Windsor moldmakers talk about “critical situation”

More than 45 Windsor-area mold and tool shop owners attended a forum led by the Canadian Association of Moldmakers Inc. (CAMM) last week to discuss the issues facing the local moldmaking industry.

The meeting was closed to the press and general public in order to allow moldmakers to speak more candidly about the issues facing their businesses.

When speaking about the closure of Hallmark Technologies last month, CAMM’s new president Dan Moynahan talked about the need for a stronger support system.

“We have to do something about not just Hallmark, but the whole city it is in a real struggle right now,” said Moynahan. “I think it’s time we do something about it as a community.”

The blunt discussion on Thursday allowed area moldmakers to discuss the “critical situation” facing their businesses. The Windsor area is really heavy in tool and mold shops, and the lack of work was a major topic of discussion at the meeting.

“The Big Three [Ford, General Motors and Chrysler] have really scaled back new work for the local shops,” said CAMM vice president and Michael Angelo Mould & Design owner Angelo Carnevale after the meeting. “The Windsor area is finding that the workload has gone down tremendously.”

The group also talked about the strain of longer payment terms, and new technologies that can keep the local industry competitive with low-cost countries.

Carnevale said that the response to the meeting was very positive, allowing business to put their competitiveness aside and create a more unified front.

“The biggest problem we have been told by our [Members of Parliament] and by government is that they would be willing to help if we had more of a focused lobby,” said Carnevale. “They perceive us as fragmented.”

With close to nine shop closures in the last two months, Carnevale said its time for these issues to “get on the radar.”

Another meeting for mold and tool shop owners has been scheduled for March 26. The meetings also signify CAMM’s new approach to industry issues. Carnevale said the association has plans to provide tool and mold shop owners with a better resource base to help them with their businesses.

“The direction we would like to go in is to create a stronger association,” said Carnevale. “The mandate that we are going to try to create for CAMM is they can maybe go to CAMM and ask for that kind of help.”