mould making and molding in retrospect 2013
Looking back in 2013, was a very good year for most mould makers and molders. Most companies were busy - especially those that serve the automotive industry, where the demand is for suppliers to increase capacity. While some of the largest Tier 1 company is meeting, there is a reluctance among smaller suppliers, level 2 to invest in expansion. They have been down this road before.
As noted in several different blogs on this topic, automakers, in particular, have " begun to insist that suppliers locate their U.S. operations as close to the final assembly as possible. " Obviously, this will mitigate the risk of supply chain and make it easier and less costly for OEMs life.
At the same time, it was noted in another blog that a number of OEMs - not just automotive companies that are known for bad payment terms - are you extending payment periods over improve its capital position work by releasing cash. Of course, what is good for OEMs often is bad for providers? The key for providers is " just say no" to offers that promise to hurt their bottom line. Maybe in 2014 we will see more molders, and mold makers are adamant.
A story that has a lot of attention - and generated some email in my inbox was iMFLUX history. iMFLUX is a subsidiary of Procter & Gamble that is being established in a newly leased 317,000 -sf vacant industrial building in Hamilton, OH, where eventually 200 workers are employed to develop new plastics processing technology (low temperature, molding low pressure ) and more likely to build tools that are not smooth cooling channels, which P & G believes will save the company $ 150 million in packaging costs ( packaging required thinner walls -) and reduce cost's capital (cost of mold) for $ 50 million.
We might discover if this experiment in 2014 to build their own tool and make your own molding actually save the company money, but the actual providers of the company could receive a nasty surprise. However, given that P & G is one of the OEMs announcing the laying of payments to suppliers, P & G could be doing a favor.
Great stories in 2013 had to do with 3D printing, additive manufacturing known as. You cannot help but notice that almost all publications of manufacture - from major news media for most B2B publications - carried stories about 3D printing almost every day. The 3D plastic gun has a lot of attention - especially from the federal government. From big companies like 3D, Systems and Stratasys that develop and manufacture equipment and materials for industrial sized entrepreneurs who are all trying to get Kickstarter funding for the next desktop printer for the tinkerer, 3D is the "big deal" .
New materials are making it possible to print everything from ears and knee joint for aircraft parts, automotive components, and yes, even the molds (cores and cavities ) .
Perhaps history additive manufacturing was the largest and most interesting for the year. From my point of view, seems to be a disruptive technology for both molders and mold makers, and although we have not seen all the implications of 3D technology at the moment - see the horizon! It might be a little beyond somewhere in 2014.