Over the past several months representatives of various manufacturing organizations have been meeting with Legislators, officials of President Obama’s Auto Task Force, other officials from the U.S. and Canadian governments (who are providing direct loans to GM and Chrysler)and OEMs and Tier 1 representatives in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of the tool and machining sector in the automotive supply chain, and to educate policymakers on the issues that currently threaten continued viability of the tooling sector. The efforts of these organizations have been commendable but a common message that was received from these elected officials and policymakers is that the tool, die, mold and machining sector needs to come together to face the challenges we all confront.

We are much stronger if we unify and convey a common message to these elected officials, industry representatives and policymakers that innovation is derived from this sector and without tooling, production parts and components cannot be manufactured. The primary purpose of the Tooling Coalition is:
“To assure long term viability of the North American tooling sector, a critical supplier in the automotive supply chain for the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as key supplier to manufacturers of equipment and supplies for the military, medical sector, energy industry, agriculture and construction industry and virtually every other manufactured product in North America.”

The automotive industry supply chain is complex and difficult for people outside our industry to understand. The Coalition will educate our target audiences on how the supply chain functions with manufacturers at various levels that feed through to an automotive OEM. The tool, die and mold sector, which generally resides at the Tier 2 level in the supply chain is a critical supplier in the automotive supply chain since:

1. Tooling is single sourced;
2. Tooling is one-of-a-kind, specific to a particular vehicle part or component, and
3. Without the tooling, a vehicle assembly cannot be produced.

The Coalition will focus on protecting the companies in our sector, preserve jobs, create new opportunities to support an economic recovery, and improve the relationship and trust among the parties in the automotive supply chain.  Our immediate concern is the implications of an OEM bankruptcy and where and how the interests of our collective memberships can be protected.

Over the next few weeks the Tooling Coalition will continue to work to:

1.  Encourage the Task Force to facilitate a meeting involving all stakeholders;
2.  Continue to communicate with key legislators in Canada and the US who have expressed a keen interest in the issues facing the auto industry;
3.  Provide information for members concerning the implications of an OEM bankruptcy as it becomes available;
4.  Continue dialogue with the Auto Task Force concerning the key issues facing the tool, die and mold sector and the need to resolve them.
5.  Work with local and national news media to help convey our message to elected officials, industry representatives and government officials.
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http://blog.toolanddieing.com/

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