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AMBA News
2012 Mold Builder of the Year and Chapter of the Year Award Nominations now Being Accepted
Click here - for more information on the 2012 Mold Builder of the year Award
Click here - for more information on the 2012 Chapter of the Year Award
AMBA Benchmarking Initiative Kicks Off Early February
The AMBA is excited to announce the kickoff of the 2012 American Mold Builders Association Benchmarking Study initiative. We invite all eligible AMBA members to participate and benefit from this study. The analysis and comparative performance data from the study will prove to be invaluable for evaluating and determining where opportunities lie to grow your companies, while creating fiscally stronger, more profitable operations. To produce the report, we've teamed with Business Resource Services, Inc. (BRS) of Seattle. Many of you know BRS' founder, Steve LeFever, through his top-notch presentations at our conventions. BRS has produced dozens of benchmark studies over the years, and will be working closely with your AMBA management team to ensure that our members receive a high-quality, timely, useful tool to help manage the dollars and cents side of their businesses.
By participating, you will:
● Help create network standards to measure, assess and refine member performance
● Collectively develop a common focus, a common means of measurement and a common way to communicate issues
● Identify your own strengths, weaknesses and areas of opportunity to improve profit and cash flow
● Be provided meaningful data to use as a management tool for owners and managers
● See how your performance ranks side-by-side with your peers and top performers - and see where the differences lies - which leads to creating goals and action plans, and developing best practices
● Enable yourself to manage more effectively and efficiently in a sluggish economy
Make yourself the commitment to participate in this initiative; the information and tools you receive will provide you a multi-fold payback for the time it takes to complete the study questionnaire.
*Participation is limited to those AMBA members that have been in business for at least one year as of their 2011 fiscal year-end (start date of January 1, 2011 or earlier required to participate in this study). Deadline to submit data will be March 31, 2012. In order to have the data compiled and analyzed in time for our May convention, it's critical that this deadline be met. Please let your accountant know NOW about the need to have year-end information available sooner than normal! Look for instructions in early February on how to download, complete and submit the survey document.
Strength in Numbers - 2012 AMBA Convention
“Strength in Numbers” is the theme for the 2012 AMBA Convention, May 16-18, 2012, in Grand Rapids, MI. According to AMBA Executive Director Troy Nix, “It is our goal to make this convention the best format in America for executives to learn how to improve the profitability of their moldmaking operations. The convention will be anchored in best practices information and data derived from leading-edge manufacturing surveys and operational assessments. The May convention is where members will hear the results of AMBA’s new first quarter benchmarking initiatives, delivered by the industry’s foremost experts and analysts. The content of this convention is driven to identify and correlate profitability to operational behaviors, market choices, and more!
Best practices also will take a front seat at the convention, as all attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a plant tour workshop as part of the programming in the afternoon on the second day. “These carefully designed plan tour workshops provide an excellent opportunity for participants to share best practices in a ‘give and take’ environment that offers phenomenal value to both the participant and the host company,” said Nix. “Because the take away from these tour events has been so rich in value, we have decided to incorporate this unique learning exchange into our convention – providing attendees a convention experience like none other!” Click for Convention programming, registration and hotel information.
IMM Plant Tour Workshop Tops the Charts
Over 45 moldmaking professionals met in Twinsburg, OH , on November 10th to explore the inventive ways Industrial Mold & Machine (IMM) uses 21st century technology and advancements in social media to engage the next generation workforce. As part of the Plant Workshop Series from the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA), Rolling Meadows, IL , the workshop at IMM gave participants an eye-opening look at how the goal of “instant information” works on the production floor. Titled “Innovative Knowledge Management Systems – How Productivity, Quality and Customer Service Improve when Everyone is on the Same (iPad) Page”, the IMM tour demonstrated how sales staff, CNC machinists, programmers and seven apprentices utilize 19 iPads (and still counting) to access a social network created by IMM. The network, dubbed IMM Connect, contains everything from employee handbooks and MSDS sheets to logout/tagout information and details about each job that runs within the shop. Employees use iPads from wherever they are to log into IMM’s social network and view current jobs running on the production floor or to prepare for the next job. Each job has its own page on the network, containing the steps that need to be taken to produce that piece, detail drawings in both 2D and 3D and programming sheets.
After the tour, critical cross-talk occurred between IMM staff and tour participants, providing the opportunity for best practices exchange between industry peers. According to IMM President Wendy Wloszek, “IMM continues to move forward to become a resource for others who want to move toward a technology-based workflow.” The next step is an interface that will allow IMM’s social network to pull data points from the company’s ERP system for clean and quick delivery of critical information. For Wloszek, iPads and social networks are part of a necessary culture shift. “The apprentices we have now – the people who will be the future of IMM – come from the technology generation,” said Wloszek. “We’re starting this now to prepare the company for the next generation workforce.”
The next AMBA Plant Workshop Tour will take place at M.S.I. Mold Builders in Cedar Rapids, IA , in early March. Look for details on programming and registration coming soon at www.amba.org.
2011 AMBA Mold Builder of the Year - Alan Petrucci of BA Die Mold
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(l. to r.) Mike Armbrust, AMBA
President presenting the
Mold Builder of the Year
award to 2011 winner, Alan
Petrucci of B A Die Mold.
photo ©2011 Todd Schuett,
Creative Technology Corp |
When Alan Petrucci started his own business in 1968, B A Die Mold Inc., in Rolling Meadows, IL, he never dreamed that he would become one of the mold manufacturing industry's most honored business men. On March 4, Alan Petrucci was named the American Mold Builders Association Mold Builder of the Year. The award was presented by Mike Armbrust, president of the AMBA. Alan received $5,000 from Progressive Components, and is considering where to donate the money to benefit the industry.
Alan Petrucci has spent more than 53 years in the mold building industry, first working as a young teen for his father, Henry Petrucci, who owned Mirro-Brite, a mold polishing company. Alan began his apprenticeship as a moldmaker after graduation from high school at age 17.
Petrucci joined the AMBA in 1973. B A Die Mold would have been one of the 'official' charter companies of AMBA if he had not had to work that night to deliver a mold on time. He was instrumental in the founding of the organization.....Read more about Alan Petrucci.
2011 Chapter of the Year - Chicago Chapter
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AMBA Chicago chapter members accept the 2011
Chapter of the Year award at AMBA's National
Convention in Las Vegas. (l. to r. Mike Armbrust,
Mako Mold; Phil Denemark, Mako Mold; Olav Bradley,
PM Mold; Wayne Sikorcin, Craftsman Tool; Tim Peterson,
Industrial Molds Group; Alan Petrucci, B A Die,
Alan Szymanski, Do-Rite Die, David Plocinski,
Tri-Par Mold, and Mike Walter, MET Plastics.)
photo ©2011 Todd Schuett, Creative Technology Corp. |
The Chicago Chapter was named the Chapter of the Year at the 2011 Annual Convention of the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) in Las Vegas. The Chicago Chapter was the original Chapter of the AMBA, and currently has 38 member companies. The Chicago Chapter received a check from Progressive Components for $5,000 to use in its efforts to promote mold making and the mold manufacturing industry in its area.
The Chicago Chapter received this award for its tireless efforts to promote the trade and encourage young people to enter the industry. "We understand the workforce is getting older and we need young people to enter the trade if we are to keep this industry strong for the next generations," said Wayne Sikorcin, owner of Craftsman Tool & Mold Inc. and president of the Chicago Chapter.
Educating its members and getting them involved with government affairs is a big focus of the Chicago Chapter. "One of the Chapter's goals is to get its members involved with their legislators, both state and federal, and have them invite their legislators to visit their plants to see first-hand what mold manufacturing is all about and understand how vital it is to the U.S. manufacturing," said Karen Norville, the Chicago Chapter coordinator. "Several of our Chapter members have done that, and one even got more work from it because the legislator knew someone who knew a company that needed a mold, so it's been successful."
The Chicago Chapter had a large number of members attend the Fall Conference in.....Read more about the Chicago chapter.
"Calculating Your Shop Rate" Webinar
The AMBA webinar presentation of: "Calculating Your Shop Rate", is available for purchase as a recorded webinar archive. Megan Johnson, CPA, and Jeff Wilson, CPA, from the accounting firm HLB Tautges Redpath, Ltd., covered:
*How do you calculate your company's rate?
*How to define and allocate direct/indirect overhead costs?
*How to calculate your break even point?
*How do you account for idle time or underutilization?
In the current economy, it is crucial to understand all costs that go into making your product and allocate these costs appropriately. Often times, indirect costs are over looked and not factored into the total cost. This can lead to a shop rate that is too low and less profit on your jobs. They walked through sample Company financials breaking out direct and indirect costs as well as calculating the shop rate. They provided some ideas and tools to be able to apply this information to your own company. To order your copy, email Sue Daniels at sdaniels@amba.org or call 847-222-9402.
Cost: $25 for AMBA members, and $45 for non-members.
(includes archived presentation, Powerpoint slides, and sample Excel spreadsheets to calculate your shop rate.)
Mold Buyers Corner
The Mold Buyers Corner on the AMBA website is getting lots of attention. The Mold Buyers Corner averages nearly 700 "hits" per month. Many are large OEMs throughout the United States, including many Fortune 500 companies, and while on the site they subscribe to the AMBA's monthly Mold Buyer ENews. In addition, the "Ask a Moldmaker" feature on the Mold Buyers Corner, receives questions on a regular basis from mold users which we broadcast via email to AMBA members.
Advertise Direct to OEMs and Mold Buyers
The Mold Buyer ENews, sent monthly to hundreds of OEMs, is also being received quite well. Ad space is available in this eNewsletter for AMBA members that want to promote their company/capabilities to this audience of OEM mold buyers. Email Sue Daniels at sdaniels@amba.org or fill in the online insertion order to reserve ad space for upcoming monthly issues.
Mold Buyer ENews Advertiser testimonial:
"Advertising in the AMBA's OEM Newsletter has more than doubled our click-through traffic [from the amba.org website to badiemold.com]. We couldn't be happier. Fifty dollars is an extremely affordable rate when you consider that your company information is reaching mold buyers who are actively seeking new and innovative approaches for their tooling projects." Francine Petrucci, President of
B A Die Mold, Inc.
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