Founded in 1978, Florida-based precision injection mold maker Cavaform is a family-owned business serving primarily medical device OEMs. It recently received a 2021 Sterling Manufacturing Business Excellence award from the nonprofit Florida Sterling Council, funded by the Office of the Governor. The program is highly competitive, with more than 140 companies vying for the honor. Earning this recognition validates Cavaform’s dedication to innovation and meeting customer needs for 40+ years. It is also a welcome reminder of the “things we do right every day and why those things are important,” Sales Engineering Manager Chris Outlaw told PlasticsToday.

“Cavaform owner Dave Massie, GM/Controller Nick Scalamogna, and the rest of the team at Cavaform have dedicated countless hours and resources over the past several years to create an environment where engineering and manufacturing can continue to improve, progress, and grow,” said Outlaw. In addition to recognizing the company's achievements, the award “highlighted things we can now take back to our teams for ideas and strategies to implement improvement — things we may have overlooked or taken for granted because we just may have been ‘too close to it.’ We are excited for the future and we will continue to raise the bar,” said Outlaw.

The proverbial bar already is set at a pretty high mark. The St. Petersburg-based company partners with brand-name hot-runner suppliers, press manufacturers, and resin suppliers to fabricate production-ready tight-tolerance molds. Its sister company, Modern Technical Molding & Development (MTMD), offers injection molding services in tonnages ranging from 75 to 500 tons, but also serves as a mold testing and qualification partner. The 22,000-square-foot controlled environment is suited for pilot to full production runs.

Although Cavaform makes molds for a range of applications — one notable achievement was developing an injection mold for Keurig’s K-Cup pods, which had been vacuum-formed until that point — the medical technology market has been a mainstay for the company. That has stood the company in good stead during the pandemic.

“One of our largest sectors is the medical disposables industry,” said Outlaw, citing pipettes, PCR tubes, test tubes, reaction vessels, caps, hubs, syringes, and plungers as examples. “The demand for quality medical disposables has never been higher than it has been over the last 24 months. We will continue to grow and expand our medical mold building portfolio to meet the needs of a growing market. In addition to the medical disposable market, Cavaform also builds precision molds and components for markets in personal care, writing instruments, closures, and consumer disposables,” he added.

Steadfast in its commitment to innovation, Cavaform currently is developing a standard platform to improve mold-making lead times for disposable medical products, pipettes in particular, Outlaw told PlasticsToday. “This platform would involve an innovative design concept that is adaptable to our customer’s needs,” he added.

One more reminder that Cavaform is not about to rest on its laurels and, yes, continue to raise the bar.