MSI Mold Builders gets ISO certification, adds equipment

“We’re a very process-driven organization, and achieving our ISO certification helped us better document our processes,” says Toby Bral, MSI’s quality manager. “While we’ve always had a formal process with respect to our design and manufacturing, the ISO certification helps us maintain and improve our systems with formal internal audits and corrective actions. Plus, we’ve honed our processes by adding complete traceability to make it easier to back-track the steps and get to the root cause of a problem.” Bral also notes that many of MSI’s customers, particularly those in the heavy truck industry, require their suppliers to be ISO certified.

In addition to its ISO certification, MSI Mold Builders will be expanding its capabilities by adding new equipment in the next several months. “We’ve budgeted for new equipment, and have purchased one smaller three-axis CNC machining center,” says Roger Klouda, MSI’s president. MSI also has identified an additional five-axis machining center for the Iowa plant with approximately 40-by-40-inch travel to manufacture smaller molds and components more efficiently. This will be MSI’s fourth five-axis machine, with the largest two five-axis machines having 65-by-110-inch travel capacity.

Klouda notes that business is improving steadily over 2009, and he expects sales to be up 20% over 2009 by year-end 2010. “Currently we’re putting a lot of our growth in the South Carolina facility, including the recent addition of a 500-ton sampling press, because that plant has more capacity, and there are many good growth opportunities in the southeast,” he adds.

MSI Mold Builders operates two facilities with a total of 60,000 ft². The company serves the heavy truck, ATV, lawn and garden, construction and agriculture equipment, medical, appliance, and material handling markets. MSI has been in operation since 1971 and currently employs 75. —Clare Goldsberry