By: Ken Weingartner
Your car has it. Your telephone has it. Virtually every household appliance has it, too.
It is plastic.
You’ve probably never given much thought about these items, such as the plastic molding connects your car antenna to the hood of your automobile. But Mark Oravsky has devoted a great deal of thought to these everyday pieces.
The Robbinsville resident is the general manager of Pyramid Mold and Tool Inc. in Trenton. The company, founded by Mr. Oravsky’s father, Joseph, specializes in the creating of plastic injection molds for small tools and machinery.
In September, the company will celebrate its 25th anniversary at its Klag Street location. Joseph Oravsky was a foreman at the defunct Delaware Valley Mold and Tool for 15 years before starting the business in the garage of his house.
"He had four kids at the time," Mark Oravsky said. "But he decided that he wanted to go into business for himself. He worked nonstop. He worked for it, definitely. Even my mother worked in the shop. He had to work another job to keep it going."
Keeping it going will soon be the job of Mr. Oravsky and his brother-in-law, Mark Dobron, who is the vice president of engineering at the company. Over a two-year period, the two partners will buy out Mr. Oravsky’s father.
"We’re going to try to take off where my father left off," Mr. Oravsky said. "We’re trying to take it to the next level. We want the same things and are going to put the time in to make it better. My goal is to take the company a step further, but still be small enough to have family values. We want this to be a good place to work."
Mr. Oravsky said the company would like to put more of a focus on working the medical, pharmaceutical and airline industries. The company employs approximately a dozen people, including office staff.
"It’s kind of a mom-and-pop thing," Mr. Dobron said. "But now we’re looking to expand and grow."
Competition is fierce, Mr. Oravsky said. Keeping up with the latest development in technology is key.
"If you don’t keep up in this business, you’ll go under fast," Mr. Oravsky said. "We spend a lot on technology and computers. Everything is computerized now, and it changes so fast. We’re constantly updating our education."
In "the old days," mold-makers worked from blueprints to create a piece. Now, virtually all molds are designed on a computer. Even the cutting of the molds is computerized. By using computers, pieces can be made more aerodynamic. Molds are made in a mirror image (upside down and backward) of the products they are intended to create.
Pyramid creates 40 to 65 custom-designed molds per year. It can take eight to 10 weeks to build a design, Mr. Oravsky said. The molds, which can be single or multiple cavity (up to, say, 64 cavities for some small medical pieces) can be used for product runs of up to a couple million units.
"No one realizes what goes into it," Mr. Oravsky said. "You’re creating something out of nothing. But you name it, we can build it. Right now, the economy is great and we’re doing OK. When the economy slows down, we really feel it. People don’t want to invest in new products then."
Mr. Oravsky said his company places a premium on quality craftsmanship.
"It’s very costly to create molds," he said. "You don’t get two shots at it. We’re facing problems from overseas competition, like a lot of businesses. Like anything else, people want it cheap. We’re lucky enough to find good tool-makers. It has to be right.
"There’s a market out there for high-quality tools. Once we get a customer, we get them back. We provide them a comfort zone. We know it’s harder to keep a customer than to get one. We try to do the best we can. We’re proud of what’s going on here."
Mr. Oravsky said he always was "mechanically inclined." Although he initially had designs on becoming a carpenter, his father convinced him otherwise.
"He told me that steel last longer than wood," Mr. Oravsky said with a smile. "Hanging around dad, you always want to be like dad."
He graduated from Mercer County Community College’s Vo-Tech program with a degree in industrial management. After spending four years in North Carolina working for a German tool-and-die company, he returned home to help with the family business.
"It’s kind of a dying trade," Mr. Oravsky said. "No one wants to work and get their hands dirty."
Mr. Oravsky hopes to start an apprenticeship program with Mercer County Vo-Tech and train young workers for the future.
"It’s really a lost art," he said. "Everyone wants to be a lawyer. But you can make a real good living at this."
