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In The Hopper

Plan to Attend PDx/amerimold 

Get travel plans in order now and plan to attend the new PDx/amerimold (formerly the MoldMaking Expo), which will be held May 11-13 in Cincinnati. Progressive Components will not only sponsor the Technical Conference, but will also present one of the sessions.

Alan Hickok, who is Progressive’s OEM Sales Manager, will present “Managing Your Mold Builds”.

“Roles and responsibilities for managing a mold build have become less defined,” Hickok explains. “OEM’s are delegating more tasks down to their molders and in turn the molders down to mold builders and suppliers. Some OEM’s have abandoned or minimized the value of their Mold Spec Book, leaving the molders to take on more ownership of tooling decisions. Molders are turning to their mold builders for more than just faster lead times and lower cost by expecting a mold and parts from all cavities to be fully qualified before shipment.”

Hickok will demonstrate basic project management tools that can be used to help execute a mold build. He will discuss:

•   How “Running the Numbers” up front can lead to bigger cost savings   downstream;

•   Mold Specifications options; and

•   The importance of mold maintenance to molders and mold builders.

Glenn Starkey, President of Progressive, relates, “Last year at EuroMold, attendees from the U.S. were impressed with the show and asked, ‘why don’t we have something like this in the States?’ Now, due to an alliance with EuroMold organizers, and by incorporating a product development emphasis, PDx/amerimold is positioned to be an essential North America event and one that brings it all together under one roof.”

For more information about PDx/amerimold, visit www.pdx-amerimold.com.

Adding to the Team

Progressive is growing and adding to its presence, both at its headquarters in the Chicago area and throughout the market.

Openings for various positions are frequently posted at www.procomps.com, and Progressive and its partners Roehr Tool and ToolingDocs are also adding alliances with mold building companies that are either harnessing collapsible core technology or advancing mold repair systems. Contact Progressive, Roehr Tool, or ToolingDocs to discuss any of these alliance possibilities.

It's Been Said

	Shown here is a 4-cavity mold with Expandable Cavity technology.
	Progressive's Ex-Cavs are now standardized. Access catalog pages and animated product demos online.

Mike Rockwell of Cape Fear Mold & Tool Co., Inc.  recently described a mold project in which Expandable Cavities (Ex-Cav’s) were not only the best solution, but the only solution.

Mike explained that his customer requir-ed two hot runner molds with undercuts to be built. “One of the molds was fairly simple except for some undercuts, but the second mold turned into a bear,” he said. “It had a long, thin core running thru the center, undercuts on the inside that required the Expandable Cavities, under-cuts around the outside that required slides, and, to top it all off, it had a 0.016” vent hole in the face.” 

The complexity of the second mold wasn’t the only criterion that had to be met, but there were also space considerations and a tight delivery time
to think about. 

“The Expandable Cavity system was really the only option,” Mike said. “We had worked with several Collapsible Cores in the past and have always been quite happy with those, so I was confident the Expandable Cavity system would work just as well. The technical support we received was incredibly helpful throughout the build, and the parts were delivered correct and on time. The beauty of the Ex-Cav’s is that there is really no way to crash the mold.” 

The project was a success, and Mike tells us his customer was very satisfied. “My customer couldn’t have been happier with the mold,” he said. “They were actually surprised when we completed the project without any design change requests. The Ex-Cav’s themselves are still looking like new, after a quarter million parts each; even with the high-glass content plastic they are running.” 

For more information about Ex-Cav’s, call Progressive at 800-269-6653. Click HERE to view them in action.

Distribution Expansion

Progressive has expanded its reach to customers in Canada with the January addition of a new Channel Partner: Quality Components and Systems, Inc. (or QCS, Inc.) based in Windsor.

Led by company founder and president, Reginald L. Quesnel, QCS is working to make Progressive’s full line of industry standards, as well as innovations, available to customers both in Windsor and Toronto.

“I’ve been selling mold components to the Canadian market for more than 25 years,” says Reg. “My background as a mould maker in a full-service facility helps me to understand fully what my customers require, and because personalized service is almost a cultural requirement in the regions of Canada that I work in, I’m eager to get out there and offer them the quality components and services that Progressive provides and is well known for.”

To contact Reg Quesnel and his team, call 888-249-MOLD (6653), or visit www.quality-comp.com.

Procomper Spotlight

Jose Flores
West Coast Sales Representative

A recent addition to the sales team, Jose Flores comes to Progressive with more than 21 years of hands-on experience in the plastics industry. His experience includes mold making and components production as well as teaching injection molding processes and providing technical support for various molding applications. He is also a degreed Mechanical Engineer.

Jose represents Progressive in the Western United States, mainly in California, Arizona and along the border of Mexico. He is bilingual and is able to communicate all the more effectively with customers in those regions.

“I am the face that customers see when they work with Progressive,” says Jose. “My goal is to understand their needs and provide the best products and customer service with confidence.”

Contact Jose Flores by emailing him at jflores@prissa.net, or call Progressive at 800-269-6653 for assistance.

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