some very real benefits to buying molds offsore, particularly from China:

--> Very Competitive Pricing

--> Excellent SPI-standard Quality

--> Fast First Article Delivery

--> Increase Sales Volume for Your Business without adding staff or capital equipment.

Source:
Kerry Kanbara, President
The Southern California Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers - www.socalspe.org
also
President
Premier Industries, US, Inc. - www.piustech.com
966-866-0302