Hi-Tech Mold & Tool, Inc. (Hi-Tech) is a Pittsfield, MA based plastic injection molder of engineering thermoplastics and silicone, supplying custom molded parts for the medical, aerospace, industrial, telecommunications, electronic and consumer markets. Hi-Tech operates in a highly competitive market and in order to keep production costs down the Company has made energy efficiency a priority.
Since 1998 Hi-Tech has worked with the Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) on 16 separate energy efficiency initiatives that target the Company’s production lines as well as the facility’s environment. Plastic injection molding is an energy intensive industry where production machines typically operate 24 hours per day; Hi-Tech has remained competitive by analyzing its processes and making WMECO’s recommended upgrades. Hi-Tech has taken advantage of WMECO’s incentive program in order to implement, among many others, the following upgrades:
- Replacement of nine energy intensive hydraulic mold machines with high efficiency electric machines that also provide increased levels of production.
- Evaluation of the facility’s compressed air system resulting in the repair of leaks and the purchase of a new high-efficiency air compressor and air dryer.
- Lighting retrofit that replaced 89 metal halide fixtures with high-efficiency T5 fluorescent fixtures.
Hi-Tech’s commitment to energy efficiency makes it a leader in the plastic injections industry. Just one example of efficiency innovation at Hi-Tech is the Company’s “double shot” electric molding machine which produces a two part component in one mold machine, eliminating the need for and energy use of two separate production machines. The Company recently won an $11 million bid to produce environmental control components for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner; Hi-Tech’s energy efficiency measures and resulting decreased production costs contribute to its success in winnings bids like this.