S-Series Cuts Both Ways For A & C Mold

Andrew Mendala is president and owner of A & C Mold in St. Charles, Illinois, which builds rubber and plastic injection molds for the automotive industry. A & C Mold invested in an S-Series machine to cut steel for molds and mill graphite for EDM machining, its first investment in a Makino.

"The machine is unique because it can mill both steel and graphite—the primary reason we purchased that machine," says Mendala. "We have been testing it on a few jobs, and it has proven to cut costs. Because of that, I can improve my 'time to customer' turnaround by up to 20 percent.

"We visited other companies which utilized the equipment we were considering, including the Makino S-Series. We studied information on the Internet from various companies and we met with personnel at each manufacturer. Makino stood out above the rest."

Mendala says the Makino equipment has helped A & C reduce operational costs. "We have nearly eliminated benchwork polishing on cavities, saving us 80 percent of that effort. And, our products now ship quicker, as we are able to deliver work to our customers 30 percent faster than before.

"We have tremendous pressure from our clients to reduce cost and delivery. And now we are going to concentrate our business on high-speed machining technology. That is the only way that we can compete with the Asian market."

Please also read the story "Reducing Delivery Time By Days" for additional information on Makino S-Series machine performance.

For additional information about the capabilities of A & C Mold, or how they use the Makino S-Series machinery, contact Andrew Mendala at 3870 Swanson Ave., St. Charles, Illinois 60174. Or, call A & C Mold at 630-587-0177.

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