Smart Molding International 1-2021

17 newsfeed www.smart-molding.com HTI Plastics created face masks for employees and their families to protect them from COVID-19. In the fight to stop the spread of the COVID-19, face masks became of top necessity to protect our employees and to continue operating dur - ing the pandemic. Like many other business - es deemed essential to stay open during the pandemic, HTI faced difficulty finding masks for all the employees that kept the operations running. That is when our team of engineers and tools makers jumped into action. They quickly designed and made a tool for a reusable face mask with a replace - able filter. Our production and set up team also played a significant role in getting the tool tested quickly for production. “Our engineering, tool room, and production teams worked hard to get these tools into production quickly,” said Chris Reed, Director of Engineering at HTI Plastics. “Engineering had the design done within a matter of days. The tool room jumped right in to machining the tools and had the initial tools done within two weeks. We found that a quick adjustment to the design was needed, and the tool room turned around another insert within two days. The Production group broke into their busy sched - ule to make sure we could run the tools. It was a great job by everyone.” After the masks were ready, a team put together some “Face-masks kits.” These kits come in blue or red, with a large and small size mask, some filter ma - terial, strings to make ear loops, and detailed instruc - tions on how to assemble. “Our employees’ safety and well-being are our top priorities. With HTI being a critical company to run, due to our product lines, our em - ployees’ hard work allows our company to stay open and meet our customers’ needs,” said Troy Just, Presi - dent at HTI Plastics. “Every - one has worked extremely hard during these trying times, and I am thankful for everything they have done and continue to do.” We have not produced these for retail sale. The masks are only for our em - ployees and their families. We understand that our re - sponsibility to protect our employees does not stop at the end of their shift, we also want to take care of them and their families outside, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. HTI Plastics www.htiplastic.com For example, the expan - sion allows MTD to better handle the logistics of the increasing need for custom packaging and assembly services. “The days of bulk packing tiny medical parts are becoming a thing of the past. Custom packag - ing solutions are becoming a requirement for medical OEMs.” At a time when many businesses are worried about their future, Hulecki admits that he does have one concern with this ex - pansion project. “Our fear is that we will grow out of this expansion, at the rate of growth we’re seeing.” MTD Micro Molding www.mtdmicromolding.com HTI Plastics manufactures face masks for employees and their families HTI tool for a reusable face mask HTI face mask mold half