By Rachael Pfenninger, director of strategic execution, AMBA

According to AMBA’s most recent Business Forecast Survey, the US mold manufacturing industry is facing its most varied landscape of challenges to date. Rising material costs and thin margins – combined with skyrocketing inflation – have forced domestic mold manufacturers to find new and creative ways to continually produce high-quality work within smaller time frames and with a less skilled labor pool than ever before.

For many, these obstacles are overshaded by a single, seemingly insurmountable challenge – that in addition to all of the issues cited by today’s manufacturers, they all pale in comparison to the reality that no matter what they do, foreign competitors will continue to undercut US mold manufacturers on price, making it impossible to compete in the global (or domestic) marketplace.

This outcry against the ease with which foreign mold builders are able to win domestic work has led to significant lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., where The Franklin Partnership fights on behalf of the AMBA to maintain a 25% tariff on foreign molds (particularly Chinese molds). While this effort is critical in the battle to protect US mold manufacturing, it is just one strategic approach to keeping domestic work within the United States.

On May 11, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, AMBA members participated in a first-ever, live benchmarking session, where attendees were challenged to share the ways in which improving business operations, tracking better metrics, implementing new technologies and more could lead to stronger customer relationships, better products, shorter lead times and, ultimately, re-shored work.

Facilitated by Laurie Harbour of Harbour Results, Inc., and AMBA Executive Director Troy Nix, attendees learned what strategies they could employ to improve OEM and processor relationships, draw business back to the domestic doorstep and advocate for themselves on the global stage.

In addition to the live discussion, which was complimented with insights shared by both Harbour and Nix, attendees were asked to contribute live data related to three key questions – and when asked to set price aside, the responses drew from a bevy of perspectives and strategies.

How has your company improved throughput/removed time from key processes?
How has your company built a strategic sales process?
How are you leveraging cost reduction opportunities and managing your cash?

Once asked to put price aside, the 90-plus ideas gathered spread far and wide. From use of CRM and ERP systems to a customer rating strategy, implementation of new leadership systems and an embrace of key metrics (such as value-add margin and throughput percentage), the results that emerged set the stage of a compelling narrative. Yes, it’s challenging to compete on price – but it is not the only way that US mold manufacturers can be competitive in today’s business environment.

“At the end of the day, customers are always going to want a high-quality product – and US mold manufacturers are capable of producing that,” stated Laurie Harbour, owner at Harbour Results, a consulting firm that helps small- to medium-sized businesses transform operations and develop a roadmap to maintain financial and operational success. “If we can find a way, as an industry, to make those high-quality products better, faster and stronger, then the US mold building industry will find a way forward into the next decade of manufacturing.”

In addition to the answers gathered at AMBA Conference 2023, over 25 US mold manufacturers provided additional responses in a separate survey related to throughput, sales, metrics measurement and more. These responses will be compiled into a final report on how the US mold manufacturing industry is strategically approaching operational efficiencies and its methods for implementing them in their facilities. The final report will be available to participating AMBA members, as well as all attendees at this year’s conference.

“Benchmarking operations and tracking new technologies and systems that make operations more efficient will be necessary for any mold manufacturer that wants to be competitive in bidding for work,” declared Kym Conis, AMBA’s managing director. “Continuing to help our members benchmark their operations and connect with their peers so that they can understand where and how to best compete will continue to be of critical importance in the AMBA’s strategy for years to come.”

To learn more about AMBA’s benchmarking efforts and the programming at the recent AMBA Conference 2023, visit www.amba.org.