Moldmaking molder gets in on the RP action

Located within Action Mold’s site in Southern California, Action Prototype & Urethane Casting LLC offers a one-stop shop when it comes to fast-turnaround R&D prototypes and short-run urethane production parts.
 
Action partnered with Chris Wentworth, who has more than 15 years experience running successful prototype and cast-urethane operations. His customers include Hitachi, Boeing, JPL, and Western Digital. “Many of the low-volume parts don’t go to injection molding initially, and in the past we’ve had to send these customers elsewhere to get prototypes or low volumes parts, then wait for them to come back to Action for the high-volume production,” said Wentworth. “A lot of product designers, if they don’t go to a shop that does both prototyping and moldmaking, often end up with something that isn’t moldable. Going to someone who does both makes sure its manufacturable, so that if down the road they need 100,000 parts, they know from the start that it’s moldable.”

Wentworth says demand for prototype parts and small volume experimental parts is increasing. Currently, Wentworth does the urethane cast production parts in-house, but through his knowledge of the additive manufacturing industry is able to manage projects at various service bureaus throughout Southern California to provide customers with FDM, SLA, and Polyjet parts.

Action Prototype & Urethane Casting and Action Mold together can take a project from concept to production. “Together we provide a partnership that can assist in product design, development, prototype, and production all under one roof,” says Wentworth. “That’s a tremendous competitive edge in today’s market.” —Clare Goldsberry