By Mike McNulty

Rubber & Plastics News Staff

Rubber & Plastics News May 1, 2000

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis.-Molded Dimensions Inc. is adding equipment and increasing capacity to continue its plan to grow 10 percent yearly and meet customers' increasing needs.

The custom molder of cast urethane and rubber products will boost the polyurethane side of its business by adding another computer-controlled lathe and additional oven capacity.

On the rubber side of its operation, Molded Dimensions expects to buy another injection molding machine later this year, according to Jay Meili, CEO, technical director and owner of the firm. He didn't disclose the machines' cost.

The Port Washington-based firm also may add to its work f6rce of about 70, he said.

"We have three shifts, with room on the second and third for expansion," Meili said. "About 55 percent of our business is molded rubber and 45 percent is cast urethane."

The new equipment will improve both sides of the company's business and boost capacity to cover its controlled growth plan, he said.

While he did not give the firm's annual sales, Meili noted it has never set its sights on quick, widespread expansion. "We like to grow 10 percent to 12 percent each year," he said.

Molded Dimensions' growth has been spurred "by the good reputation we have with our customers," Meili said. "Because we're a custom molder, our real product is service. We're a technically oriented company and we provide technical service to our customers."

While the firm has a regional focus, operating within a radius of about 400 miles, it does have some customers in other parts of the U.S. and a few overseas.

The manufacturer doesn't produce high-volume products or sell to the automotive industry, Meili said.

"We tend to be a low- to medium-sized volume operation because of the nature of our business. We're not interested in moving material; we're interested in providing value," he said.

Molded Dimensions was founded in 1954 primarily as a distribution company and purchased by Meili in 1969. It originally was called Robbins Plastics & Rubber and housed in Cedarburg, Wis.

Meili converted it into a manufacturing operation and later moved it to Port Washington.

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Firm founder maps urethane growth course

By Mike McNulty

Rubber & Plastics News Staff

Rubber and Plastic News May 1, 2000

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla.-The cast urethane industry was young, lean and mean 30 years ago when Jay Meili was one of a few wide-eyed, eager entrepreneurs who were developing their own companies and, unbeknownst to them, in training for the battle of their lives.

The industry began to grow up quickly in 1973, when it lost its innocence after the U.S. government placed MOCA, the industry's prime curing agent, on a list of carcinogens.

"We had to fight that, because it never caused cancer," according to Meili, CEO and owner of Molded Dimensions Inc. in Port Washington, Wis.

Ultimately, cast polyurethane processors and suppliers won the war with the government, but the cost was high.

"Some small and large companies left the industry, some major companies distanced themselves from the fray and many customers found substitute materials," he said. "For many of us, we had no choice. It was a survival thing."

Fortunately the Polyurethane Manufacturers Association had been organized in 1971, so cast urethane manufacturers had a vehicle by which they could contest the rulings, Meili said. "After a dozen years or so, we had pretty much slain the dragon."

During a session titled "Reflections on 30 Years as a Custom Molder" at the PAU Spring Conference held in Wesley Chapel, Meili told a packed room the cast urethanes industry has taken giant steps with its curing and resin systems during that span. It no longer strictly relies on MOCA, he said, although the material remains much used.

He cited several factors on which manufacturers need to focus in order to achieve greater success, including product cost, engineering data, improving the public's knowledge of cast urethanes, low-cost tooling, value-added manufacturing processes and use of the material for maintenance parts.

Although cast urethanes have been labeled costly, "expense is a relative thing," Meili said. Manufacturers need to provide customers with a cost-benefit analysis because often only the initial cost is high. The long-term expense can be substantially less than other materials, he said.

The industry further can reduce production costs, because of the nature of its liquid pouring systems, by incorporating value-added steps in the manufacturing process, said Meili, one of the founders of the PMA. Lower-cost raw materials, such as polypropylene glycol or additives can be used, he noted.

Low-cost tooling-which Meili stressed is not "no-cost" tooling-is available because of open cast systems prevalent in the urethanes business. "We have done this with silicones or cast urethane toolings," he said.

He suggested creativity can help processors satisfy customer needs, as long as the manufacturer has a clear understanding of what the customer will accept.

Urethanes fit nicely as plastic or metal replacements in lower-volume production, Meili said, citing pressure molding of cast urethane as one of the ways.

"Here the low-cost tooling is a very important aspect," he said, "since the tooling cost will be substantially lower than it would be for a plastic injection molded part."

Processors also will find it helpful to combine components, Meili said. Combining a metal part with urethane will create added value for the manufacturer.

Another way to cut expenses is by under-engineering parts, because "many times urethanes are used in situations where the engineering capabilities are not clearly understood and the part itself is over-engineered," he said.

Meili stressed that the urethanes business needs to upgrade its engineering data, which presently stems from the 1960s and 1970s.

"Much more data needs to be assembled before we can really talk with engineers in a meaningful manner," he maintained. "This places an emphasis on each of us having an engineering staff of some manner and a technical capability within our own forces."

If they don't have their own, processors need support facilities, through outside laboratories or suppliers, who have provided the industry with its most useful engineering data, Meili said.

Perhaps cast urethane manufacturers' most difficult hurdle to overcome is the lack of public knowledge about the material and companies in the industry. That places a greater burden on processors to educate the public with seminars. "We certainly do it with customer presentations," he said, adding that the PMA has helped and will continue to assist companies.

"As more engineers find out about our materials, the easier it will be for the entire industry to grow," Meili said.

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