Commercial Tool & Die (Ctd), a division of Commercial Tool Group in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area, contacted Zimmermann at a mold show and IMTS. This 68-year-old company, founded by the grandfather of the current president, JD Bouwman, was heavily leveraged in automotive and off-highway injection moldmaking but was seeking to grow into new markets with larger machining capacity. Meanwhile, over in Lansing, Michigan, Franchino Tool & Engineering was prospering in automotive molds and die-cast did work but was seeking to increase their 5-axis machining capability, travel, and speed. The short version of this story is that Ctd ended up with three new Zimmermann machines, while Franchino bought the first Ctd stock machine from Zimmermann, as it fits their needs quite well, according to Franchino President Mike Heatherington.
As Plant Manager Darin Hall explains, “We had reached out to Cornelius Kiesel, president of Zimmermann Inc. in Wixom, Michigan, at a mold show and then again at Imts. We were impressed with their large Cnc 5-axis machines. Ctd had four goals we were seeking to accomplish with our new machine capability. Namely, we wanted reliability, efficiency to run unattended, rigidity to hold accuracies across a long travel and surface quality to meet our very high standards for automotive products.” He notes the FZ compact line of Zimmermann appeared to have the essentials they sought at Ctd, though some modifications would be needed.
Company President JD Bouwman elaborates. “We found in Zimmermann the combination of a great machine with a flexible team who was willing to expand their horizons and ours. Although the basic version of the FZ40c is an excellent machine, in the end, we made 31 changes that were specific to Ctg’s needs, including increased ram, with a goal to purchase three machines for our increased production.” Bouwman further comments how this enhanced capability would allow Ctd to move into new markets and increase share in their home market of automotive. Today, that process has already yielded positive results, as the company is producing injection molds of much larger size than in the past, thereby opening new segment of automotive, off-highway and commercial building products.
After the initial investigation, the decision was made to lease an FZ40c to trial the machine. This portal mill has a work envelope of 197” W x 118” D x 59” H with a feed rate to 2362 ipm. As the trials proceeded over the one-year lease agreement, according to Darin Hall, “We quickly saw that the machine was very solid and would allow us to strategize differently in our approach to production.” Concurrently, Ctd was realizing their market and manufacturing needs would require some significant changes to the machine, especially the ram height, for use on molds in the off-highway, construction equipment and building products market segments Ctd was seeking to penetrate.
Franchino Mold & Engineering was founded in Lansing in 1955 by Richard Franchino, whose son and recently retired president Bob began as the first employee, sweeping the floor for $0.25 an hour. Mike Hetherington is currently working on the construction of an additional 60,000-square foot facility with an 80-ton overhead crane to handle the massive workpieces produced at this shop, which produces molds & dies plus does considerable repair work for its customersHetherington adds the machine purchased from Ctd recently ran for two months solid at 90% capacity. “Looking back, I’d say we were definitely in the right place at the right time, discovering this machine on our trip to Germany. It’s been a very valuable investment for Franchino, providing reliable production on big workpieces. It will open up more opportunities for our company in various existing and new markets.” Hetherington has been president at the company since December 2020, having gone, as he says, “…from mowing the lawn as a school kid to coming to work here with my engineering degree to the engineering manager to VP of operations and now president.”
For more details: www.bernardandcompany.com