Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
August 01, 2019 04:21 PM

Survey: Utilization down, work on hold increasing for automotive toolmakers

Bill Bregar
Senior Staff Reporter
Plastics News Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Michael A. Marcotte
    Laurie Harbour, speaking at the Plastics In Automotive 2019 conference, says automotive tool and die suppliers are facing increasing issues this year.

    The automotive tooling sector continued its slowdown in the second quarter, according to a report from Harbour Results Inc. and the Original Equipment Suppliers Association.

    The Q2 2019 Automotive Tooling Barometer Survey also showed that capacity for automotive toolmakers hit its lowest level since 2016, when the survey first started to collect that metric.

    Mold shop capacity utilization fell 4 percent to 74 percent in the second quarter from the first quarter, which itself represented a soft start to 2019, the report said. Die shop utilization also fell the same amount, from 74 percent to 70 percent in the same time frame.

    And the report said that automotive program delays drove work on hold to a record high of more than 20 percent.

    Based on those factors, the sentiment of tool shop owners dropped to 61 percent.

    "During the first two quarters of 2019, the industry saw a decrease in utilization and a significant increase in work on hold," said Laurie Harbour, president and CEO of Harbour Results in Southfield, Mich. "With this challenging environment, we can expect shops to continue to struggle as the year progresses. This, coupled with the fact that Chinese tool shops continue to significantly underprice North American shops, [signals] we will likely see more layoffs and bankruptcies in the balance of the year."

    As 2018 drew to a close, President Donald Trump's administration removed 25 percent tariffs on injection molds imported from China, exempting them from the U.S.-China trade wars for at least one year. The unexpected move came as more than 200 requests from plastics injection molding companies — many of them in the automotive supply chain — filed requests with the U.S. Trade Representative to exempt their specific mold imports.

    U.S. mold makers had strongly supported the tariffs.

    Fream

    The Tooling Barometer survey population was composed of mold shops (63 percent) and die shops (22 percent) located in the United States (56 percent) and Canada (34 percent), plus international sites (10 percent).

    Shops surveyed have sales ranging from less than $5 million to more than $40 million. The largest percentage of shops are in the $10 million to $20 million range.

    "The lower sentiments the survey results are showing are no surprise," said Julie Fream, president and CEO of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association, also in Southfield. "Our OESA Automotive Supplier Barometer Survey results indicate that sentiment of automotive supplier executives is at the lowest level since 2009."

    The Automotive Tooling Barometer also looked at the business readiness of mold and die shops. The majority of both types of companies (79 percent for molds and 86 percent for dies) responding to the survey indicated they have a three- to five-year strategic plan. But when they were pressed for more details, these companies did not have the same level of plans in place for the adoption of technology, the sales process or labor and hiring.

    "It is discouraging that so many shops are not including these specifics as they plan for the future," Harbour said. "With the automotive industry changing so rapidly, it is imperative for the tool and die industry to start preparing for the future today."

    Labor and hiring are a big challenge, and a majority of the shops surveyed are experiencing a shortage of qualified talent. Many shops say they have problems filling open positions. And 81 percent of the mold shops and 67 percent of die shops indicated they are not prepared, or somewhat prepared, for the next-generation workforce, according to the report.

    Harbour said that needs to change.

    "By 2020, millennials will make up 50 percent of the U.S. workforce, and shops need to adjust the way they are recruiting talent as well as their internal culture to attract and retain an efficient workforce," she said.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    PepsiCo on a ‘multiyear journey' toward bioplastics
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Plan to extend chemical recycling in Illinois hits roadblock
    2
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    3
    Redline's ‘outrageous cultural behaviors' retain top employees
    4
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    5
    Trinseo: Equipment failure blamed for latex emulsion leak
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified