We are pleased to welcome Yusuf Waxali to Davies Molding. He has recently started the position of Mechanical Engineer. After graduating from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2016, he worked at the Intec Group, a tier-two automotive plastic injection molding company. There he developed strong skills in CMM programing and injection molding simulation. 

Yusuf has a centralized focus in plastic part and tool design as well as tool building/maintenance. He will be very busy at Davies learning new information, but plans to continue playing soccer and reading in his spare time.

As summer comes to a close, so does our time with our summer interns. This summer, we had Steve and Erin working in the Marketing department and Joe working in the Engineering department. Here is what they had to say about their experiences:

Steve:

Being an economics student, I deal a lot with numbers and theory. While at Davies, I was able to focus on applying what I have learned in school to solve real world business problems. In doing so, I completed projects involving market analysis, lead generation, customer relations, and online marketing. It was very rewarding to see my work make a difference for the business.

Everyone at Davies was very welcoming and always encouraging me to learn. I was often invited into meetings even if I was not involved with the project because my mentors knew that I wanted to be exposed to as much as possible. I was very fortunate to be exposed to a variety of business functions from marketing to sales and even engineering. I now have a better idea of what I want to do with my career and what to expect when I enter the business world. For now, I am focused on having a strong senior year that will set me up for success in the future.

Joe: 

This past summer, I worked as an Engineering Intern for Davies and absolutely loved my experience. I came in with very minimal 3D modeling skill, no knowledge of what an ECN (Engineering Change Notice) was, no idea what a Cable Gland was (or what it did), and could have never begun to guess what an Insert Press was. As my 14 weeks end, I have not only attained THAT knowledge, but MUCH, MUCH MORE! Davies has provided me with opportunities to engage in communication through emails, refine my modeling ability, understand work world engineering terminology, such as ECN, and meet a host of wonderful co-workers in the factory and in the office.

Throughout my time here, I have learned what it means to be a professional and have grown as a person and an employee. I have learned to value relationships at every level of the employment chain, but more importantly, treat everyone with the same level of respect and gratitude and come in every day ready to work and perform.  Davies has been a truly monumental stepping stone towards my professional career because of everyone's willingness to help me learn, challenge my abilities, and let me work on projects unavailable at college. It has been a true pleasure to intern for Davies Molding, LLC!

Post-internship, I head back to Iowa State University to start my Junior year! I will continue rugby, study abroad during the spring semester in Limerick, Ireland, and hope to continue my academic successes to attain an internship again next Summer! As much as I am looking forward to college, it will be tough to leave this wonderful company! Thank you, Davies, for everything! It has been an absolute pleasure!

Erin:

Coming into this internship, I was not sure what to expect.  I didn't know the first thing about knobs, handles, or cases. However, this internship turned into a fantastic learning opportunity for me.  I not only learned about Davies Molding products, but about the marketing, sales, customer relations, event planning, and so much more that goes on behind the scenes.  Everyone always kept us busy and was dedicated to helping us learn as much as possible from this experience. This summer was a great opportunity to develop my professional skills, interact and network with people from a variety of fields, and receive feedback and tips from company executives that will surely help me in the business world.  I feel a great deal more confident as I enter my senior year and the work force after graduation.  I couldn't be more grateful to the wonderful team of welcoming, dedicated, and hardworking individuals here at Davies! 

Davies Molding recently had the pleasure of welcoming the interns and their mentors from The Heico Companies for the third year in a row. 

We began the day with a presentation by our engineering intern, Joe, in which he explained the different molding processes and product offerings here at Davies.  It was fantastic to hear Joe share what he has learned through his education and time here at Davies. 

Next, we led the groups through the warehouse, where they were able to see first-hand the injection, compression, finishing, and shipping departments.  This was a first for many visiting a manufacturing plant.  Many shared that it was interesting to see how the parts were made.  Now every time they see a knob or handle or look through a hardware store, they'll keep their eyes out for Davies Molding products!

It was great to share with our guests the day-to-day operations here at Davies.  Everyone here is a crucial part of the team, so it was great to introduce them to some of our employees.  We look forward to sharing our enthusiasm for Davies with Heico interns in the future!

Davies Molding has sister companies all over the world. One of those companies happens to be Spartan Tool located in Niles, Michigan.  This week, our interns Erin, Steve, and Joe were able to join the rest of the Heico Companies's summer interns on a trip to see the facility.

After being greeted by the staff there, they learned about the history of the company, which was founded in 1943 and acquired by The Heico Companies in 1979.  After a major fire in 2003 destroyed the entire Spartan Tool facility in Mendota, IL, the plant relocated temporarily to Mishawka, IN and finally to its current location in Niles, MI in July 2015. 

Next, the group learned about the product lines, all of which can be found on their website and are listed below:

• Cable Machines
• Cables
• Cart, Trailer and Skid Hydro-Jetters
• Camera Inspection and Location
• Trenchless Excavation

The group was then given a tour of the facility, where they learned about various departments, from cable production to shipping.

A main focus of the visit was learning about one of the principles upon which the company operates, LEAN.  Essentially, LEAN promotes accountability, efficiency, organization, and the elimination of waste.  

President Kevin Walsh, having used LEAN successfully at other companies, came to Spartan in 2016.  By bringing the concept of LEAN to Spartan, Walsh was able to implement many positive changes.  Employees now feel like a much more integral part of the team.  All employees are able to suggest changes.  The clean, organized, and efficient facility was a testament to how the implementation of LEAN was truly beneficial to Spartan.

Click here for more information on Spartan Tool!

Davies Molding is excited to announce that we have partnered with a new distributor, Master Electronics. Master Electronics is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. They are a leading distributor of electronic components.

To read more about our parternship, please visit:

http://www.tenlinks.com/news/master-electronics-partners-with-davies-molding/

http://www.ebnonline.com/document.asp?doc_id=282796

The 4th of July is just around the corner and that means there will be fireworks, BBQs and parades all celebrating America's birthday. As we celebrate our country, we at Davies Molding, like to celebrate that we were born in the USA and continue to manufacture here.

Davies Molding has been in business for over 80 years. We got our start in Chicago, IL in 1933. We still reside and manufacture in Illinois. Our 99,000 square foot facility is now located in Carol Stream. We are proud to have a dedicated team that manufactures knobs, handles and other plastic components in the USA. Our molding capabilities include: injection, compression, transfer and two-shot injection molding.

To learn more about our products that are made in the USA, please visit our website.

www.daviesmolding.com

We would also like to share other companies and products that are USA made with you. Please look at the websites below to learn more.

www.madeinusa.org

www.madeintheusa.com

We are very excited to welcome another marketing intern to our Davies family, Steven. Steven is from Elmhurst, Illinois and will be entering his senior year at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana this fall. He is studying economics and global markets and is interested in how governments handle global economic issues.

Steven enjoys playing basketball with his friends and watching movies, especially those directed by Quentin Tarantino and Stanley Kubrick. Steven also helped found a fraternity on  the University of Illinois campus, where he served as treasurer for three semesters. 

So far, Steven has helped work on multiple projects. He has done market price analysis, has worked with analyzing the Davies customer base and is learning all about our standard product line. Steven will continue to work on various marketing related projects the remainder of the summer.

Steven is looking forward to gaining some real-life business experience and hopes to learn more about supply chain management and marketing. He believes that his experience as a Davies intern will help point him in the right career direction after graduation. 

We are welcoming a new Summer Marketing Intern, Erin! Erin will be a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the fall.  She is majoring in Psychology with an Industrial/Organizational concentration and minoring in English.  She loves to travel and just got back from studying abroad in Stockholm, Sweden for the semester.  Erin is originally from La Grange, IL.

In her free time, Erin loves to read and sing.  She has been in the Women's Glee Club at the University of Illinois since her freshman year and her a cappella group, Girls Next Door, since her sophomore year. 

Here is what Erin had to say about her internship experience this summer:

Throughout the summer, I am looking forward to seeing the day-to-day operations around Davies Molding and partaking in numerous projects to gain insight into how the business runs.  Interning at Davies is a great opportunity, for I will be able to work on a broad range of projects, which will allow me to gain real-world experience.  There are so many talented employees throughout the company, and they are all very willing to take the time to explain how their jobs work as well as offer advice.  As this is my first internship, I am excited to be at Davies, where I will be working closely with different departments; hopefully, this will give me a better idea of what I want to do after graduation.

We recently honored an employee that has been working for Davies Molding for 45 years.  Talk about many years of molding experience!  

Mario is our Department Lead for Compression Molding.  He started working for Davies Molding in 1971.  He was with us when we were still located in Chicago.  He made the move from Chicago to our current facility in Carol Stream, IL.

Mario is such a hard worker.  He is very knowledgeable on the molding process.  Mario is a great team player and always willing to help others out.  It's people like Mario that make Davies Molding such a great place to work.

We've been molding plastic knobs, handles, cases, covers and custom parts for over 80 years! You may have heard us use the term hockey puck when we talk about compression molding. When we use the term hockey puck, we're not referring to the kind the Chicago Blackhawks play with. What is a Davies Molding hockey puck?

In compression molding, the phenolic material comes in a granule form. We need to alter that form so it can be put into the press and the part can be formed. We take the granule material and make hockey pucks- preforms. Preforms can also be called tablets or pills. They come in different shapes and sizes depending on the size of the part we're molding.

How do we make preforms?

• Preform sizes are selected to match similarly to the diameter of the cavity and the final parts. Preforms are slightly larger/heavier than the final part to ensure flashing and filling out of the whole cavity.
• Powder granules are poured into the hopper of the preform machines.
• Powder fills in the open space of the die and then a punch comes in and compresses the powder into a hard tablet/pill/hockey puck. The pressure from the compression of the powder into the die by the punch is enough to form the shape and hardness of the preform.
• Ejector pins eject the preform into a bin. The preform is then ready to be molded.

To learn more about our processes and capabilities, please visit www.daviesmolding.com or call 800-554-9208.