August 2005
www.mtdmfederation.ca

Precisely Canadian is produced by the Canadian Machine, Tool, Die & Mould Federation, a Cooperative Initiative of CAMM, CTMA, CPMA and the Mould Makers Council of CPIA.

The Goal of the Federation is to Address as a Unified Force the Issues Common to Each Member Association.

Table of Contents

  1. Federation Moves Ahead Dramatically With Its Efforts
  2. Take Advantage of Benefits from Wage and Business Survey
  3. Canadian Company Wins Intellectual Property Rights in China
  4. Time to Schedule-In Annual Conference and Meetings
  5. EDC Reduces Non-Payment Risks
  6. International Project Focuses on Knowledge Engineering
  7. Opportunities From South American Show Encourage Repeat Visit
  8. Summer Meeting Brought Together Leading Players
  9. Winning Structural Plastics Awards Entries Come From Canada
  10. Hints on Managing Corrosion in Blow Moulds
  11. Plastics Industry Prepares for Future
  12. Connect with Southeast Asia via Australia's AUSPLAS
  13. China, A Big Force, But How Big Is Its Import Presence?
  14. Two Sources to Show off Your Success
  15. Australian Trip Reveals Opportunities and Similarities to Canada
  16. Last Word: Unique Technology Status Gives Canadian Company Power

Federation Moves Ahead Dramatically With Its Efforts

ED BERNARD
Chairman, CMTDMF (President, Bernard Mould Ltd.)

In the first issue of Precisely Canadian, I posted my list of industry "problems" and we have since verified that an Ontario Lien Law is believed to have tremendous potential for protecting our members. Legal advisors have explained why General Security Agreements (GSA) signed by our customers have little leverage, if the moulds we build are ultimately paid for by an OEM.
  • Other sectors benefit from Lien Laws and so should we. If you have any ideas or comments you could share, please reply by email and we'll be happy to share them, if we can.
Another hot topic is the progress of the Initiatives for Automotive Innovation (IAI). Establishing the first project has made it possible for us to advance and refine the IAI structure. Supporters who have expressed an interest in the pilot project are now being introduced to the research teams at five university and colleges with whom the IAI has negotiated agreements. Assistance is also being provided by Manufacturing Materials Ontario (MMO) to lay the groundwork and establish the financial details of the first stages of collaboration.
  • Anyone still interested in the first project, Smart Mould, is welcome to contact the IAI executive board, or MMO.
The IAI is progressing with location options for offices, and intellectual property issues, and has begun to analyze choices to begin its second project. The next IAI Board of Directors meeting will provide additional information that can be cleared for release in the near future.
 
We are also continuing to work on getting MTDM sector representation on the Innovation Working Group of the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council (CAPC), without success so far, despite an invitation made from the podium of a General Members meeting of CAPC. This is an important association that we will continue to pursue.
 
Our last Federation board meeting was well attended and the fact that it lasted almost six hours indicates how active the various committees are and that means good representation for our members.
 
There are openings on the Education Committee, the Health and Safety Committee, and two vacancies are coming up on the board to be filled from CTMA and CAMM. These will be good opportunities for you.
 
We are quickly approaching the second Canadian MTDM Federation Annual Members Meeting. It will be held this year in Windsor, on Friday, September 30 to Sunday, October 2. The keynote speaker will be Jeff Mengel from the Chicago office of Plante & Moran with fresh and useful information about the direction of our industry in Canada and the United States.
 
Former D-M-E president Jerry Lirette will also be providing us with his view of where our industry has been, is, and is going. All this plus a dinner gala, a Murder Mystery, tours and shopping excursions, as well as activities for the entire family. The event promises to be a weekend of both work and play that is guaranteed to provide payback on numerous levels.
  • Mark you calendars and contact your industry association for details and registration. Invest some time in your Canadian MTDM Federation and experience the benefits that have drawn such a dynamic group together.
The future of your business and the future of the industry will be affected by your contributions.
 
 
ed@bernardmould.com, CMTDMF

Take Advantage of Benefits from Wage and Business Survey

As a member of the Canadian Machine, Tool, Die & Mould Federation, you have the opportunity to benchmark your position as a business with regards to wages and other industry statistics through the annual Wage and Business Survey. Now that the survey is a collective effort of CAMM, CPMA, CTMA and the Mould Makers Council of CPIA, the expanded universe gives you much more comprehensive information and profiles. As one respondent noted, by participating in the survey, it was able to evaluate its competitiveness in the marketplace for wages and business.
 
The results of this free service are only available to Federation members who participate. The strength of the survey is shown by these two basic facts: the 2004 survey encompassed over 16,000 employees from 128 respondents,
 
The survey questionnaire is available in an electronic format with built-in confidentiality and the results report is distributed electronically in December. The survey goes out to members by email in October with a mid-November deadline for replies.
 
Federation members can also participate in the survey via a paper copy, with a printed copy of the results mailed to participants in mid-January.
  • Further details on the Wage and Business Survey are available from the Federation's website, www.mtdmfederation.ca.

Canadian Company Wins Intellectual Property Rights in China

We often hear about intellectual property protection being a big issue in China. Machinery has been sold there and blatantly copied. Pursuing legal recourse has been a challenge, but recently Corma Inc., Toronto, was successful in obtaining a verdict against an infringing company (and a customer of that company) through the Chinese legal system.
 
Corma posted signage to this effect on the exterior wall of its booth at the recent Chinaplas trade show which became the source of considerable attention when the infringing company saw that it was there.
 
Corma has indicated other companies are infringing its patents so legal challenges will continue. This precedent might lead to speedier resolution of the other cases.
 
Chinaplas continues to grow every year. This year there were 1,109 exhibitors from 27 countries spread over 77,000 square metres of exhibition and seminar room space.
 
First day attendance was estimated to be 17,000. Canadian exhibitors were pleased with their participation at the show.  Most of the Canadian exhibitors are already doing business in China.
 
Next year the show takes place in Shanghai and the time has been changed to April 26-29 in order to avoid a conflict with SPI's NPE which takes place in Chicago next June.
  • For an extensive wrap-up of Chinaplas, check out the report by Sally Damstra, CPIA Director, International Trade & Shows at www.cpia.ca. 
    Just do a search on Chinaplas. Ms Damstra offers quite a few very practical insights on participating in a trade event located in China.
    (Information for this show profile came from John Margeson, of Industry Canada, Ottawa, with stats by CPIA.)

Time to Schedule-In Annual Conference and Meetings

The timing is perfect, at the end of summer, and the event noteworthy. The reference is to the Annual General Meeting and Conference of your MTDM Federation and the Annual General Meetings of CAMM and CTMA. The events take place at the Hilton Hotel in Windsor, Friday, September 30 to Sunday, October 2.
 
The Federation has designed an all-inclusive conference over the three days and two nights with a variety of options: single delegate, delegate couple, additional couples, with or without accommodation. There's a very good savings for payments that are received before August 31.
  • The end of September meeting has been designed to be a blend of business, networking and fellowship activities. There are two excellent speakers planned, Jeff Mengel from the Chicago Office of Plante & Moran. Mengel has become an authority on the MTDM industry through his company's benchmarking project and has a high profile in the industry. He will provide delegates with fresh insights on the direction of the industry in Canada and the United States.
  • Jerry Lirette will also provide his views on the directions of the industry. Lirette is of course the past president of D-M-E and has spoken at many mould making events.
  • The Apprenticeship Awards will be given out at the Saturday luncheon which includes a keynote speaker (to be announced).
Delegates also get a chance to play golf; there's also a dinner gala, a Murder Mystery and tours.
 
CAMM also extends an offer to join several member companies and affinity partners who regularly contribute to the conference as sponsors.
  • For further details on the conference and meetings, contact your respective association.

EDC Reduces Non-Payment Risks

You want the contract but know that it will tie up your working capital so you won't be able to take on any more business. Or winning the business may expose you to other risks such as your buyer going bankrupt and not being able to pay.
 
These are common challenges facing Canada's automotive tool, die and mould players who often find themselves between the proverbial rock and hard place — that is between the OEMs, their suppliers and their banks.
 
"OEMs don't pay until they are satisfied the product meets their needs and the parts suppliers aren't comfortable opening up their wallets until they have been paid by the OEMs," says Dan Mancuso, senior business development advisor for EDC's Automotive Team. "That can take up to two years in some cases."
 
EDC continues to work with the banks and parts suppliers to come up with solutions. "We can provide a parts supplier with financing so that they, in turn, can provide progress payments or we can provide a guarantee to a bank to add credit capacity."
 
As well, EDC's Automotive Team has extensive experience providing financing to support expansion plans into such markets as Mexico, Europe, Asia and the United States and can provide Accounts Receivable Insurance if companies are worried their buyers can't or won't pay.
 
"The industry is already facing enough challenges with the rise in the Canadian dollar and the trend toward global sourcing without having to take a hit on the financing side," says Mancuso. "We've developed these solutions to help take some of the edge off."
 
EDC recently sponsored a seminar in Windsor to discuss financing and legal issues with exporters. Due to its success, a second seminar is being organized for September 14, 2005 in Toronto.
  • For more details, check out EDC's web site at www.edc.ca/automotive. You will also find more information on financing options.

International Project Focuses on Knowledge Engineering

The knowledge used by mould and die shops resides in many places and formats. Being able to tap into this knowledge is very much of an asset when there are shrinking product development times.
 
Accordingly, what is needed is an infrastructure that will provide an integrated environment for product development, which will churn out solutions to the vast majority of die and mould enterprises in a contextual, independent manner. Kemold is the name given to an international project that addresses that need. Strategic needs that have been identified are:
  • The ability to focus on core competencies so that a mould and die company can concentrate on what it does best, and rely on others for the remainder.
  • Partnering with complementary competencies of other companies to speed up the design and manufacture of advanced tools.
  • Responding quickly to sudden market changes.
  • Easy access to knowledge repositories that contain independent knowledge, as well as domain-specific knowledge.
  • Digital environment so that the number of design iterations can link with an integrated platform that features simulation and visualizing capability.
Accordingly, the Kemold project calls for development of an integrated knowledge-engineered support system and associated modules to capture, store and reuse die and mould designs and manufacturing knowledge. The resulting "tool" will enable a total lifecycle management.
 
The basic premise is that a network of collaborating mould and die enterprises with complementary core competencies will make the whole sector more agile, dynamic, and reconfigurable.
 
The first phase of the project involves participation of all project partners, mostly to arrive at the functional and system architecture comprising the essence of the project, and to formulate a coherent framework. The project then will proceed in separate streams running in parallel to one another.
 
The important work elements of the first phase are to arrive at the project's specifications and an architecture involving:
  • Assessment of current practices and needs of mould and die industries at large
  • General framework and technology vision for the industry
  • Conceptual design, functional and system architecture, standard interfaces and common technical requirements for the various modules and interfaces.
    • For a full explanation of Kemold along with the international partners, contact: Joseph Neelamkavil, Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute, National Research Council of Canada, London, at joseph.neelamkavil@nrc.ca.

Opportunities From South American Show Encourage Repeat Visit

For the fourth time there was a Canadian Information Booth at Brasilplast (April 4-8 in Sao Paulo, Brazil). The Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) was the organizer.
 
Because of an innovative configuration, the booth consisted of the Canada Information section plus two companies who took the space for part of the show and were then replaced by two other companies for the remainder of the show.
 
The four companies were Corma Inc., Toronto, Windsor Mold, Windsor, Profine Moulds, Mississauga, and Top Grade Molds, Mississauga.
 
Brasilplast is the largest trade fair for the plastics industry in South America. The country is one of the three markets that have been given a top priority by the federal government.
 
Raw data falls out as follows: bi-annually (usually in March or April); 1,254 exhibitors (up by 4% over 2003). There were 743 Brazilian exhibitors, a large increase of 14% over 2003 and 511 foreign exhibitors, unfortunately down by nearly 8% from 2003. Attendance totaled just under 61,000, an increase of 21%.
 
Given that the show continues to grow and the high interest by Canadian firms in exhibiting in the Canadian booth, Brasilplast is likely the best show in South America for Canadian companies either to visit or exhibit at.
 
The machinery and equipment demonstrated at the show had a high level of technical sophistication which appears to run contrary to traditional Brazilian preferences. Brazilians have been buying on price. During the opening ceremonies however, the Minister of Industry stated that Brazil would be increasing its exports significantly over the next several years. 
 
In order to compete in the global marketplace, Brazilian manufacturers must adopt world class manufacturing technologies and practices, which calls for machinery and moulds of the highest quality and performance. This will expand the opportunities for Canadian machinery equipment and moulds.
  • Approximately 70% of the inquiries at the Canada Information booth related to moulds for caps and closures, and injection moulds in general.
  • There wasn't a particular end-use market predominant at the show whereas EuroMold appeared to be heavily slanted towards automotive.
  • Unlike previous years, there wasn't a contingent of mould makers from Portugal which shares the same language as Brazil.
A "backdoor strategy" might be a better way to break into this market.  Essentially, a Canadian machinery, equipment or mould maker would partner up with a larger firm already exporting to Brazil.
 
Canadian products would come into Brazil as part of a total package and after several years of exposure, the relationship could be maintained, or the Canadian firm could go on its own.
 
An option to enhance Canada's presence at this show might be a mini Canada pavilion where companies could co-locate. Common graphics and identifiers could tie it together to have the look and feel of a national pavilion.  
 
Because of the strong interest in Brazil and because there are well developed automotive and packaging sectors in Brazil, it might be appropriate to organize a mission, probably of mould makers in March/April 2006 to maintain interest between shows. This mission could include a visit to Argenplas 2006 (held March 20 -24, 2006 in Buenos Aires). Argentina is the other big market in South America.
 
Alternatively, the mission could front-end or back-end Plastimagen 2006, the largest plastics show in Latin America next year (held in Mexico City March 28-31, 2006).  Canada will have a national pavilion (organized by CPIA). 
 
Canadian firms exhibiting, as well as any other Canadian firms at Plastimagen, could travel on the weekend to Brazil and participate in a three day mission.

  • Want to comment, express your interest in these shows and missions? Contact Dennis Shanley, Industry Canada, Ottawa, at Shanley.Dennis@ic.gc.ca.

Summer Meeting Brought Together Leading Players

Delcam International in association with McMaster University and Export Development Canada hosted a seminar on June 29, 2005 to discuss the current state of the industry.
 
Discussions were held on how both global and local companies are adapting to stay competitive with increasing Asian market competition, and how to utilize both new and existing technology to its best. 
 
The day-long event was well attended with speakers from a variety of industries including Delcam, McMaster University, Export Development Canada, Renishaw and Sandvik.
  • If you would like a CD copy of the presentations made, please contact jackie@delcam.com with all your pertinent information.

Winning Structural Plastics Awards Entries Come From Canada

The annual awards for SPI's Structural Plastics Division honours two Canadian companies: Horizon Plastics Co. Ltd. in a tie with Minco Tool & Mold, Inc. in the building and construction category, and Backyard Products who was the OEM in the lawn and garden award.
 
Horizon entered a "half-in-ground" junction box made from low-pressure structural foam. The part has a very large, deep draw with difficult gate placements.
 
Backyard Products now has an armored wood product made from an engineered wood core, totally encapsulated in a polypropylene plastic also made using low-pressure structural foam.

Hints on Managing Corrosion in Blow Moulds

Exfoliation corrosion and stress corrosion cracking can be prevented in high volume blow moulds made from high strength aluminum alloys. Corrosion is caused by a number of reasons, but generally is the result of problems in the cooling water.
 
These problems could be high or low pH, highly chlorinated biocides, or contaminates in the water, such as copper or iron concentrations that are unfriendly to aluminum.
 
In order for stress corrosion cracking to occur (potentially extending from the cooling channels to the cavity or from channel to channel) three conditions are required:
  • Susceptibility to corrosion aluminum alloy (such as 7075-T651).
  • Existence of a corrosive condition (such as contaminated water in the cooling channels).
  • Forcing of a minor or major stress (such as thermal shock where you have stresses contracting around the cooling channels; expansion in the stresses around the mould cavity surface; or opening and closing of the mould).
All three must be present to propagate the cracks. By thermally treating the aluminum alloys you can dramatically reduce the corrosion susceptibility of the alloys. This thermal treatment must be carefully done to control the temperatures and times at the specific temperature.
 
Thermally treating the material during the solution heat-treat cycle eliminates the exfoliation corrosion and prevents stress corrosion cracking. This is usually performed immediately after the aluminum is rolled to size.
  • This summary is from a presentation made by John Perryman of Copper and Brass Sales at a CPIA Mould Makers Council meeting. If you'd like the full presentation, PowerPoint, which includes drawings, contact Perryman at jperryman@tkmna.thyssenkrupp.com.

Plastics Industry Prepares for Future

The Canadian Plastics Industry Association is in the process of soliciting the opinions of its members to define the focus for a technology roadmap (TRM) for the plastics sector, likely to get underway in the fall. 
 
The underlying objective of a TRM is to forecast how technology will evolve over the next 10 years, and what companies in Canada will need to do in order to respond to this future environment.
 
A first "scoping" session was held in Toronto in June and CPIA will be seeking the views of other industry members over the course of the summer.

Connect with Southeast Asia via Australia's AUSPLAS

It's all about China, China, China. No. It's all about Asia, in this case, Southeast Asia and its opportunities. A suitable springboard to this market is via a trade mission to AUSPLAS 2005, a trade show that takes place in Melbourne, Australia from September 26-29, 2005. Yes, 2005.

As part of the trade mission you will be able to:
  • Participate in a partnering forum with Australian mould makers for joint access into China and other S.E. Asia markets
  • Engage in one-on-one meetings with customers and agents
  • Use a Canadian Consulate booth to display posters, brochures and audio-visuals on a plasma screen
  • Take in plant site tours
  • Take advantage of a networking reception in the evening that will be hosted by Ontario Exports.
The $500 (Cdn) fee for the use of the consulate booth will be waived for companies that send a representative to the show.
 
To take advantage of group airfare discounts, please contact mission leader, Louis Papp at 519 969-4977; cell: 519 562-5214 right away.
 
For those not in a position to take advantage of this offer, you can also display your brochures at the Canada Booth at a cost of $500 (Cdn) per 100 copies per company or reserve separate booth space (3m X 3m) at a cost of $5,100 per company.

China, A Big Force, But How Big Is Its Import Presence?

I think we've all heard about the Toyota investment, something of a coup in light of the many other regions trying to attract automotive investment. Earlier this year, automotive expert Dennis DesRosiers updated his files on the market size for the original equipment (OE) parts market in the States as well as the final parts import data for 2004.
 
The data shows "that the US OE parts market continues to decline, not just because vehicle production was down slightly (-1.1%), but more because content per vehicle continues to weaken."
 
According to DesRosiers, the American total OE parts market declined to $159.6 billion (US) in 2004, from $190.0 billion. He says that the lower content per vehicle shows the extent that price competition has affected all suppliers. The lower content is seen as a reflection of the lower prices forced onto suppliers by OEMs.
 
"The globalization of the US OE parts market is also very evident. Imports of parts increased to $64.6 billion in 2004 and now account for 40.5% of the American parts market," says DesRosiers.
 
DesRosiers also reiterates a universally recognized fact that China is one of the fastest growing sources for parts imports (increasing by 41.1% in 2004). (But),
"China still accounts for a very small percentage of the total American parts market, at 1.5%. Canada and Mexico account for about 11% and Japan for 8.2%." in the States as well as the final parts import data for 2004.

Two Sources to Show off Your Success

Want some recognition for your export expertise? If the answer is "yes," check these events out. The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Annual Conference includes an award for innovations. Companies can be nominated or nominate themselves.
Next, are the 2005 Canada Export Awards, which will also be held in the fall.

Australian Trip Reveals Opportunities and Similarities to Canada

It was a "down under" trip for four representatives from Canada who were delegates for a conference by ISTMA, the International Special Tooling & Machining Association. A total of 71 delegates from 26 member countries made the trip to Melbourne, Australia in June.
 
Canada's representatives were Les Payne, Universal Pattern Co. Ltd. and a CTMA director, Horst Just, H.J. Machine & Pattern Ltd. also a CTMA director, Geoffrey Anderson, True North Molds, and Brian Taylor, Retired and a CTMA Honorary Member. Geoff Anderson was appointed to represent ISTMA-Americas on the ISTMA World Board of Directors.
 
Delegates discussed among other matters global trading issues specific to the machine, tool, die and mould industry. They were also able to obtain international market and business information critical to the development of foreign trade activities.
 
A discussion was also undertaken on a possible cooperative effort with GARPA, the Global Alliance of Rapid Prototyping Association. In addition, delegates recommended that a world supplier membership be created.
Delegates also had an opportunity to see Australia's TDM industry first hand. It was very apparent at Diecraft Australia Pty. Ltd., a die and injection mould shop, that its equipment was as up to date as any first class shop in North America. The company is subsidiary of Tupperware and employs 150.
 
At Sutton Tools Pty. Ltd., a cutting tool manufacturer, delegates were impressed by the capabilities of its surface coatings division.
 
At one of the sessions TIFA (Tooling Industry Forum of Australia) representatives gave an overview of the Australian tooling industry. It turns out that there are remarkable parallels between the Australian industry and the Canadian experience, except its industry is having a harder time because of the country's smaller population and further distance from international markets.
 
TIFA is much more oriented towards the business and marketing issues than in Canada. For example, it is taking the lead in organizing international collaborative efforts, involving all stakeholders, including the government. One such effort is called "TIFA Aerospace," that is aggressively going after Boeing business on a collaborative basis.
 
It has an "Australian Centre for Toolmaking Innovation" called Austool. The mission of Austool is "to make Australian manufacturing globally competitive through collaboration, with a more capable tooling industry and export focused production."
 
Since opening two years ago, it has seen its membership grow geometrically, and has put on numerous workshops.
 
The new general manager of ISTMA-World Secretariat is now Eduardo Beira in Portugal. The next ISTMA-World board meeting will take place in Portugal in June of next year. The ISTMA-World Conference takes place in Joensuu, Finland in 2007.
  • Precisely Canadian thanks Les Payne of Universal Pattern and Julie McFarlane of CTMA for this report.

Last Word: Unique Technology Status Gives Canadian Company Power

A recent issue, of CTMA's publication, the CTMA View, reprinted an article which is encouraging in that it shows how a relatively new company is addressing the issue of managing, if not controlling, its destiny.
 
The headline tells us that an auto parts maker isn't afraid to say "no" when customers demand cuts. The company is Sekam and it has something of a technological edge in that it produces ultra-precise auto parts with a technology that apparently is still not all that common in North America.
 
Its growth is also attributed to management's willingness to take a tough stand when it comes to demands to make price cuts.
 
General manager Kaveh Vafaei is quoted as saying: "If I am not going to make any money, what is the point of working so hard. They will keep taking as long as you keep giving."
 
Advances in machine tooling, computer controls and raw materials have allowed Sekam to push the envelope in terms of its fine blanking capabilities. This asset lets the company tackle complex jobs that command better prices.
  • You can read this encouraging story on the CTMA website, www.ctma.com, (May issue, page 6).

Disclaimer: All information in this publication is accurate to the best of our knowledge.
© 2007, Canadian Machine, Tool, Die & Mould Federation, all rights reserved.