Moving Molds - New Vendor

Hopefully everything will end up fine with you. You were responsible enough to move the molds yourself. In our community we had to hire one of the Austin moving companies to deal with moving the molds, the project engineer was nowhere to be found, he was sued after that for exposing people to construction hazards.

Thanks for the reponse Bill. I know we will work through this but I do feel at a loss on the next step. The company is bringing our lawyers in and they will hash it out.

You’re right. This is gonna turn into a BAD divorce.

Unless it is in writing agreeing to purchase everything associated with the job; LEGALLY (although this is poor form) so long as you don’t have any outstanding invoices for valid purchase orders. Payment can be in a company check

Have your nasty lawyer call him and discuss the highly naughty concept of Business Interruption – this entitles your company to 3X the amount of damages you’ve sustained by his withholding the mold. Your attorney merely gets in front of a judge and gets the court order to release the tooling. You might have to show up with a Marshall to get the tools.

If he feels he has a valid claim – it turns into the Lawyer’s Full Employment act. I worked on a case where a guy pulled the tools, leaving $500,000 worth of finished goods, work in process that was only ordered and maintained on a handshake. He’d done this to other molders here in the Rocky Mountains. When we got into court, I said it was the industry practice to clean up the old inventory, their attorney said (and correctly so) there was nothing in writing to prove that. We (I) lost.

NOW . . . so much for the law. Get the tool up and running at the new vendor even if it takes your company legal beagles to do it. You don’t need a certified check or gold bullion. IF you want to be nasty, you can deposit it with the court and he can get it when you prove he’s given it to you in good condition. Then, since the attorney’s are there anyway, find a settlement figure you both can live with.

The experience I went through taught me. A molding contract is like a marriage. There’s a courtship, a marriage, and then finally a divorce that’s either good or bad. The key is the PreNup agreement. Before you get into a contractual relationship with a supplier, define the terms on how you’ll terminate the relationship – who pays for raw material, work in process, purchased parts etc. etc. This is why you need and I’ve been shouting to the void about it – A POLICY MANUAL.

If you don’t have a policy or agreement in writing, you can leave an awful lot of blood on the floor before its over.

Call me with questions.

Bill Tobin
303 604 9592