In mid-April, the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) launched a periodic Industry Pulse Survey to provide business leaders and industry professionals insight into the state of the mold building industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, AMBA has collected data over four separate collection periods (over an eight-week time frame starting April 24), all of which represent over 430 individual responses provided by US mold manufacturers. These companies primarily serve over 15 industry markets, the most common of which include the automotive, medical, aerospace and consumer goods markets.
Trending data indicates that while the COVID-19 pandemic most significantly impacted mold builders serving the automotive market at first, optimism is growing cautiously as these manufacturers begin returning to work. For the first time since the beginning of this survey, over half of this respondent segment indicated that their plant was running at full operations and nearly 90 percent of these respondents anticipate forecasted 2020 revenue to be 75 percent or higher than originally anticipated numbers (a significant uptick from earlier collection periods). Those serving the medical market, on the other hand, are facing increased uncertainty – the percentage of these respondents running at full operations dropped from 91 percent to 75 percent, and the percentage planning to add staff dropped below 50 percent for the first time since the beginning of this survey.
Overall, optimism seems to be cautiously blooming as mold manufacturers report on the percentage of customers shut down – when asked if “none” of their customers were shut down last week, the overall percentage jumped from 23 percent to 44 percent. However, percentages of respondents planning to hire future staff continues to vary widely, indicating that most manufacturers are likely still facing significant uncertainty in the marketplace.
When asked when operations might return to normal, the biggest percentages of respondents remain on two far ends – 25 percent indicate that their operations have not been affected, while 23 percent do not believe conditions will return to normal in 2020.
The AMBA Industry Pulse Survey is part of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak across the United States and the globe. AMBA’s leadership team continues to generate resources and up-to-date information for AMBA members and the industry at large. More can be found at AMBA.org on the findings of the latest pulse survey, trends and other COVID-19-related information.
For more information, visit www.AMBA.org.
