The TPR interviewed Randy Morey, president of Choice Tool & Mold in Largo, Florida. Choice Tool & Mold manufactures high quality injection molds for plastic and silicone, and also offers precision machining services. The company has grown each year since it was established in 1996 and we asked Randy to share his strategies for success.
What is your company niche, and what does your company do that is notable, unique or different?
We design and manufacture small to medium size custom precision molds for the plastic and silicone industries. Rather than developing one niche, I’ve always had the mindset to develop several specialties. Because of this approach, we’ve built a large and diverse customer base, which has been important to our success. Some of our specialties are very small medical implants, parts with complex 3D geometry, unscrewing molds for internal threads, insert over molding, and continuous strip over molding. Continuous strip over molding is the process of over-molding a plastic part on a continuous strip of die-cut steel that automatically feeds through the mold (mostly automotive). From the beginning, we’ve focused a lot of our efforts toward the medical industry. Currently, about 60% of our sales are in the medical field, creating a fairly stable business for us. Other industries we service include electronics, irrigation, house wares, automotive, and others.
As for what is unique and different about us. Our customers tell us our ability to manufacture quality molds that run well and are delivered on time is what sets us apart from our competition. Price becomes less important for our customers once they get to know us and realize the value we deliver to them. A huge part of our success is due to our excellent track record and our reputation for customer service.
When and how did you get into the industry, what attracted you to it?
I began an apprenticeship at General Die & Engineering in Grand Rapids, MI, in 1977. I found mold making to be mentally challenging and financially rewarding. There was always a feeling of accomplishment, having a mold finished, sampled and delivered to the customer. One of the great things about manufacturing is, at the end of the day you have something tangible to show for your efforts.
In the winter of 1984, it snowed so heavily that I had to shovel the roof of our home. So in the spring of that year, my wife and I decided to move our family to Clearwater, FL. We just love it here. I worked at Parallax Tool & Mold from 1984 until we started Choice in 1996. Parallax was in the process of closing down its mold making operations, and I always had the dream of 
owning a business. The funny thing is, for years I would go home and tell my wife that I would never want to own a mold shop. That is when I learned that you should never say never. When I started Choice, I had two goals in mind: the first was that I wanted to create the kind of workplace that, as a mold maker, I would want to work at. Second, I wanted to do whatever it took to make Choice Tool valuable to the companies that needed our services.
Relate a notable "best time" for your company.
We kind of have that “feeling of accomplishment” all the time. I think our whole 11 years have been a best time – or, as I would say, a “blest” time. Choice has grown its sales, its customer base and its size every year that we’ve been in business. Every year we’ve shown a profit – even after 9/11, when our industry really took a hit. As we watched auction notices come across our desks and heard of shops closing, we doubled up our efforts and pulled together as a team with the goal of surviving, and continued to grow. That’s why I call us blest. Best times for me are when we add a new customer to our list, when we buy a new piece of equipment, or when a new person joins the Choice team.
Similarly, relate notable challenges that your company has overcome.
To me, the biggest challenge for a shop our size is not so much competing with off-shore mold shops as it is competing with U.S. shops that low-ball their quotes, provide sub-quality tooling and make promises they can’t keep. These shops will eventually go out of business because they are not profitable, but in the meantime they take work away from the reputable companies.
As far as challenges met while serving our customers, our plant manager, Jason Burroughs, provided these insights:
This is a difficult question to answer based on the fact that we go above and beyond to meet or exceed our customer’s satisfaction on a regular basis, which is why we have managed to continue growth through the years. It is a key factor in our success. One of the most recent events that answers this question would be when a new customer came to us with a project that he was told by many resins suppliers, process engineers, tooling engineers and everyone he had discussed the project with up to that point that it could not be accomplished with an injection mold. We looked at it with a “why not” attitude and took on the project with the enthusiasm to prove all the “nay sayers” wrong. The scope of the project would require an entire plant to be built around it, it would provide many new jobs and produce billions of parts per year if it was successful, and so far it has been. We came up with a robust yet economical concept that we could build on and asked for our customer’s approval to proceed. When they agreed, we then built a small bridge tool to prove out the concept and see if we could even come close with our first attempt. We exceeded even our own expectations on the first shots. Although the rigorous testing of the final product is not yet complete and the real project has not been launched, we have taken our now loyal customer from an unattainable idea to the second phase of their project and they are now opening many eyes in their industry.
When you are working on projects with your customers, what aspects would you like them to better recognize?
Not only our customers, but companies that work with tool shops in general need to recognize the value of working with their tool shop early on in the product design phase. We can help them achieve faster cycle times and cost savings, sometimes with only minor design changes. We’d also like our customers to think of us as a partner rather than just a supplier. The other thing we’d like to do is educate customers so they understand that with a little more money spent up front on better designed and built molds, they will have a more profitable outcome down the road. It used to be that companies had a tooling engineer that did the purchasing of tooling. Today, many companies are now using purchasing people that in many cases may not recognize the importance of a well designed and built mold, and how it can impact profitability. Purchasing people tend to be more focused on the bottom line mold cost, instead of the production outcome of a quality built tool and the money savings that comes with that. It’s a universal problem that every mold shop is familiar with.
List newly acquired technology, machinery or key personnel (in last year).
We have purchased new equipment every year. This year we have upgraded our CAM software to Cimatron and have fine tuned our high-performance, high-speed, hard milling operations. High speed machining has helped reduce our mold costs and shorten our lead times by reducing electrode manufacturing, EDM-ing and polishing times. It is also one of our lights-out processes.
We’ve also purchased a larger wet surface grinder, a Dedtru Grinder, and a CMM for inspection. We have a new marketing/sales manager whose name is Jamie Comi, and are also increasing our contract production precision machining capabilities by taking on some production machining jobs. For years we’ve been doing precision machining, so it seemed like a logical area to expand our capabilities on. It’s a value added service.
We also try to keep our website up to date. We have found that our website is a very important part of our marketing strategy.
Has your company recently expanded? Plans to expand or form partnerships/alliances?
We made a decision not to partner with any off-shore sources. We believe such a move would only be a short-term benefit to us, and, in the long-term, would be harmful to us and our country. As for expansion, we just added on approximately 5,000 square feet of manufacturing space, which allowed us to purchase the new equipment mentioned above and give us room for future growth.
Are you involved in any industry organizations or educational programs related to the trade?
We are members of the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) and I’ve enjoyed attending the fall and winter conferences for the last four years. We do not have a local chapter where we live, so we can’t meet monthly. I like the networking at AMBA events and meeting other shop owners.
We just joined the local chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) and we have a local chapter here that meets every month. NTMA members include die and mold shops and precision machining shops.
As for educational programs or apprenticeships, I would love to hire a young person who wants to work with their hands and be a creative problem solver. I still believe our industry offers a challenging and strong future along with financial rewards. I think that if young people knew how computer saturated our shops are today, they would be interested in our trade. However, parents and school counselors aren’t pointing them this way and high school shop classes are disappearing everywhere. I think there are young people that are missing a great opportunity.
What do you think about changes occurring in the industry due to globalization? How has it affected the way you do business?
Globalization on the whole is a very negative thing for the U.S. I don’t think it can be stopped however. When this fall-out started – and it was before 9/11 – and shops were going out of business, I told my guys that if we can weather this storm, those shops left standing will be in a position for growth and success. Another part of the problem is due to advancements in technology. A mold that used to take thousands of hours and 20 or more weeks to build, now takes only hundreds of hours and 8 weeks to accomplish. That alone creates over capacity in our country. So technology has displaced a lot of shops and workers, and has reduced the costs of the tools. That’s a big factor in where we are at today, in addition to foreign competition.
We do take care of repairs and engineering changes on off-shore tools. Companies buy from off-shore sources, bring them here and they don’t run properly. We help get the tools running again. My goal for our future is to remain flexible, listen to our customers and continue to cautiously and slowly grow our company with technology and talented people.
What will the industry look like in 3 to 5 years?
I’m optimistic. I think most shop owners have to be optimistic. I see things turning around. I’ll occasionally talk with companies that have gone overseas and have had bad experiences. I’ve had more than one tooling engineer tell me “we’ll never do that again”. That’s always good news to our ears and I tell our guys whenever I hear that kind of feedback because they’re concerned too, about what’s going to happen next year or five years from now. I don’t know if we’ll ever get any help from our government, but I think the best we can do is build quality tooling, give good service and make on-time deliveries. The manufacturing world is changing, and it is critical that our shop and the way we view our business, changes also. I’ve seen shops go by the wayside because they refused to change their thinking and move ahead in new directions. It’s important to stay current and keep up with the latest and fastest technologies.
Additional Background Information:
Number of years in business: Established in 1996
Current number of employees: 18
Current square footage: 14,500 square feet
Additional locations: None at this time.
Website: www.choicetool.com
Types of tools built and/or run: Injection molds for plastic and silicone, up to 250 tons.
Industries served: Medical, house wares, irrigation, electric and electronic and automotive.
Contact Information:
Choice Tool and Mold Inc.
9131 130th Avenue N
Largo, FL 33773
(800) 340-6653 - Toll Free
(727) 584-1929 - Local
(727) 584-2199 – Fax
Email: You can email Choice Tool & Mold directly from the contact page of the company’s website at www.choicetool.com.
