Dynamic Engineering:  Reshaping the Tooling Mindset 

Peter McGillivray and Dave Kalina met while working in the mold making industry during the mid 1970s.  The two soon became partners and established Dynamic Engineering in 1977.  Like so many in the trade back then, they were a small start-up organization working from the basement of one of their homes.  About four months later, they hired their first employee and moved into an 1,800-square-foot industrial facility in Minneapolis, never looking back. 

“That is the business model for manufacturing entrepreneurs,” says Jay Williams, the company’s national sales and marketing manager.  “This is how the whole mold making industry used to evolve.”   

Bringing Williams on board is just one of the many strategies Dynamic has implemented over the years as it evolved into an industry leader.  He’s been with the company for four years, but has known McGillivray and Kalina since they first hung out the company’s shingle. 

“Peter and Dave are way out of the box with someone like me on the payroll,” says Williams, pointing out that to have a dedicated marketing person on staff is rather unusual – even today – in the tooling industry.  “Trade shows are a big part of our marketing plan.  In 2000, we hired a graphic artist freelancer to help us completely overhaul our corporate identity (ie, logos, company image, etc.) and create all of our marketing collateral.  He had a good background of working with industrial customers so it worked out very well.  He pushed us toward a solid marketing plan.  We now have quarterly marketing meetings to discuss direct mail, press releases and other strategies for getting the Dynamic name out there.” 

McGillivray, who is Dynamic’s president, recalls that the company employed nine people when it moved from the small facility into its present building in 1981.  At 17,000 square feet today, the plant has been added onto over the years.  There are currently about 45 employees working there. 

“When we first started out we had a diverse workload but our main concentration was connector work for computers and related items,” McGillivray says.  “Today the breakdown is much more diverse.  About 40% of our output in sales are powder injection molds.  The remaining 60% comprise plastic injection molds, which is made up of a lot of subsets.  For example, multiple cavity tooling, multi-shot, unscrewing molds, strip-feed and insert molds and more.”   

Dynamic’s largest markets include medical, consumer products and electronics. 

It’s a full-service manufacturing operation, as is its sister company, Dyna-Plast, Inc.  Founded in 1994, McGillivray’s and Kalina’s vision was to create a company that would be a complement to Dynamic Engineering.  Dyna-Plast specializes in product development, rapid tooling, injection molding and assembly.  With 18 molding machines and capabilities ranging from an 8.0 gram shot to a 230-ton clamp, Dyna-Plast is also a FDA registered site with a Class 10,000 clean room.  Both companies have obtained ISO 9001-2000 certifications. 

While Williams will tell you the certifications work great as a marketing tool, McGillivray believes the key benefits lie in using them as a management tool.   

“We do a lot of goal setting, measurement of scrap, labor content and on-time delivery, and we publish it out in the shop,” he explains.  “All of our employees are aware of how we’re performing.  We get customer feedback, so they hear it right from them.  If you are proactive with that, it is an excellent management tool.” 

Dynamic became ISO certified in 1995.  McGillivray says his employees probably choked a little on some of the paperwork at first, but the systems the company put in place have now become “standard, needed and looked for procedures that the guys feel they are running blind without.  It drives continuous improvement.” 

“We’re talking about an evolution here,” Williams adds. 

As McGillivray puts it, in 1982 Dynamic “made the shift from mold making to mold manufacturing.”

He adds, “Today we hear a lot of people are realizing that making a mold the traditional way does not enable quick deliveries and optimal efficiencies.  In 1982 we were way ahead of other shops when we realized that all the new technologies coming into the shop were making it difficult for the moldmaker to master.  So we started to departmentalize.” 

“Peter and Dave took a lot of heat from competitors, friends and peers in the industry,” Williams explains.  “They told them that was no way to make a mold.  A lot of people laughed at them.  But in 1982 they made a commitment to change the manufacturing process and they are truly leaders in the field because of it.” 

While the company still has employees who are journeyman mold makers and see projects through from start to finish, the majority of the staff is segmented into specialty positions that support the overall production of molds through the plant. 

Key People, Key Technology 

Williams points out that the strongest part of the whole picture – and Dynamic’s key asset – is the people.

There is a three-person management team in charge of each company with some cross-over.

McGillivray oversees operations at Dynamic Engineering while Kalina makes Dyna-Plast his main turf 10 miles away.  Dyna-Plast is actually a big customer of Dynamic, McGillivray says, though the company has its own fully functional tool shop.  In fact, both companies have invested in new technology that helps them stay competitive in a global market. 

“We entered into cell manufacturing utilizing robotics,” says McGillivray.  “Lights out operations and 24/7 production capabilities have been a real advantage.  Over the last four years we’ve seen an ever-increasing part of our output is in high-speed milling operations and that’s been key.” 

What’s in store for the future?  McGillivray says Dynamic’s next endeavor is to get into Micro Hole EDM, which has the capabilities of milling a hole that is .0016 diameter.  They’ve been working with a medical manufacturer that is exploiting that technology and asked if they would be willing to also get into that realm.  McGillivray says few other companies are currently capable of doing Micro Hole EDM, and he sees larger opportunities for the technology in the near future. 

Williams points out that this is not the first time that the Dynamic partners have “stepped right up to the bleeding edge of technology.”  He says that the team put a programmable CNC grinder capable of doing three-dimensional production with resolution to .00001 in their plant in 1999 – and the machine was only the second machine of its kind on a shop floor in the U.S. 

In addition to adding Williams to the corporate team, McGillivray and Kalina elected to remove their finance hats in favor of hiring a vice president of finance.  

“Peter and Dave admitted they weren’t accountants, so went outside the company and found an experienced finance guy who speaks banker better than most people in this industry,” says Williams.   

“He has often cast an objective eye on what we do,” adds McGillivray. 

In addition, McGillivray verifies that he and Kalina have always had an open management philosophy in that their employees know the score on what it takes resource-wise to serve customers. 

“Our people know when we have performed and when we have not,” says McGillivray.  “That’s critical to helping their mindset evolve into manufacturing instead of just mold making. 

“Putting the focus on performance standards has enabled us to really survive in this market,” he continues.  “Our lead times have been cut to about 60% of what they were.  If you don’t change, that’s not going to happen.  Evolution and change have been our key to survival.” 

He adds that the company’s market share has increased, in that the moldmaking market has shrunk substantially, but the company’s sales have not.  In fact, sales are growing incrementally.  Dyna-Plast has been on a steep growth pattern, he notes, ranging 30% each year for the last five years.  In addition, the company is looking at bigger and bigger projects down the line. 

“It comes down to being aggressive and smart – along with having the right people, vision, creativity,” McGillivray explains.  “The playing field is not level when it comes to overseas competition.  We’re better in people, experience and vision than they are and that helps us compete.” 

Williams agrees, saying, “Our customers ultimately don’t want injection molds.  All they want is parts that they can sell.  That is a challenge. Our people have to recognize what they can sell and what they can’t.  Tooling is more and more just a part of the manufacturing process that most of our customers would rather do without.  We have to find a way to build value in their eyes.” 

One thing is certain in both McGillivray’s and Williams’ minds: the corporate goal has always remained constant throughout the 25-year history of Dynamic Engineering.  That is to design and manufacture precision production injection molds for powder and plastic.  Whether a product originates from a napkin sketch or a more high tech place, Dynamic can bring it to fruition, no matter the complexity. 

For more information about Dynamic Engineering and its sister corporation Dyna-Plast, contact Jay Williams at 763-792-1244, or visit their website at www.thedynamicgroup.net.