A toolmaker is retaliating in the face of increased competition from the Far East is to use cost effective standard parts and hot runner systems from injection mould tool specialist DMS-Diemould.

One of the ways that a Nottinghamshire toolmaker is retaliating in the face of increased competition from the Far East is to use cost effective standard parts and hot runner systems from injection mould tool specialist DMS-Diemould. Based at Kirkby-in-Ashfield, AL Tools was founded 27 years ago as a manufacturer of injection mould tools and die casting dies. Today the company employs 11 people and is ISO9002 accredited.

While AL Tools has used DMS standard mould tool ancillary parts such as plates, pins, pillars, bushes and ejector pins for many years, the transition to using DMS hot runner systems was only recent.

'We were looking for a really good UK-based service,' explains director Peter Riley, assistant to the managing director, 'and we appreciated the fact that the DMS hot runner systems were very competitively priced.' AL Tools now uses DMS for all of its standard part and hot runner requirements.

The latest example is an eight-impression mould tool with a hot runner system on the back that will produce closures for a rolled cardboard tube.

DMS will complete all the wiring and testing of the system on site and if required will attend first off tool trials.

Although this example is fairly small in size (cap diameter is 24mm), AL Tools can manufacture tools up to 7.5 tonnes for a diverse range of industries, including automotive and food.

'Apart from competitive prices, one of the principal benefits of using DMS is the service,' says Mr Riley.

'If one of our customers required a spare or replacement part, DMS will get the item in the post to us the same day, which is invaluable to companies like ours where lead-times are vital.

The market is really tough these days: because of Far East competition there are probably 30 per cent less opportunities than there were 10 years ago, which means we have to be as competitive as possible on both price and delivery if we are to progress.

Standard parts and hot runners from DMS have proved regularly to be one of the best ways of achieving some of our goals without compromising quality.'