Case study · Hot runner refurbishing
LCM Industries: a technical service explained in plain terms
A hot runner service shop with deep technical knowledge and no simple way to explain it to a buyer in a hurry. We designed the logo and a website that says what the shop does, why it is quick and how to get a quote.
The results for LCM Industries
A specialist shop for plastics injection molders
LCM Industries, based in Elgin, Illinois, keeps hot runner systems working. A hot runner is the heated manifold that carries molten plastic into an injection mold, and when it clogs or a heater fails, the press it feeds stops making parts. LCM cleans and refurbishes manifolds from all brands, repairs and replaces nozzle heaters, and supplies thermocouples and spare parts.
The shop's customers are molders and toolrooms with a production schedule to protect. Our work with LCM covered the logo and the website, done together as one project, so the brand and the site were designed for each other from the start.
The challenge: a technical service, a buyer in a hurry
The people who contact a hot runner shop are rarely browsing. A maintenance lead has a manifold on the bench that needs cleaning, or a purchasing manager has been told to find a heater that the original maker quoted at a long lead time. They need to know three things quickly: does this shop do the work, how fast, and how do I get a price.
The difficulty is that the subject is dense. LCM had a great deal of information about processes, resin types, heater designs and part options, and all of it was accurate and useful to someone. It needed sorting into an order that a buyer could follow in under a minute, without talking down to the engineer who wants the detail.
What the new site had to do:
- Say what the shop does in the first sentence, in terms a purchasing manager can follow.
- Put fast turnaround and savings over OEM prices ahead of the technical detail.
- Give cleaning, heaters, thermocouples and parts each a clear home.
- Lead every page to a quote request.
What we built
A brand and a website for a business that sells reduced downtime: clear service lines, the reasons to choose the shop stated plainly, and a quote request never more than a click away.
A logo for an industrial brand.
We designed the LCM Industries logo to hold up on a website header, a quote, a shipping label and a parts box. It was delivered in every format the business uses, and the site's colors and type were built from it.
A home page that sorts the visitor.
The opening line names the work, from manifold cleaning to heater replacement. Below it, cleaning and refurbishment, heater repair and replacement, and replacement parts each get a short panel with one benefit and a link to learn more.
The cleaning process, explained.
The hot runner maintenance page lists what the cleaning process does in plain points: it works on all resin types including glass-filled grades, removes metal chips, cleans without tool damage and allows component rewiring. A buyer can check their situation against the list.
A heaters page with real depth.
Brass bushing nozzle heaters, integral thermocouple designs, OEM replacements, and cable and micro cable elements are each described in a few lines. The detail is there for the engineer, in an order that still makes sense to everyone else.
Turnaround and cost up front.
Fast turnaround, stock availability and savings over OEM replacement prices are stated in headings, not buried in paragraphs. Those are the reasons a molder switches suppliers, so they come first.
A quote request on every service page.
Each service page ends with a prompt to get a quote, and the address and phone number sit in the footer of every page for the buyer who would sooner call.
How the project ran
Discovery
We listened to how LCM describes its work, gathered the service and product information, and sorted out which facts a buyer needs first.
Logo and design
The logo came first. Page designs followed from it, starting with the home page and a service page for LCM to review.
Build and content
We built the site and organized the technical content into service pages with short headings and lists, checking the wording with LCM for accuracy.
Launch and care
The site was tested on phones and desktops and then launched. LCM can add to it as its range of parts and services grows.
The results
LCM Industries now has a brand and a website that match the quality of the work. A molder who has never heard of the shop can understand what it does, see why it is worth a call and ask for a quote, in the time it takes to drink a coffee.
The part of the project the owner singled out was the organizing. In his review he says we were excellent at listening and organizing all of his information, and that he appreciated the flexibility in putting together professional results at a very competitive price.
That is the real work on a technical site. The knowledge already existed inside the business. The website's job was to put it in the right order for the person on the other side of the screen.
In the client’s words
Great looking professional results at a very competitive price
“Lackey Designs did an excellent job of creating my company logo and website. Jason and his team were excellent at listening and organizing all of my information. I really appreciate their flexibility in putting together great looking professional results at a very competitive price.”
Scott Bents, LCM Industries
Services on this project
Logo Design
A logo drawn for the business and delivered in every format it is used in.
Website Design
Page layouts designed around how this client's customers decide and buy.
Website Development
The build itself: fast, responsive pages and the custom features the project needed.
In the same line of work? See how we build manufacturing websites.
Frequently Asked Questions
What other manufacturers and industrial service shops ask us about this project.
Yes, with your help. For LCM Industries we started from the shop's own information and reorganized it, then checked the wording with them. You stay the expert on the process. Our part is the order, the headings and the plain language around it.
If you need both, yes. LCM's logo and website were one project, so the logo was designed knowing where it would sit on the site, and nothing had to be adapted later. It also costs less than two separate jobs. Our logo design page explains what you receive.
They use it to shortlist. An engineer or buyer searches for the specific service, opens a few sites and rules out the ones that do not clearly say they do the work. A site that names the niche in the first sentence stays on the list.
Usually 6 to 10 weeks when a logo is part of the project. Gathering and checking the technical content takes the most time, so we start on that in the first week.
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