Modern Mold & Tool: The Painting Rockwell Missed?

Originally published by Greentown Labs' Springfield Manufacturing Initiative, written by Adam Rodrigues, following a New England Factory Tours visit on April 27, 2017.

While many New England factory tours are likely to lead you into an industrial campus just outside of Nowhere, Suburbia, our group of 11 factory tourists were in for a pleasant surprise this late April morning. Pulling off exit 2 of the Mass Pike, we were led through a picturesque Berkshirian maze of rolling green hills, small-town general stores, and newly bloomed spring flowers at the bed of white picket fences en route to Pittsfield's Modern Mold & Tool, Inc.

Surrounded by the green peaks of October Mountain State Forest, the spring sun peeped through the trees just enough to shine a bright morning light on a row of dusty pick-up trucks in the Modern Mold parking lot. It made me wonder if this picture may be the one reflection of America that Rockwell missed in his collection.

From a chicken coop to a state-of-the-art facility

Only about 15 miles from the Norman Rockwell Museum, Modern Mold & Tool was founded in 1957 by a local General Electric toolmaker, Rodozio Pedrotti. What started as a small six-employee operation located in a refurbished barn and chicken coop today employs 55 in a 40,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility located on the same property.

Dave Pedrotti, son of Rodozio and current President of Modern Mold, shows us an old picture hung in the board room from the 1960s. It is a black-and-white photo of a playset outside of an old barn with a little girl on the swing.

"That little girl is my sister and that playset used to be right outside that door. We've made a few renovations since then."

Precision molds across demanding industries

Modern Mold manufactures precision quality molds and provides a full suite of plastic injection molding services across multiple industries including medical, electronics, aerospace and defense, security, automotive, and recreation. Most of the production happening on the day of our visit was medical devices.

The tourists watched closely as one of the 26 hydraulic presses — ranging from 15 to 300 tons — went through the motions of producing an intricate 3-inch green vessel-tipped device used for heart catheterization.

"These little vessels are filled with bismuth to prevent an x-ray beam from entering," explains Pedrotti.

A third-generation business enters a new chapter

Modern Mold is a third-generation business. Dave Pedrotti took over ownership in 1983 from his father; his son, Matt Pedrotti, is currently the Lead Product Engineer. Dave recently sold the company to local entrepreneur and manufacturing expert Steve Graham of East Longmeadow — Graham's fifth company after his latest acquisition of a mold facility in the Bronx, NY. Through that acquisition, Modern Mold will inherit new equipment, including a press with capabilities of up to 1,000 tons.

"This is an exciting time for Modern Mold. We will need to expand our manufacturing operation, which will create 15 to 20 new jobs," said Pedrotti.

Pride on the shop floor

It was clear that Pedrotti and all the other employees we met that day took a great deal of pride in Modern Mold. Asked what the "coolest" part he ever made was, one employee answered:

"We created a 52-inch-long complex needle that was used to treat cancer nodes. This product saves lives. Nothing cooler than that."

Factory tourist Paul Critchley, President of New England Lean Consulting, called Modern Mold "a local gem of a manufacturer." Christophe Mandy, Manufacturing Lead at Formlabs, made the trip in from Somerville, MA with three colleagues: "These are great, I am learning a lot. I look forward to seeing more and meeting with other manufacturing-minded people."

Modern Mold & Tool, Inc. is located at 1995 East Street in Pittsfield, MA.