Team 3:
Case Study: Custom Molds, INC
Case Study: Custom Molds, INC
Custom Molds Inc., manufactures custom designed molds for plastic parts and produces custom made plastic connectors for the electronics industry. Established in 1987, the primary focus was to provide manufacturers or electronic connectors a source of high-quality custom-designed molds for producing plastic parts. After building a strong brand reputation through the designing and fabrication of precision molds, Custom Mold’s expanded into the limited manufacture of plastic parts. The operations at Custom Mold’s include a process for fabricating molds and a second process for producing plastic parts. The two processes are linked together, but are performed separately. Custom Molds has been a successful company in previous years, but the electronic industry has changed forcing the company into a new and changing position. Custom Mold’s changing business has presented some major issues that require immediate action. The following study summarizes Custom Mold’s major issues, recommendations, and analysis of supporting data. The changing electronics industry has presented Custom Molds with problems that are causing a decline in sales and a negative brand reputation. The first problem is the changing sales mix of products in both fabricating of molds and manufacturing plastic parts. Fabricating molds are currently receiving the same number of orders as previous years, but with a higher demand for single quantity molds. Plastic parts are currently receiving fewer orders than previous years, but with a higher demand for higher quantity of parts. A second problem within the business is customers expecting an on time delivery, and the actual delivery is delayed by as long as two weeks. Another problem that could be linked to a late delivery is the presence of bottlenecks in the production line. The bottlenecks are unpredictable and move from various stages of operation. The last major