BRAUNFORM TURNS TO GRAM

A nonexclusive licensing agreement has been formed between precision moldmaker Braunform GmbH (Bahlingen, Germany) and Gram Technology (Scottsdale, AZ). Gram Technology engineers integrated molding processes—such as decorating, coating, and assembly—with multicomponent molds and molding systems. The licensing agreement makes each company’s complementary services available as an integrated package for alternative tooling processes.

“In today’s marketplace, it is Braunform’s continued vision to offer our customers as many options as possible since there is not one specific method to accomplish a customer solution,” says Ron Cisliek, VP Braunform North America (Pinellas Park, FL). “That is why we have always been open to working with a variety of different molding machine manufacturers, hot runner companies, automation systems suppliers, and developers of alternative technologies, like Gram Technology.”

Cisliek says that with the offshore exodus of tooling and molding for less complex molded products, Braunform believes that having a continued emphasis on integrating multiple operations into its tooling solutions will result in savings for domestic customers in equipment purchases, while enhancing the quality and performance of more competitive, feature-rich applications.

Jes Gram, president of Gram Technology, says his company and Braunform have been in negotiations for quite some time. “We have come across each other on several occasions through various suppliers and customers who were looking for the right piece of the puzzle,” Gram says. “Braunform’s sizable engineering and manufacturing operations will allow clients to use Gram Technology’s concepts without extensive lead times for large programs.”

He says his technologies—such as his tooling designs that incorporate rotating segments inside a mold, which he has trademarked “Spin Stack”—do not offer a replacement of Braunform’s technologies. Rather, they expand the alternative tooling options that could be considered for a specific customer’s application or environment.—CK

LINK: http://www.immnet.com/articles?article=2859