This is article is part of a series of monthly articles produced by Harbour Results for PMA’s MetalForming Business Edge e-newsletter. Click here to view the full collection of articles.

We may have started 2020 with some apprehension due to the election but couldn’t have fathomed what happened to the economy due to COVID. With rapid recovery of demand in late 2020, expectations at the start of 2021 were a return to “normal”. Instead, 2021 was plagued with volatile demand in many sectors, while availability and pricing for basic manufacturing inputs like metal and labor made 2021 equally difficult to manage. So, what does 2022 have in store for us? Whatever may unfold in 2022, being informed will be important to managing your responsibilities in your business.

Fortunately, PMA is kicking off 2022 with a series of events and activities to help its membership stay informed and learn about ways to improve. Harbour Results is humbled to be invited to participate and share intelligence, insight and best practices from which we hope you will benefit from the information.

Metal Stamping and Lubrication Technology Conference

PMA is kicking off the year with its annual Metal Stamping and Lubrication Technology Conference to address the operational needs of metal stampers and die builders.

During this event, Laurie Harbour will take a closer look at the external factors impacting the manufacturing industry – stampers, die builders – including key economic factors and supply chain issues. She will examine durable good demand and how it is driving unprecedented growth in many of the industries’ metalformers supply. An unintended consequence of COVID is that consumers changed spending patterns. They stopped spending money on parties, vacations, sporting events and significantly increased spending on durable goods. After a sharp decline in durable goods demand in 2020, the U.S. has seen a 32% growth in durable good demand. In fact, nearly all industries – automotive, medical device, appliance and powersports are predicted to see between 9-12% year-over-year growth from 2021-2025. 

Specifically, she will dig into the North American automotive industry forecasts and the transition to and introduction of battery electric vehicles. Next, she will review the performance of the stamping and die industries in 2021: throughput, efficiency, profitability, quoting and hit rate among other key indicators. Finally, she will look at what businesses need to do to take advantage of the economic climate.

With chaos becoming a way of life it is becoming increasingly more important that leadership focus on the aspects of business that can be controlled and have the flexibility to act and/or react quickly to the factors it cannot. Those that can achieve this will be the winners and generate sustainable and profitable growth.

Forming Our Future Leadership Conference

In February, executives from across the metalforming industry will converge to address leadership, strategy and other key issues critical for business success.

Jason Brewer and Scott Walton will be hosting a breakout session focused on what businesses should be doing today after a turbulent 2020 and 2021. Their presentation – Your Business Has Been Stress Tested, Now What? – will address the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has stress-tested your business and how shops are responding and what do they need to do to stabilize the business?

The session will take a look at what financial metrics you should be monitoring and how to optimize the supply side of your business. Participants will receive actionable steps to improve operations, efficiency and throughput to better match supply with demand. Additionally, as Albert Einstein said, “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” Is your company prepared to capitalize on this crisis? Hear what companies should focus on in the supply side of the business, including strategy, sales, talent and leadership. Participants will learn best practices to help companies recover and better match supply with demand. If you’re asking yourself, “It’s 2022, so now what?” this presentation will answer that question and more.

2022 Metalforming Insights

Approximately one year ago, PMA launched a new benchmarking tool – Metalforming Insights powered by Harbour Results and Plante Moran. The tool was meant to enhance and update PMA’s industry surveys and reports to deliver an unmatched resource of business-critical data and insight for PMA members.

Over the course of 2021, we consistently had more than 90 facilities participate in each of the four surveys. And those who have participated have benefited from receiving comprehensive customized output. However, we can do better. We want to encourage more companies to participate in 2022. Increasing the breadth and depth of the data improves the intelligence and insight that can be provided.

We strongly believe that benchmarking is an essential part of assessing your business. Forecasts predict manufacturing in 2022 will continue to deliver both opportunities and challenges and it is critically important for companies to be flexible while identifying your strengths and weaknesses.

The Q1 2022 study focused on financial performance will launch in mid-January. The customized data and insight you will have access to for free, will more than offset the time required to complete the survey. Please watch your email for the study.

We look forward to interacting and engaging with PMA members and all those in the metalforming industry through these activities and this newsletter. We have a number of really great topics planned for “Love Letters for Manufacturer”.  Stay tuned for more…