Tech Shop International may be a new, low-cost source of molds for North American rubber processors, but it opens with 20 years of experience in mold-making.
Established in a new 30,000-sq.-ft. facility last year in San Jose, Costa Rica, Tech Shop previously was the in-house mold design and production department of Terramix S.A., a Costa Rican producer of gaskets and other molded rubber products, according to Walter Koroluk, manager of the new firm.
Tech Shop can offer high quality molds at reduced prices because of the 25- to 30-percent lower labor costs in Costa Rica, Koroluk said.
The firm focuses exclusively on rubber, offering molds for injection and compression molding. Currently, capacity is sold out, Koroluke said at the recent Rubber Expo '03 in Cleveland.
The company maintains a Rutil press on-site for running trials on the molds made, said Koroluk, who has 30 years experience in the rubber industry, including time with French Oil Mill Machinery Co. and Reuther Mold & Mfg. Co.
Tech Shop can make molds with platens as large as 1,000 mm x 1,500 mm, and its production capabilities include multiple-cavity molds, multiple-deck molds, sliding injection rubber molds, and cold-runner and cold-sprue system molds.