Modern Plastics Worldwide - July/August 2009 - dae uptlax

This concept includes a finite area with
a manager and dedicated employees that
run that area. Operators are inspector
operators. They can apply to transfer to
another plant within Hoffer, but typically
they work every day with the same people,
the same manager, in the same plant. They
have a quality control system online, they
work within their plant, and they run the
same products most of the time.
MPW: What technology have you implemented
to accommodate growth?
Hoffer: We think we have continued to step
up to many of the challenges our business
presents. While maintaining our program
of updating presses—the average age of our
presses is under 10 years—we have automated
many jobs with robotics, established processing
guidelines with RJG technology, and
also looked for other ways to help maintain
the business. One of the most unique pieces
of equipment that we’ve purchased—unique
to this business—is a fluidized bed oven for
cleaning screws, barrels, and hot runner
manifolds. This was a big investment, but
with this type of custom molding, we have a
library of screws that we change often when
we do color changes or material changes.
The fluidized bed oven uses silica sand heated
to 800ºF, and cleans the residue plastic
without any intervention. This has proven
to be a much safer, more environmentally
friendly way to handle this problem. With so
many molds and so many color changes and
material changes, this has been an excellent
investment. We’re changing a screw almost
every day; all of this to meet the customer
requirements for on-time delivery.
That’s just one of the things that we’ve
implemented to be ready for the competitive
requirements of the future. With 96
presses and 400 different materials with
numerous combinations of colors, we
have a high degree of complexity. Because
of our background in packaging, closures
and aerosol parts, we have some molds
that run in 10 different colors. Complexity
is something we must deal with and this is
just one of many advantages we bring to
our customers.
MPW: How do you see the injection
molding industry today?
mpw.plasticstoday.com
Hoffer: What we see today is a troubled
supply base. A lot of people in this business—for
all the right reasons—pushed the
edge for many years. Then the perfect storm
hit our industry and there are many people
deciding they can’t do this any more, and
will either sell or go out of business.
But it comes down to who will be
here for the customers in the long term.
Executive Q&A with Bill Hoffer
We have a renewed focus on the markets
we serve and even some new ones, to see
where we can become a major factor with
these customers, both old and new. MPW
mpw.plasticstoday.com
To read the rest of our interview with Bill
Hoffer, click on the “As I See It” tab on
our home page.
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MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JULY/AUGUST 2009 13