By Lindsey Munson, editor, The American Mold Builder

Mold manufacturing sets its sights on a positive outlook in 2025, from global market and economic growth to an increase in automation, operational efficiencies and sustainability practices. With that, manufacturers also are keenly aware, even in an optimistic state, to strategically plan and brace for challenges of supply-chain disruptions, labor shortages and skilled moldmaker demands, geopolitical concerns and more. The American Mold Builder worked with three professionals in the moldmaking industry and conducted a Q&A that gives context for what’s to come in 2025. These leaders share the challenges presently being faced and what’s expected in the new year, how to mitigate those challenges, their thoughts on the economic and political impacts, and lastly, what investments companies should have at the top of the list.

As companies plan for 2025, what challenges are expected in the moldmaking industry?
Jonathan Buss is president of Buss Precision Mold, Inc., Clackamas, Oregon, a manufacturer that designs and builds plastic injection molds. Buss said, “For Buss, there is significant uncertainty as we move into 2025 and, at this time, the election is setting the stage for where we go strategically.” He continued, sharing that planning is key, and posed these questions, “With the election and movement in Washington, will manufacturers see improvements and positive direction to alleviate some of the hardships over the past few years? Will the election outcomes sit in the status quo? Will the election further deteriorate the industry? Time will tell, and these are questions to think about when strategically mapping out 2025 and the next four years.”

“If the new administration and Congress are in full support of the manufacturing industry, pose tariffs on Chinese imports, close the de minimis loophole and reinstate R&D – and manufacturers strategically embrace it – there’s a fighting chance to see growth and ease on many of the factors that threaten this industry,” he continued. “In addition, tax credits and lower corporate taxes would greatly benefit manufacturers, but keep in mind that it will take time for the economy and manufacturing to ramp up.”

Scott Smith is the managing director for Tessy Tooling, a manufacturer that specializes in multi-cavity, tight tolerance medical injection molds. Tessy Tooling’s primary focus is on the medical market. Smith said, “We are fortunate that the primary market we serve is rapidly growing. However, manufacturing across every market is hoping and needing to get back on the ‘right side’ of the economy. But, even in a thriving market, such as medical, there always is reason to be cautiously optimistic. Currently, Tessy has no plans to make any major investments until it sees a change in manufacturing trends and the factors affecting them.”

Our job is to be certain that we deliver the best value to our customers when it comes to total project cost vs. output so that it makes sense to ‘choose us’ over the competition.

Mike Stiles is the CEO of R&D/Leverage, an Adler Co., Lee’s Summit, Missouri. The company serves the food and beverage, home and personal care, and healthcare industries, offering mold manufacturing capabilities for PET tooling, IBM tooling, injection molds, as well as unit tool development, testing, validation and training. Challenges in 2025 will include several factors, Stiles said. “Labor, both skilled and entry-level, likely will continue to be a challenge,” he explained. “To retain talent, we have had to increase wages for incoming and skilled legacy employees. Because we are 90%-plus domestic supply chain, we haven’t been hit too hard with extended deliveries – just significantly higher prices.  Those additional costs must be passed through, so it has caused an increase in our quoted prices, but we must be careful to stay competitive. Reshoring of previously imported products has increased our opportunities in at least some markets – medical being the most significant. We work diligently with our customers on their environmental/sustainability goals to determine how part weights can be reduced without compromising quality requirements.”

How does the current economic situation and presidential election impact this area?
Buss, Buss Precision Mold, Inc.: Greatly! Buss has seen declining RFQs for new projects over the last few years due to an increase in interest rates, inflation and perceived lag from pandemic stagnation, as well as international and national supply-chain issues. Recent feedback on economic conditions from a few prototyping service bureaus is that business is very slow and layoffs are happening with a large percentage of employees. This means not many new projects are being designed and prototyped. Some customers lost design engineering personnel; in fact, they do not have the resources and are struggling to bring the same number of new programs to market that they did five to 10 years ago.

Smith, Tessy Tooling: As a company, we’re always strategically planning for what’s next but, in being fortunate within the medical market, we plan to stay the course. I do know many companies in this industry are hurting. With that, leaders are just cautiously optimistic, and they aren’t going to extend themselves in purchasing capital equipment and more until they see manufacturing trends turn around and stabilize.

Stiles, R&D/Leverage: There is little we can do regarding the current economy, other than deal with the hand that is dealt to us, being sure to remain competitive in the market to secure our share of available opportunities. I do believe election years can impact the timing of customer decisions regarding larger capital projects like the molds we design and build. However, projects that were viable pre-election typically are still viable after – regardless of election results.

How do companies plan to mitigate those challenges?
Buss, Buss Precision Mold, Inc.: We are focusing on running lean, doing repair work, diversifying into precision machining as well as other toolmaking and moldmaking disciplines – to fill in for less injection moldmaking demand. In addition, our team will be doing deferred maintenance on equipment and shop layout/storage optimization.

Smith, Tessy Tooling: Control operations and cost – then you can’t get too far out over your skis. Right now, it is important to lock down and continue daily operations, focusing on fulfilling orders, finding efficiencies and building up your workforce. Strategically, companies know that one item on the wish list for 2025 may not happen because change doesn’t happen overnight but, over some time. Tessy moved into a new building with greater square footage. But even with that, we know not to go crazy with expenditures and new equipment, even if the economy is a little softer. Again, it’s in being ‘cautiously optimistic.’

Stiles, R&D/Leverage: Our job is to be certain that we deliver the best value to our customers when it comes to total project cost vs. output so that it makes sense to ‘choose us’ over the competition. Some markets are more easily influenced by economic swings, but with that, we work hard to make sure we have diverse markets where we are recognized as quality leaders. Consumer products and automotive might see huge swings. Personal healthcare
and beauty are slightly less impacted. True medical and defense-related products are almost recession-proof. It is critical to have a balanced mix of work going through the shop to help balance those ups and downs..

What investments are recommended for companies looking to stay competitive in 2025?
Buss shared two investment options that Buss Precision will explore in 2025:
New technologies – “It is important to look for new opportunities to improve processes, but equally key to be wary of debt,” said Buss.
Refurbishing and upgrading specific equipment.

Smith, Tessy Tooling: Continually just to be better at what we do! It’s important to utilize the technology in the marketplace. Our goal is to be lights-out manufacturing and automate where we can within our operations. For 2025, we’ll look at new software, IT technology, machining technology, tooling technology and so forth – whatever can get us there quicker with excellent quality. Quality always is our main driver.

Over the past two years, R&D/Leverage, an Adler Co., has invested almost $20 million in buildings to consolidate operations and newest technology equipment.

Stiles, R&D/Leverage: This investment is to keep us at the leading edge of manufacturing capabilities. If automation is available on newly purchased equipment, we are optimizing those opportunities to maximize throughput with minimum expenditure on human resources. We are investing heavily in training our workforce to ensure the company can do more with less, by taking advantage of what the new technology can offer. New equipment, new software and automation allow us to analyze every process, no matter how ‘proven,’ to determine how it can be made better – with better being translated as higher accuracy, higher quality, equal or improved finishes, and higher output with total costs within projections that provide profitability.

In summary, if the industry works as one – there will be growth and strength in numbers, building a better tomorrow and year ahead. n

More information: www.bussmold.com, www.tessytooling.com, www.adlertooling.com