Leading lead times with help of WITTMANN BATTENFELD injection molding machines
18.12.2020
By emphasizing lean business practices, American manufacturing, and a commitment to quality, Lawrence Industries and their WITTMANN BATTENFELD injection molding machines have set the standard for lead times in the hardware manufacturing industry.
Lawrence Industries is an industry-leading manufacturer of door and window hardware based in Thomasville, North Carolina. In an industry that fled America over a decade ago, the fact that they are still here and thriving is a story in and of itself. Add to that fact that Lawrence Industries has lead times of just one to two weeks and the story is truly remarkable. From their first customer conversation, they can design a part, 3D-print a prototype, air-freight it for customer review, build the mold, and then ship the molded product in the 2nd or 3rd week. With supply issues from overseas and tariffs making internationally made products more expensive, Lawrence Industries is and has been the right molder at the right moment to take advantage of market inefficiencies with a smart, responsive business model and a commitment to flexibility and growth.
A view of the Lawrence Industries production hall in Thomasville, North Carolina, USA, picturing WITTMANN BATTENFELD injection molding machines.
Lean, flexible, and innovative
In business for over 30 years, Lawrence Industries made a name for themselves off the bat with their extremely short lead times. “When we first came up, lean manufacturing was really just getting started and a standard lead time folks were seeing was 16–24 weeks”, says Barry Lawrence, President of Lawrence Industries, Inc. “So when we came in with two week lead times, people honestly didn’t even trust it and we had to prove ourselves. Well, we did and we still prove it every day!”
By being based in the USA, the lead times are helped dramatically by simple geography. With most of the competition based in China, Lawrence is often able to have a part in production before their customers can even get a quote back from overseas. They’re also, however, extremely efficient. With only about 50 people total on staff, they still manage about 60 mold changes per day, each taking only about 10 minutes each. They incorporate automation in their mixing, loading, and grinding to further speed up their process and currently they can produce about one million parts a day for the customers. They build their own tooling in-house, which drops cycle times building parts to bring to market, and they have the capability of building a mold in a day if necessary (although they would prefer at least a couple of days!). These internal capabilities did not happen overnight, but were the product of a continuous growth mindset and a commitment to the “one-stop shop” business model for their customers.
“We have had numerous jobs where we needed some type of part that was really unique and only came from one vendor”, says Lawrence. “We almost always jump on that opportunity to start making the part ourselves. It improves our own supply chain and makes us more versatile for future projects for our customers – a real win-win for us.” Overall, Lawrence Industries currently produces about one hundred projects per year, from design to tooling to manufacture, and they are still continuing to grow.
WITTMANN BATTENFELD’s injection molding machines
This commitment to maximum speed and efficiency is how Lawrence Industries and WITTMANN BATTENFELD became a true partnership. As Lawrence was starting to experiment and do the R&D work for making hardware out of plastics, just before the recession in 2008, they purchased several used BATTENFELD injection molding machines. WITT-MANN BATTENFELD agreed to support the older machines, and worked with Lawrence to provide the necessary training and equipment to help them grow. Lawrence Industries did grow, and as they did, they bought more equipment from WITTMANN BATTENFELD, who they trusted as a true partner due to their support of their initial Machine Division at WITTMANN BATTENFELD. “We can yell about it from the rooftops all day but having a customer like Lawrence who sees the benefits every day and how it helps their business; there’s just no better promotion for us than that.”
After over a decade of working hand in hand with WITTMANN BATTENFELD, Lawrence Industries now has 40 WITTMANN BATTENFELD injection molding machines, and has no plans to slow down anytime soon.
Lawrence Industries is proud to be a family company and an industry leader in manufacturing door and window hardware. – From left to right: Randy Lawrence, VP of Engineering; Barry Lawrence, President; Katie Lawrence, Corporate Secretary; Brandon Lawrence, VP of Sales.
Service and support
As stated earlier, Lawrence Industries has made a name for itself with its minuscule lead times and flexibility. With this need for speed and efficiency, one of the most important parts of their partnership with WITTMANN BATTENFELD is the service and support that WITTMANN BATTENFELD offers for their machines. The remote servicing feature in particular has been a real boon for Lawrence Industries. Remote service allows users to contact WITTMANN BATTENFELD directly when there’s a question or an issue, and a WITTMANN BATTENFELD support person is able to diagnose the problem remotely right away. Not needing to send someone out to the plant to diagnose in person saves time and money on both sides, and keeps the customer plant up and running.
“We have 40 WITTMANN BATTENFELD machines in here and we can’t afford down time on any of them”, says Lawrence. “Being able to log on and get support has saved countless time. We contact them almost weekly, calling them up thinking there’s a problem and that we have to buy a repair part, and the WITTMANN folks will tell us we don’t need it and be able to diagnose and help us fix the problem faster, easier, and cheaper than thought it would be. It’s just a really user-friendly, manufacturing-friendly system.
This remote service capability that Lawrence has embraced is a big part of the value that WITTMANN BATTENFELD’s machines bring to the table, and WITTMANN BATTENFELD has really appreciated the utilization that these features get from Lawrence.
“We have really enjoyed working with Lawrence Industries”, says Mitchell from WITTMANN BATTENFELD. “They know what they’re looking for out of our machines and utilize the features we always have to push and persuade customers to actually take advantage of. They’re money saving, time saving features but they’re new for some people and lots of people aren’t open to doing things a different way. That willingness to work with new things and push the cutting edge is part of what has made Lawrence Industries so successful and we’re a proud partner in their success.”
Author: Mitch Hannoosh
Mitch Hannoosh is part of the team of Next Step Communications Inc. in Kittery Point, Maine, USA, and frequently working with WITTMANN BATTENFELD, Inc