Thinking of Mould Tool Transfer ? Here's our 'Pick a Moulder' Checklist !

There are many reasons our clients choose to move their mould tools to us from the UK as well as the far east, but resolving their problems with quality, delivery & communication tends to be top of the list. When you're looking around for a new moulder for your existing tools, it pays to do your homework first. Make sure to check:

1. Are they able to adapt the tool to their machines ?

There may be a lot of work involved in getting an existing tool to run well in a new moulding machine. Mould tools made for one brand of moulding machine may need adapting to fit the new brand. Small differences in things like machine tonnage, barrel size, screw size and injection speed can cause large variations in the quality of the mouldings. Make sure your new moulder can do this well and check for hidden charges. Finally, don't be fooled – if the tool has been made for a standard euromap platen it can be bolted straight into any other euromap machine. Over time, Toolcraft have taken on whole suites of tooling very successfully and we've developed fast techniques & special adaptor plates to achieve this quickly.

2. Do they have the right machines to mould your product in ?

Moulding machines come in different sizes and specs. Depending on your product you may need to check whether the moulder has core pulling machines; whether they have machines that can be set up in different orientations, such as 'vertical' or 'split'; whether they have hot runner controllers and whether they can cope with offset injection points. Here at Toolcraft we offer all of those, together with the experience required to mould from them.

3. What moulding experience do they have ?

Have they worked with the material you require before ? Do they have experience with the process you need – i.e. insert & outsert moulding, overmoulding, threaded mouldings ? Click here to find out more about our moulding expertise.

4. Do they charge for tool storage ?

Some moulders charge to store the tool when it's not in use, or sell or scrap the tool if not used regularly - check the small print ! With Toolcraft, you can leave up to 5 years between orders before we contact you to ask about returning your tool or storage at cost. Before we store your tool we'll always give it some TLC.

5. Will they hold mouldings in stock ?

We'll hold stock for you for 6 months: you can place a large order and call it up in batches, enabling you to take advantage of better part prices.

6. Do they have a quality control system ?

As quality issues are a likely reason for you to move your tool in the first place, it pays to check if your new moulder has a good system in place. We're ISO 9001 accredited and have been so for around 20 years !

7. If you're considering an overseas supplier:

• check the import duties & implications (can be expensive and a lot of hassle)
• check the shipping costs & duration (you could run out of stock)
• check their guarantees (do they still speak English if there's a problem ?)
• check if they can supply REACH & ROHS documents (you must have them in the EU)