FAMILY STYLE

Customers at OBT occasionally employ family molds for low-volume production needs. This type of mold is used to manufacture different components of a multi-part assembly, or multiple variations of a single component, in a single shot — if you’ve ever assembled a plastic model of a Ford Pinto as a kid (or a “Star Wars” TIE-Fighter replica as an adult), you’ve handled family-molded parts. If this is the approach you want to take for your project, be prepared for some additional work and a greater tooling investment. Due to the different size and geometry of parts, family molds bring added design challenges, and it might make sense to investigate alternative molding options (e.g., multiple single-cavity tools) until larger production volumes warrant higher tooling costs. That said, OBT has successfully tackled many projects involving family molds, part geometry and family size permitting. Don’t throw in the towel before giving us a shot.