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10 MoldMaking Technology —— JANUARY 2018 Profile Image courtesy of Maximum Mold. You do not often hear about a mold builder your size acquiring another shop. How did you know it was time to make this move? Dave LaGrow, Owner: When the acquisition of Michigan Mold pre- sented itself in October 2015, I just knew it was time to grow. The success of that acquisition gave me the con- fidence that I needed to grow further after a few customers requested that we invest in larger equipment to handle larger molds. It was then that I developed a business plan to con- struct a new building and begin add- ing bigger equipment. However, when the Mach Mold opportunity surfaced, it was a perfect fit with our business plan because the purchase included an equipped building, an established customer base and a quality Maximum Mold Max2, LLC Max3, LLC 1440 Territorial Road Benton Harbor, Michigan 269-468-6291 davel@maximummold.com maximummold.com • Specializes in the design, engineering, development and manufacturing of plastic injection molds, die cast dies and trim dies. • Takes on challenges that others turn away with continual technology investment. • Is ISO-9001 certified and embraces a culture of continuous improvement. • Serves as an engineering resource to assist with new product development. • Invests steadily in palletization of electrodes and cavity blocks as well as fixtures that enable accurate, repeatable fixturing for mold and die rework. The purchase of Mach Mold equipped Maximum with gun drills, boring mills, large horizontal machining centers, five plastic molding machines and laser welders. A Conversation with … Maximum Mold workforce. So, we chose to buy Mach Mold instead of con- structing a new building. We are a smaller mold builder and about one-third the size of Mach Mold, so the acquisition was the sensible next step toward real growth. This move allowed us to capture a lot of the job-shop work that was available in the area and put us in the market of building head tooling for plas- tic injection and blow molding machines. The purchase increased our press size, EDM and larger boring mills to enable greater capabilities and capacity at our tooling shops. What factors did you consider prior to purchasing Mach Mold? LaGrow: Our four main considerations were the customer base, facility, employees and equipment that Maximum Mold did not possess on its own. Here is a simple rundown of those factors: • Diverse customer base. We had two customers specifically request an investment in larger equipment and others who were interested but did not ask. Mach Mold was already building large tools, and its customers were quite different