The Canadian Tooling & Machining Association (CTMA) held their annual general meeting on September 18th at the Elm Hurst Inn in Ingersoll, Ontario.
Chaired by Schmoltz+Bickenbachs Ted Callighen, the meeting covered annual Board duties and presented a talk by Harry Moser, founder of the U.S. Reshoring Initiative.
The talk described how Canadian firms can follow the U.S. lead in winning back manufacturing jobs from low labour cost jurisdictions. Moser described how true production costing reveals that reshored products are often very competitive with offshore competition.
He also addressed the government incentives issue directly, stating, Over 10 or 15 years incentives arent very important. Incentives are really about Am I going to Alabama or Georgia?, not Am I coming back from China'.
Also on the program was an introduction to the Original Equipment Suppliers Association Tooling Forum, presented by former CTMA president Jamie Bowman of J.P. Bowman Limited.
The OESA Tooling Forum is a quarterly meeting of independent OEM mold, tool and fixture suppliers.
Its not a tool and mold association like the work the CTMA does, said Bowman, adding, we work with the associations. Were working on a guideline of best practices for the tool and mold sector. Issues include payment terms and managing collections, benchmarking, OEM relationship development and skills training.
Apprentice bursary awards were also presented, followed by cocktails and dinner in the Inns grand ballroom.
