About Us
EVERY GREAT COMPANY STARTS IN A GARAGE – INNOVATION MOLD & TOOL
Innovation Mold & Tool (IMT; formerly Innovation Studios) is a precision machine shop founded in 2015 by Bob Heffentrager and Chris Canceliere. Like every good company, the business started as a collection of side projects in a two-car garage while the two men taught technical manufacturing. Gradually, however, the volume and complexity of the projects increased
until Bob and Chris were working full-time hours on top of their full-time teaching jobs. Finally, by the end of 2018, both men committed to IMT full-time—and wouldn’t you know it, they’ve since moved out of that garage, hired full-time employees, and now specialize blow molds for plastic bottles of all shapes and sizes and precision tooling.
“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking”
– Henry Ford”
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Our Founders Get to know the owners of Innovation Mold & Tool
Chris Canceliere Director of Operations
Chris Canceliere is the co-founder and Director of Operations for Innovation Mold & Tool (IMT). Chris is a graduate of Reading Community College’s Precision Machining program. He has 20+ years of experience in the mold and tool industry with a variety of toolmaking companies in eastern PA. Prior to his current position at IMT, Chris was employed by Lehigh Career and Technical Institute as a Precision Machine instructor where he taught all aspects of machining to both high school students as well as to employees of a variety of local companies.
In his role at IMT, Chris oversees all business operations from sales, purchasing, and business management to new mold design and programming. Chris’s vast knowledge base of machining and mold making makes him the perfect person to handle your mold making questions. Chris is the stereotypical “early-raiser” and usually has a few hours of work in before the IMT staff arrives each day. In his free time, Chris loves to perfect his other skills such as grilling and smoking meats and enjoying his love of Baseball.
Bob Heffentrager Director of Manufacturing
Bob Heffentrager is the co-founder and Director of Manufacturing for Innovation Mold & Tool (IMT). He is a life long Lehigh Valley resident with deep family roots in manufacturing. Bob is a past graduate of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and PA Toolmaker apprenticeship program. He has more then 20 years of machining/manufacturing experience working with industry leading companies. Prior to his current position at IMT, Bob was the Instructor of precision machining at Lehigh Career & Technical, where he taught the next generation of machinists and engineers the in’s and out’s of manufacturing.
In his role with IMT, Bob manages all shop floor operations, ensuring all projects are completed in a timely fashion with the highest precision and quality craftsmanship. From project inception to inspection and shipping, Bob oversees all aspects of the manufacturing process to ensure the customer receives exactly what they want, when they want it. When he is not on the shop floor, Bob can be found riding his sidecar motorcycle and listening to punk rock music.
Our Clients
