Commercial Tool & Die designs and manufactures plastic injection molds for automotive customers and provides cnc machining to the aerospace industry.

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A focus on customer service and increased investment in employees, facilities and technologies are important to Comstock Park, Mich.-based Commercial Tool & Die. The company’s Unigraphics modeling system helps it develop “the best design and manufacturing process in the industry,” it says.    

With 100,000 square feet of space in its facility, Commercial Tool & Die is a leading manufacturer of plastic injection and die cast molds. Through sister companies, it also offers special machinery and custom molding. It primarily serves the appliance, hardware, automotive and toy industries.    

Commercial Tool & Die says it is dedicated to providing responsive, 24-hour customer service and has established reputation for quality tooling and on-time delivery among a diverse customer base. “Specialized customer service is what makes Commercial successful,” the company says. “Combine this with an investment in its people, facilities and advanced technology, and it is easy to understand why Commercial is out-stepping the competition in the highly complex mold-building industry.   

“With our ongoing commitment to investment and growth, Commercial continues to balance the resources of advanced technology and its people to deliver quality tooling in record time.”   

In an interview with Manufacturing Today, Vice President Todd Finley – who has been with the company since 2005 and has more than 20 years of  experience in the injection molding market – shares his thoughts on the industry and talks about his company’s expertise and efforts to expand on its services.

Manufacturing Today: What is Commercial Tool & Die’s history?
Todd Finley: Commercial Tool & Die was founded in 1953 by Al Bouwman.  The current owner, Doug Bouwman, purchased the company in the 1980s and has grown the enterprise from a 20-man operation to our current size of 135 employees.

MT: What are Commercial Tool & Die’s areas of expertise?  
TF: We specialize in the design and manufacture of plastic injection molds, primarily for customers in the automotive industry. Our operation also provides CNC machining services for customers in the aerospace industry.

MT: What is your industry position in terms of size and market share?
TF: We are in the Top 20 in North America according to Plastics News magazine. Our annual sales are between $22 million and $23 million.
 
MT: How is Commercial Tool & Die adapting to market changes?  
TF: Our industry has globalized, which has led to significant pricing pressure. In the meantime, steel and material prices have skyrocketed, which has put additional pressure on our margins. We have responded to these challenges by emphasizing efficiency in our manufacturing processes and paying particular attention to the quality of our work. Our company simply cannot compete on price alone with China. We have to provide better service and higher quality.
 
MT: What distinguishes Commercial in the industry?  
TF: Our emphasis is on quality, fast delivery and friendly service at a competitive price. I believe we have done a good job of aligning our entire work force to this objective. [We] ensure that a customer always has a positive experience when working with us.

MT: How do you meet challenges?  
TF: We are continually challenged by the hyper-competitive automotive industry to build cheaper, faster, better. Our response has been to invest in high-end updated equipment, improve our work force to match the equipment and focus on continually improving through process improvement and planning. Our management team is not afraid to face the facts and understand our deficiencies. This culture is critical to set the stage for true improvement.

MT: Has Commercial Tool & Die won any awards?
TF: We won the 2008 MoldMaking Technology Leadtime Leader Award, which we are very proud of. We have been recognized by our customers on numerous occasions for outstanding service, including Summit Polymers’ Preferred Mold Maker award for Excellence in Mold Making (four times), as well as Johnson Controls Supplier Leader­ship Award (three times).
 
MT: How does your company handle worker training and development?
TF: We have an in-house training program that we call Commercial Tool University. This is a Department of Labor-certified in-house apprenticeship program. We have a full-time training coordinator that writes curriculum, documents our internal best practices and teaches classes to any employee that needs training. Work force development has been a large part of our success.

MT: How do you link to the community?  
TF: We host quarterly blood drives for the American Red Cross. Our employees donate, through payroll deduction, to a variety of charities. Last year, our employees donated more than $11,800.
 
MT: What could Commercial Tool & Die and other companies be doing to help strengthen the overall industry?
TF: Our industry, and really all domestic manufacturers, need to work together to influence our elected officials. U.S. trade policy, while it promotes free trade, does not address the inequalities in actual trade. For example, we both import and export tooling to China. It is roughly a 3 percent cost to import to the United States from China (due to) taxes, tariffs and duties. In contrast, it costs roughly 30 percent to export tooling from the United States to China. This makes it attractive for multinational companies to manufacture in China rather than the United States. This fundamental problem is part of the cause of our current economic recession.

MT: What is the best advice you’ve ever received about the industry?
TF: The minute you think your company is the best, you are finished.  You must continually strive for improvement, and the job is never done. Always treat everyone with respect and try to understand the difficulties they may have in their particular job.

MT: How would you advise the next generation of industry leadership?
TF: Embrace the fundamentals of lean manufacturing and always im­prove. For example, we do custom manufacturing, not mass production. There is a perception that lean does not apply, but this is false. Our product is unique, but our production process can be repeatable, so that is where we focus improvement efforts.