June 2007, MD&DI
Laser Welding: Metal Fastening with Microscopic Precision
By James Whitcher, Sr. Staff Metals Engineer, Mack Molding
AC Cover Wins Award for Trane, Mack Molding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A cosmetic top cap for Trane’s top-of-the-line residential air conditioner won the Building & Construction category at the Society of the Plastics Industry’s annual plastics design competition held this spring. Newly named the Alliance of Plastics Processors Conference & New Product Design Competition, the event attracted 31 complex entries representing multiple processes and materials.
Trane’s AC cover was no exception. Molded at Mack Molding’s facility in Inman, S.C., the new top cap design is injection molded, which produces fast molding cycles for a high volume part with cosmetic requirements. External gas is used for cavity texture replication and improved part ejection. External gas also lowers the injection pressure needed to fill the part, reducing press size requirements as well as costs.
The cover is molded of UV stabilized polycarbonate resin for strength, impact, long-term aging, cosmetics, and the color stability required for an outdoor application.
The new cover design – a collaborative effort among Trane, Mack Molding, Advanced Innovative Design and Delta Mold – is now one part produced in one mold with no required assembly. Formerly, the cover was built of five separate parts that had to be glued, and three molds were needed to produce each part. “You can imagine the productivity gains we’ve realized through mold reduction alone,” says Ken Kincaid, Mack technical engineering manager.
The most impressive technical aspect of the project is reflected in the part’s geometry changes and how they work with the tool design. “Slide lines in the tool combine with style lines on the side of the part, eliminating any interruption in texture appearance,” explains Kincaid. “And because the louvers are now integral to the part, its structural aspects and strength properties are improved, eliminating most of the core side ribs that were previously needed and the associated sink and flow disruptions.”
“This project is an excellent example of part and tool design working in concert to simplify design and consolidate parts, while meeting all critical aesthetic and functional criteria,” says Mack Business Development Director Brian Sumpter.
About Mack Molding
Mack Molding is a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services. Mack specializes in plastics design, prototyping, molding, sheet metal fabrication, and medical device manufacturing. The company operates seven facilities throughout the eastern United States. Founded in 1920, Mack is a privately owned business with over 1800 employees in North America. For further information, call 802-375-2511 or visit Mack on the web at www.mack.com.
About Trane
Trane, the air conditioning systems and services business of American Standard Companies, is a leading global provider of indoor comfort systems and comprehensive facility solutions. Its offerings include energy efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, service and parts support, advanced building controls and financing solutions. In 2006, Trane contributed $6.8 billion to American Standard’s total sales of $11.2 billion. For more information, visit the Trane web site at www.trane.com.
Mack Molding Named Plastics Processor of Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Mack Molding Co. of Arlington, Vt., is Plastics News’ Processor of the Year, the plastics industry publication announced Feb. 27 during its annual Executive Forum in San Diego.
Mack, which does injection molding, sheet metal fabrication and full product assembly, reinvented itself over the past six years after much of its core business of computer servers and mass storage devices went offshore. Now Mack serves several diverse markets, including medical devices, business equipment, furniture, industrial battery cases, and very large parts for trucks and recreational and utility vehicles.
“I truly believe we won this award because we put the customer first,” says Don Kendall, president and CEO of Mack. “Total Customer Satisfaction is not just a catch phrase at Mack. It is what we measure ourselves by. And when you do that, everything else falls into place. I want to thank our employees for their hard work and dedication to our customers. And I want our customers to know that we greatly appreciate and value their confidence and trust.”
Mack was judged in seven different categories, including financial performance, technological innovation, quality, customer relations, employee relations, environmental record and public service. The judging process included a lengthy application process, as well as an on-site visit by one of the judges.
The other finalists were Berry Plastics Corp. of Evansville, Ind., and Innovative Injection Technologies Inc. of West Des Moines, Iowa. According to statistics from the Society of the Plastics Industry, there are over 11,000 plastics processors in the U.S.
Ernst & Young Corporate Finance Inc. (Canada) co-sponsored the award, and also helped judges analyze the financial performance of the companies.
About Mack Molding
Mack Molding is a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services. Mack specializes in plastics design, prototyping, molding, sheet metal fabrication, and medical device manufacturing. The company operates seven facilities throughout the eastern United States. Founded in 1920, Mack is a privately owned business with over 1800 employees in North America. For further information, call 802-375-2511 or visit Mack on the web at www.mack.com.
Mack Achieves Quality Gold Standard
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a prestigious network of national standards institutes from 157 countries, created the standard to provide medical devices that consistently meet applicable customer and regulatory requirements. Intertek Systems Certification, an accredited registrar, carried out the third-party assessment and certification.
“Achieving this quality hallmark for medical device manufacturing has required a yearlong intensive focus on quality system analysis, creating and modifying procedures, and training personnel,” says Jeff Somple, president of Mack’s Northern Operations. “The resulting certification demonstrates that our quality system meets the internationally recognized standard for medical device manufacturing. It assures customers we are continually driving toward quality system improvement. And it represents yet another major milestone in our calculated growth as a contract manufacturer in the medical device sector, where we focus on complex medical device assemblies.”
In addition, Intertek audited and recertified Mack’s Headquarters Plant and the other Northern Operations facilities in Pownal, Cavendish and East Arlington as having met the ISO 9001:2000 standard, an international reference for quality requirements in business-to-business dealings. “Long ago, Mack made ISO standards the underpinning of its quality management system,” says Wanda Knowles, director of quality and information systems. “We were one of the first injection molders in the U.S. to achieve ISO certification, and have been annually measuring total customer satisfaction for over a decade now.”
For further information regarding Mack and its recent ISO certifications, contact Wanda Knowles at 802-375-0525.
About Mack Molding
Mack Molding – a wholly owned subsidiary of Mack Group – is a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services. Mack specializes in plastics design, prototyping, molding, sheet metal fabrication, and medical device manufacturing. The company operates seven facilities throughout the eastern United States. Founded in 1920, Mack is a privately owned business with over 1800 employees in North America.
About ISO
ISO is a non-governmental organization that has been developing voluntary technical standards over almost all sectors of business, industry and technology since 1947. To learn more, go to www.iso.org.
About Intertek
Intertek Systems Certification is an accredited registrar that performs third party assessment and registration of management systems against the requirements of national and international standards. Co-headquartered in Boxborough, Mass., and Lachine, Quebec, Intertek has 18 established offices located throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
Mack Boosts Engineering Expertise
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARLINGTON, Vt. – Leslie Downer, a veteran engineer with medical device manufacturing expertise, has joined Mack Molding’s sales and engineering department as program manager, it was announced today by Joan Magrath, vice president, sales & engineering.
“We are fortunate to have Leslie, who brings 17 years of cross-functional engineering experience in design, manufacturing and quality assurance to our organization,” adds Magrath.
Downer will work primarily with medical device customers, managing the life cycles of their products, including pricing, scheduling, design, prototyping, tooling, molding and assembly.
Most recently with Whatman, Inc. (Sanford, Maine), a global leader in separations technology for the life sciences markets, Downer was corporate quality assurance operations manager with worldwide responsibilities. Earlier, she was a design engineer for A.W. Chesterton (Groveland, Mass.), where she managed 17 product lines in its Fluid Sealing Division. Downer has also served as an independent small business development consultant.
Downer holds an MBA from Babson College, Wellesley, Mass., and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Vermont in Burlington. She is also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society for Quality.
About Mack Molding
Mack Molding – a wholly owned subsidiary of Mack Group – is a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services. Mack specializes in plastics design, prototyping, molding, sheet metal fabrication, and medical device manufacturing. The company operates seven facilities throughout the eastern United States. Founded in 1920, Mack is a privately owned business that has earned a 5A1 D&B rating, the highest available.
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