Quebec Report: Fast times at moldmaking firm

The key word at FTM Precision Moulds these days is speed — as in high-speed. The company recently purchased two high-speed CNC milling machines and has plans to buy another one sometime over the next 12 to 18 months. As well, the company will soon be moving from its present 12,000 sq. ft. plant in St. Laurent, QC to a 17,000 sq. ft. facility. The investments and expansion are the result of a steady growth in the company’s core moldmaking business for the medical, optics and electronics markets, says Franco Fratarcangeli, FTM president and owner.

Fratarcangeli served as a consultant for the injection molding industry for 15 years prior to founding Franco Techno Mould (FTM) in 1984. Today the company has 25 employees, including six design engineers. It specializes in the design and manufacture of small- and medium-size molds for a variety of clients, including CCM, Bauer, Hughes Aircraft and others. Over the years the company has developed an expertise and reputation for building molds for high-quality optic applications, such as lenses that go into swimming goggles and hockey visors. It is an area in which FTM still does a lot of business.

While most of the moldmaker’s customers are in Canada, Fratarcangeli says he is making more effort to acquire business outside of the country. The company recently built molds used to injection mold medical pipettes for a customer in Egypt. The contract for this business was secured when Fratarcangeli traveled to Egypt for a face-to-face meeting with the customer. FTM also builds molds used for baseball helmets for a customer in Tennessee; as well as supplying molds to a sanitary products company in California. The company is putting together a strategy to land more U.S. business in the future.

As with many moldmakers, FTM experienced a lull in business last year, but has seen business turn around more recently. “We had some cancellations of orders late in the year, but since February of this year things have steadily picked up,” says Fratarcangeli.

One of the company’s most important assets, according to Fratarcangeli, is its ability to help customers with product development and design. This capability is enhanced by a partnership with Dorval Technology, an engineering design firm with prototyping and stereolithography equipment. FTM itself has made significant investments in design technology, including a laser digitizer, three seats of Cimatron CAD/CAM, one seat of EDS I-deas and four seats of Matra Datavision Euclid.

On the horizon, FTM is doing some development work on molds for in-mold labeling of injection-molded thin-wall packaging. Fratarcangeli is also keeping under his hat (for the time being) a project to build a mold for a high-volume captive product in the consumer market. From this reporter’s perspective, it is a product with “can’t miss” potential; one which people will say, “why didn’t someone think of that earlier”, when they see it.

Typically, Fratarcangeli is taking a low-key approach toward the product; preferring instead to talk about day-to-day operations.

“The thing I’m most proud about is that over 95% of our molds work on the first shot.”

Spoken like a true moldmaker.