Rainer Armbruster
FOBOHA
Inducted 2024
Rainer Armbruster (1951 – ) is one of the world’s most innovative mold makers. He pioneered the idea and development of cube molds, an automated process for injection molding that improves quality, delivers tremendous cost savings, and greatly accelerates cycle times compared to separate injection molding and installation processes.
The economic advantages of cube molds for producing two—and three-component plastic parts are unparalleled. Volumes of more than 100 million components per year can be achieved. Having four rotating mold faces streamlines additional processes into part production on a smaller footprint.
Armbruster has repeatedly proven his incredible technical creativity and courage in bringing even the most complex mold concepts into production. His extraordinary talent and commitment to his innovations now enable the plastics industry to manufacture complex, multi-piece injection-molded components in fewer steps and in less space on the shop floor.
Rainer Armbruster started his career in 1974 as a moldmaker at Dual GmbH in Hornberg, Germany, where he made the company’s first molds for plastic parts. In 1977, he became a moldmaker for injection molds at FOBOHA in Kinzigtal, Germany. Armbruster advanced to plant manager in 1982. He drove the conversion within the company to industrial production of injection molds and was responsible for implementing automation within production.
In 1997, as Technical Manager for FOBOHA, his innovative mind led to the invention of cube mold technology. He patented cube molding in 2001. Over the following decades, he reinvented cube molding technology multiple times with concepts like the Compact Cube or the Reverse Cube and by integrating other mold technologies such as CITI, which involves rotating inserts in a cube mold to produce multi-component parts.
As Managing Director for FOBOHA, Armbruster established the company in China and Switzerland. After 50 years with the company, he continues to push the limits of injection molds with his inventions. Armbruster holds 35 patents.