american

www.amba.org
the

mold builder
Volume 25 No. 1

speak out
a message from our president
Mike Armbrust

D
eath and taxes. These are two givens I was raised to come to expect in life. Everything else is TBD. One
IN THIS ISSUE: given I’ve come to understand as an absolute truth in this industry is we are slowly losing our manufactur-
ing edge to the rest of the world. Our government leaders have decided, on our behalf, that we can survive
as a service based economy. It does not take a rocket scientist, moldmaker, custodian, or even food prepa-
ration specialist to recognize this falsehood.

2010 Fall Conference Recap
AMBA News
2011 Convention Preview
Chapter Spotlight - Chicago Chapter
Tax & Business Tips
Please don’t misunderstand my opening comments. I am a “glass half-full” optimist. Partly because it is the
way I was raised, more so because our Association reflects the entrepreneurial spirit that built this country.
The delegation of AMBA members who attended the 2010 Fall Conference in Washington D.C. came away
encouraged by the attention manufacturing, in particular small-business manufacturing, is being given at the
national level. While the message on Capitol Hill was “jobs, jobs, jobs” we represent the one sector that employs
more people than any other sector in the economy (except of course for our government). For the first time
in three trips to Washington D.C. we were recognized by our representatives. We had five delegations which
included AMBA member representatives from MI, IL, WI, MN, FL, PA, SC, NC, OH, TX, NJ, VA, AZ, and MO.
Over the course of two days we conducted 49 face-to-face meetings with congressional representatives and their
staff to continue to voice the concerns and specific requests of the AMBA. Our message was clear, concise and
to the point covering the major issues that affect our business’s ability to compete in the global economy. Those
issues addressed include: Unfair Competition from Low-Cost Countries, Skilled Employee Shortage & the
Aging Workforce, Lack of Business Credit and Access to Credit, Rising Healthcare Costs, and finally Rising Tax
Burdens.
While in Washington, D.C. we witnessed Congress passing of the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2010,
HR 2387 that enables the U.S. to impose countervailing duties against other countries that maintain persistently
misaligned currencies. This was a primary agenda item for the meetings conducted with Congress at the 2009
AMBA Fall Conference. We also supported HR 2936, the Build Manufacturing Act, which provides credit to
manufacturers with secured backing from the government (loan guarantee program with lower interest rate) as
well as HR 6003, the Fab Lab Bill, which would provide funding to open 40 “Fab Labs” throughout the country
to educate kids on product development and manufacturing. One of our delegations went into a meeting with
a member of Congress only to find a copy of the AMBA publication “The American Mold Builder” lying on
his desk. The message here is we are being recognized. We no longer need to explain who we are or why we are
critical to the manufacturing process. Now that we have their attention, we need to keep it. Encourage your
employees, their families, and your community to speak with elected officials about the critical need to keep, and
invest in, manufacturing jobs in the United States.

Your National board of directors has been hard at work at the committee level, meeting weekly to enhance
fall 2010

membership services, education, governance, convention planning, and the management of Association finances.
Our 2011 AMBA Annual Convention “Accelerate Your Profitability” is going to be an excellent opportunity for
you to step out of your day-to-day operations to work ON your business instead of in your business. We have
an excellent lineup of speakers and group activities that will enable attendees to benchmark their best practices
with industry leaders and focus on increasing profitability in their business. Don’t forget the Early-Bird discount
for attendees who register and pay prior to January 7, 2011. You won’t want to miss this exciting and engaging
event so act soon to ensure your spot!

For those of you who took time away from your companies to join us in DC we thank you. For those of you
unable to join us in DC, we encourage you to get involved and join us March 2-6, 2011 because we all have a role
to play. It is time to call to action those of us who believe in manufacturing and believe in America. The AMBA is
committed to playing its role, are you?
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2 www.amba.org AMBA
In this Issue:
The official publication of
Fall Business Forecast Survey........................................................................4
American Mold Builders Association
Point of View..................................................................................................7
AMBA Goes to Washington D.C., Holds 49 Meetings..................................9
Leading the Future of U.S.
Mold Manufacturing
2011 AMBA Convention Preview
2011 Annual Convention Combines Top-Notch Speakers with
Las Vegas and NASCAR...................................................................13
Get the Most Out Of Your Next Business Convention..................14
Prepare for Battle - Defending Your Price & Bottom-Line.............14
2011 AMBA Chapter of the Year Award Nomination Form......................18
2011 AMBA Mold Builder of the Year Award Nomination Form..............20
3601 Algonquin Rd, Suite 304 • Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
AMBA News..................................................................................................22 phone: 847.222.9402 •fax: 847.222.9437
AMBA Night at the Ballpark......................................................................24 email: info@amba.org • website: www.amba.org
AMBA Members Exhibit at the K Show...................................................25
Member News..............................................................................................26 Officers and Board of Directors
Welcome New Member................................................................................28 President
Chapter Spotlight – Chicago Chapter.........................................................28 Mike Armbrust, Mako Mold Corporation
West Michigan 3rd Annual Chapter Golf Outing.......................................29
Vice-President
U.S. Congressman Speaks at AMBA Chapter Meeting...............................30
Todd Finley, Commercial Tool & Die
Chapter News...............................................................................................31
Welcome New Partners................................................................................32 Secretary
Shawn McGrew, Prodigy Mold & Tool
Partner News................................................................................................32
Treasurer
Gibson Insurance Kent Hanson, H.S. Die & Engineering, Inc.
Health Care Reform Advisory – Grandfathered Plans...................33
Association Legal Councel
Delay in W-2 Reporting...................................................................33
Richard N. Mueller & Associates
Workplace Wellness..........................................................................33
Don’t Wait To Vaccinate!..................................................................33
Board of Directors
Misclassification of Independent Contractors...............................34
Steve Rotman, Ameritech Die & Mold
Healthcare Reform - The Impact On Workers’ Compensation......34
Shawn McGrew, Prodigy Mold & Tool
Human Resources Kent Hanson, H.S. Die & Engineering, Inc.
Final Rules Issued for I-9 Forms . ...................................................34 Justin McPhee, Mold Craft
Contracting with a Temporary Agency...........................................34 Robert Earnhardt, Superior Tooling
Agency & Employer – A Dual Relationship.....................................35 Todd Finley, Commercial Tool & Die
Tax & Business Dan Glass, Strohwig Industries
2011 HSA Limitations.....................................................................35 Roger Klouda. M.S.I. Mold Builders
Small Business Jobs Act: A Windfall for Small to Scott Phipps, United Tool & Mold
Mid-sized Manufacturers................................................................36 Robert Vaughan, Fairway Injection Molding Systems
Business Owner’s Relatives May Qualify for Mike Walter, MET Plastics
New Payroll Tax Breaks....................................................................37 Andy Baker, Byrne Tool & Die
Business Insurance, The Forgotten Asset.......................................38 Michael Bohning, Creative Blow Mold Tooling
Workplace Strategies: Keeping Up with OSHA...............................38
Succession Planning… Why So Many Family Business Owners AMBA Staff
Fear It and How to Calm Those Fears..............................................39
Sue Daniels, Member Services Coordinator
Five Trends of Family Business.......................................................41
Shannon Merrill, National Chapter Coordinator
Another Tidbit - Take a Look! - A “How To” Resource!..................42
Business Success Strategies
The American Mold Builder is published four times annually in spring,
Achieving Greatness: The Value of Associations............................42
summer, fall and winter by the American Mold Builders Association.
Update on Section 529 Plans...........................................................43 Assistant Editor: Sue Daniels; Contributing Author: Clare Goldsberry;
Classified Corner..........................................................................................44 Layout & Design: Controlled Color, Inc. phone 630/295-9210;
Publishing: Your Images Group, Inc., phone 847-437-6688; Copy
AMBA Answers.............................................................................................44 deadline: 25 days preceeding publication date. Contact AMBA at
Tech Corner..................................................................................................45 847/222-9402 or email info@amba.org for advertising information,
Advertiser Index...........................................................................................46 article submission ideas, or a subscription.

Opinions expressed in this publication may or may not reflect the views
of the Association, and do not necessarily represent official positions or
policies of the Association or its members.

AMBA www.amba.org 3
AMBA Showing Signs of Sustained
Business Uptick
The Fall 2010 Business Forecast Survey of the AMBA reveals that the
economic recovery has been sustained over the past three months as
business continues getting better for a majority of respondents. The
quarterly survey revealed that current business conditions improved
significantly over the previous three months, with 15% of the
respondents saying that business is Excellent – up six percentage points
from 9% of the respondents in the Summer 2010 survey. This is the
best percentage for this category in several years. A total of 40% of the
membership responded to this recent survey.
Current business conditions also improved significantly, moving up
another 9% for those reporting Good conditions (53%) compared to
44% of the respondents in the Summer survey. That is up a full 18%
over the last six months as the outlook continues to move in the right
direction. Fair business conditions exist for 27% of the respondents
compared to 41% of the respondents in the Spring survey. Those
reporting Poor business conditions dropped again, with only 5%
reporting poor conditions, down from 6% in the Summer 2010 survey.
That is down a total of 20% over the past six months. For the third
consecutive survey, no one reported Bad business conditions.
Projections of their company’s business over the next three months
revealed that optimism continues to be strong. While only 6% of the
respondents expect business to Increase Substantially, compared to 9%
in the Spring survey, this remains higher than the Spring survey. Those
expecting business to Increase Moderately however, increased to 35%
from 31% in the Summer survey, but still below the more hopeful 44%
in the Spring survey. Respondents expecting business to Remain the
Same came in at 44%, down just four percentage points from Summer
survey. Respondents expecting business to Decrease Moderately once
again increased by four percentage points to 15% compared to 11% in
the Summer 2010 survey. None of the respondents expect business to
Decrease Substantially.
When asked to compare their company’s current level of business
with that of three months ago, responses indicate some movement in a
positive direction:
Quoting activity ticked Up by one percentage point for 33% of the
respondents of the Fall survey compared to 32% of the respondents in
the previous survey; the Same for 49% of the respondents, up from 44%
in the Summer 2010 survey; and Down for only 18% of the respondents,
a new low over the past six months, indicating that quoting remains
strong. In talking to some moldmakers at the recent Fall Conference in
Washington, D.C., many said that while quoting activity is up, turning
those quotes into hard orders may be another story. many hours.
However, one respondent noted, “Recent spike in P.O.’s. Not sure if this
is result of a couple big customers spending their ‘capex’ by year end or
something more sustainable. Hoping it’s the beginning of a better, more
consistent demand trend.”
Shipments are jumped Up for 48% of the respondents, compared to
36% in the previous quarter’s survey, and stayed the Same for 37% of
respondents (down from 45% in the Summer survey); and Down for
15% of the respondents, fewer than the 19% reporting in the previous
quarter. The American Mold Builder subscription – This 48-page
Backlog is Up for 41% of the respondents, up once again from the 37%
in the Summer survey, confirming the “excellent” and “good” business
projections. Backlog is the Same for 33% (down one percentage point
4 www.amba.org
from the Summer survey); and Down for 26%, just three percentage
points from 29% in the Summer survey.
Another respondent noted, “Since March business has been very hectic.
I can’t seem to catch up.” And another respondent said, “This year is
better than 2009!”
Profits in the Fall survey are Up for just 22% of respondents, down
significantly from the 29% in the Summer survey. Profits are the Same
for 65% of the respondents, a huge jump from the 47% in the Summer
survey. Profits are trending Down for only 13% of the respondents to the
Fall survey, a significant drop from the 24% in the Summer survey, and
a huge drop from the 31% of the respondents in the Spring survey.
Whether or not this is a result of a “kinder, gentler” automotive industry
as has been reported, with some of the major OEMs deciding that it’s
okay if their suppliers make a profit, or just some looser purse strings
among OEM engineers and buyers, is still a guess. But it’s definitely a
step in the right direction. According to one respondent, “Business is
the strongest since 9/11/2001, but payment terms are the worst in four
decades.”
Employment levels are also confirming that responding companies
are much busier, with employment Up for 28% of the Fall survey
respondents, an uptick of two percentage points from the Summer, but
double the 14% in the Spring survey. Employment numbers remained
the Same for 65%, almost even with the previous survey. Employment
is Down for only 7% of the Fall survey respondents, compared to 11%
of the respondents in the Summer survey. This is a significant drop from
20% of the respondents reporting reduced employment in the Spring
survey.
There is hiring in the wind, and many mold company owners
complaining that finding good help is the real problem now. One mold
shop co-owner said, “I just hired eight new guys but they’re difficult to
find. Many have left the trades and don’t look at the want ads anymore.
I got one guy from an ad I put on Craig’s List.”
Another noted: “I need to find quality employees.”
The current average number of shop employees went down by one
percentage point to an average of 22. The current average number of
design and engineering employees remained steady at five. Work-week
hours for shop employees again ticked up by one hour to 47 for the Fall
survey. For design and engineering employees the hours also went up
by one to 46.
However, one respondent said, “Just because I have my employees here
for 32 to 40 hours a week, does not mean they are production for that
One respondent summed it up quite nicely, reflecting the attitude of
many mold company owners: “The economy has many years to go
before we see a full recovery. People are getting busy but the problem is
we are busy with fewer people employed.” o
AMBA Member Benefits:
quarterly magazine unique to the AMBA features commentary
and articles covering industry issues, trends, technology,
member news and AMBA news.
AMBA
 AMBA Fall 2010 Business Forecast Survey Results

The AMBA Business Forecast Survey was developed to provide AMBA members with information
on the current business conditions and a projection of the upcoming months. The Fall 2010
Survey resulted a response rate of 36% from AMBA members. Business remains "Good"
for 53% of the respondents, and for 15% of the respondents it is "Excellent."

AMBA Members Current Business Projection of Business Over the Next 3

Conditions Months
Increase
Excellent 44% Substantially
53% 35%
Good Increase
Moderately
Fair
Remain the
Same
15% Poor 6%
27% 15% Decrease
Bad
0% 5% 0% Moderately

Decrease
Substantially

Current Level of Business in Last 3 Months

70% Quoting
60%
Shipments
50%

40% Backlog

30%
Profits
20%

10% Employment

0%
Up Same Down

Current Work-Week Hours Current Number Plant Employees

50
50

40
40
Plant Employees

30
Work Hours

30
47 46
20
20
22 5
10
10
0
0
Average Shop Employees Average Design & Engineering Employees
Average Shop Hours Average Design & Engineering Hours

Average number of molds built per member Total number of molds built per year (Based
per year on 72 shops)

60
3500
3000
50
2500
40
2000
30
53 1500 3368
20 1000
10 500
0
0

AMBA www.amba.org 5
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Point of View - The Image of
Manufacturing
Hot Runner
By: Andy Baker, Byrne Tool

This September I visited Washington,

D.C. for the third time with the AMBA.
Every visit has been a great experience
Solutions For
and extremely educational. On this recent
trip as we supported manufacturing and All Applications
moldmaking, the one thing I noticed is we
didn’t need to explain what manufacturing
Direct-Flo™ Gold Systems
was like we’ve had to do in the past.
For Technical Molding
There is definitely a buzz on the hill about I Designed for Engineered Resins
promoting manufacturing. One of the I Unitized, Integrated, and
things we talked to our Congresspersons Hot Half Systems
about is how the United States is the
only industrialized nation without a plan for manufacturing. Even our
neighbor’s here in North America have a plan for manufacturing. It’s Quick-Flo™ Systems
the backbone of every great economy. For Hi-Cavitation Molding
I Designed for
What most people don’t know is that manufacturing is a highly Commodity Resins
technological industry that has many high paying jobs. We have a
generation of young adults that have a lot to offer to the manufacturing I Complete Hot Half Systems
sector, but many parents guide their children towards being a doctor
or lawyer. The image that manufacturing is dying is wrong and needs Opti-Flo® Manifold Technology
to change. Manufacturing is alive and needs to be promoted so our
economy can flourish. I Rheologically Balanced with

I Optimized for DF Gold

I support higher education and am currently working towards my and Quick-Flo™ Systems Technology

bachelor’s degree. Like everyone else I encourage my children to

attend college and get a four-year degree. But not every child is ready
for college right after high school or maybe they can’t afford it. And
not everyone wants to be a doctor or lawyer. Manufacturing offers an
alternative. Many manufactures offer tuition assistance to help their
employees improve themselves as there are always opportunities for
job advancement. Most companies offer a clean, air conditioned work
environment where employees can run advanced CNC machines that
cost nearly a million dollars or a vast assortment of other jobs from the
manufacturing floor to the office to sales in the field. Many of these jobs
offer opportunities to make more money than our parents did with their
four year degrees.

What can you do to promote manufacturing? I would encourage you to

promote manufacturing on career day at local high schools and middle
schools. Contact your representatives at their local office and ask what
they are doing to support manufacturing. Invite them out to visit your
shop and show them what you do. Invite the press to your shop when
you invest in new equipment or new employees. Talk to your friends
about what manufacturing has done for you. Show people the things
you make when you’re in a car, at a hospital, in an office or wherever
you see products you have made. Encourage the next generation. If
they’re hands-on and don’t want to sit in an office, manufacturing has a INCOE® Hot Runners Today
lot to offer. INCOE® Systems are designed for optimal performance and cost effectiveness
in demanding applications. With more than 50 years of in-field experience,
Personally I can’t wait to see what the future generations will make and we partner with our customers to help them exceed their expectations.
how they will make it. o That's INCOE® performance ... Right From The Start
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Do We Have your Current Email Address? Troy, Michigan 48083 USA
T: +1 (248) 616-0220
F: +1 (248) 616-0225
Be sure to notify AMBA of any email changes, so no E: info@incoe.com www.incoe.com
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AMBA www.amba.org 7
 AMBA 2010 Fall Conference
Washington, D.C.

8 www.amba.org AMBA
AMBA Goes to Washington D.C.,
Holds 49 Meetings
The AMBA held a successful Fall Conference in Washington, D.C.,
once again meeting with Senators, Congresspersons and their legislative
staff to voice AMBA support for manufacturing in the USA. Teams
comprised of members, partners and the media gathered and held a total
of 49 pre-arranged visits to the elected officials that represented the
States/Districts of the team members.
There were five teams: Illinois Delegation, Michigan Delegation,
Minnesota/Wisconsin Delegation, the Southeast Delegation and the
USA Delegation (non-chapter members). Each team met with either
the Senator/Congressperson or their selected legislative staff. AMBA
members and partners provided a packet of information about the
AMBA, its members, and the major issues that impact our businesses,
our industry, and U.S. manufacturing as a whole.
Teams encouraged their Senators and Congresspersons either directly
or through their legislative staff, to vote for those bills that would
keep manufacturing in the United States, and create a more favorable
business climate so that manufacturers will want to stay and expand
their operations in the United States. That would include reducing the
tax burden on small businesses, minimize other structural cost burdens,
incentivize innovation and R&D, and assure the availability of capital
so that U.S. manufacturers can compete.
AMBA members also thanked those Senators and Congresspersons
who voted for the Small Business Jobs Act, which passed and was
signed into law on September 27. While a number of Senators and
House members voted against the legislation because of a $30 billion
“mini-TARP” to community-based lending institutions, overall the bill
promises to be a step in the right direction for small businesses.
Doug Woods, President of the Association for Manufacturing
Technology, told Conference attendees that “The key things [in the bill]
stand on their own. If $30 billion helps fund community banks to allow
them a lower rate, even that’s okay.”
While in Washington, D.C., the House voted on H.R. 2378, known
as the China Currency Bill, addressing China’s fundamental
undervaluation of its currency. The two critical points in the Bill that
were noted in the House Ways and Means hearing the previous week,
were that “China’s mercantilist exchange rate policy places a drag on
U.S. economic growth and job creation” and “is a major distortion in
the international marketplace.” Secondly, “Efforts to date have not
worked to correct the imbalances.”
The House passed that bill around 6 pm on Wednesday, September
29, shortly before Congress voted to recess prior to the upcoming
November elections.
Overall, attendees to this year’s Fall Conference found their elected
officials more receptive to what the AMBA had to say. “I definitely
sensed a more piqued interest in what we had to say this year versus
last year,” said Justin McPhee, VP engineering for Mold Craft Inc., in
Willernie, MN. “They really wanted to hear what our problems were,
and they listened to us. They seemed to be a lot more receptive to us
this year than last.”
Mike Armbrust, President of the AMBA, said, “In comparison to
last year, I am very pleased with the exposure manufacturing has
in Washington. In particular, the Illinois representatives appear to
recognize the importance of the manufacturing base in our state. We
AMBA www.amba.org
have a lot of work still to do, but policy is reflecting an emphasis
towards small business and manufacturing in particular.”
Armbrust noted that “when you look at some of the issues that we’re
facing, a shortage of skilled workers in our trade is a big one. Bill
Foster, an Illinois Representative, helped sponsor HR 6003, in support
of MIT’s Fab-Lab Academy, a mobile additive manufacturing facility
that provides access to innovation, technology and encourages creativity
to young people and show them the opportunities that manufacturing
offers. “There are 9 or 10 in Fab-Labs in existence currently and the bill
supports creating not-for-profit funding to build a total of 40 of these
to educate young people and to use as on-site workforce training,” said
Armbrust. “They had one of the Fab-Labs on the Mall at the Capital. It
certainly promotes one of the issues we’re against – fill the skilled labor
gap and impress upon high school counselors that manufacturing is a
viable career.”
It was agreed by all that those of us in manufacturing still have a lot of
work to do with respect to getting Washington’s attention, and getting
them to pass legislation that will favor manufacturing, incentivizing
U.S. manufacturers to expand in the U.S., and boost job creation.
Everyone who attended the Fall Conference seemed to come away
with the impression that suddenly Washington, D.C. is taking a greater
interest in manufacturing. Mike Walter, general manager for MET
Plastics, a molder and mold manufacturer in Elk Grove Village, IL,
said that his team “had a really positive experience.” He noted that he
personally felt “more upbeat coming out of these meetings this year
than last year.” The people that the Illinois delegation met with were
responsive in getting back to them with answers to some questions
they posed about legislation and where their Senators/Representatives
stood. “And they were fairly lengthy answers,” Walter noted. “Last
year we were the unwanted industry – this year they seemed genuinely
interested in us.”
Every week the two Illinois Senators invite their constituents to have
coffee with them, so on Thursday the Illinois delegation participated
in that event. There were about 50 people in the room, many of them
educators, so Walter said he took advantage of that when he got the
opportunity to make a comment. “I directed my comments to the
educators in the room, and noted how our industry has a lack of skilled
workers, and the fact that we need better educated and more highly-
skilled people,” said Walter. “That gave Senator Durbin the opportunity
to comment on how manufacturing can create jobs. I told them that we
know jobs are high on their list of priorities and we have solutions for
you. It was good.”
The Minnesota/Wisconsin team also had an opportunity to meet with
Senator Al Franken (D-MN) for “morning porridge” – a wild rice
concoction for which Minnesota is famous. Justin McPhee, VP of
engineering for Mold Craft Inc. in Willernie, MN, said the porridge
was actually “really good” and the event quite humorous. About 60 of
Franken’s constituents were in attendance.
The first order of business was to set down his coffee cup and “take care
of business and he goes into his bathroom, came back in a few minutes
and stood on his desk to give a speech,” McPhee related. “He talked
about his support for manufacturing, but his voting doesn’t reflect that.
It was good to hear that he said he supports manufacturing but it would
be better if he actually voted that way. He’s against extending the Bush
tax cuts because the government needs the revenue to bring down the
deficit.”
Like Mike Walter, Justin McPhee felt overall greater interest from
Senators and Representatives. “This time I definitely sensed more
9
 piqued interest,” he said. “They really wanted to hear what our
problems were, and they listened to us. They seemed to be a lot more
receptive to us this year than last.”
Doug Woods addresses innovation, collaboration and
National Manufacturing Policy
Doug Woods, President of The Association for Manufacturing
Technology, told Fall Conference attendees that “The key things [in
the bill] stand on their own. If $30 billion
9.pdf
helps fund
10/6/09
community banks to allow them
3:02:05 PM
a lower rate, even that’s okay.”
Woods, a former moldmaker himself in
his family’s business, Liberty Tool & Die,
which his grandfather started, also gave
the keynote presentation. Woods, who
has only been in Washington, D.C. for
16 months, noted that was long enough
for him to understand what is needed,
and emphasized three keys: innovation,
collaboration and a coherent, focused
Douglas K. Woods,
national policy on manufacturing. “We have
President, Association
to have a national strategy,” he said.
for Manufacturing
Technology
“Innovation is really a key source of
economic growth,” Woods stated. “We need to take great ideas and
commercialize them, and generate wealth.”
While the U.S. thought that it could maintain a strong economy
with advanced technology products, the AMT study shows that the
manufacture of Advanced Technology Products in the U.S. have fallen
10 www.amba.org
off over the past 10 years. Gradually, Woods said, the U.S. allowed the
manufacture of discrete components (semiconductors, etc.) to go to
China, and now we import these discrete products.
Next we allowed the assembly to go to China, and now we import
completed assemblies. Third, total manufacturing activities have left
– the activities that created high-paying jobs for U.S. workers. Fourth,
if the U.S. allows R&D to go offshore – as has been happening – we’ll
import technology as well.
“We’ve lost it all,” said Woods. “The majority of patents held for flat-
screen television technology are held by Taiwan.”
Woods noted there are five positions with respect to innovation that we
need to take to strengthen the U.S. economy:
• Innovation drives economic growth, and creative destruction will
happen. “You don’t need to be the [technology] creator, but you do
need to be the innovator,” Woods said. “Take the best technology
and processes in your industry and use them to create something
the market needs.”
• Innovation is driven by productivity and adaptive efficiency.
• Developing those efficiencies requires public/private cooperation.
• Stimulating a smart public/private partnership is the best way
implement innovation.
• Innovation is the path to change and progress.
“Innovation is a way of transforming the resources of an enterprise
through the creativity of people into new resources and wealth,” Woods
explained. “Develop a new process using technology, or a new product
using technology. But we must drive wealth creation in some way. All
innovative companies have a strategy and well-defined processes.”
Woods provided some tips for companies that want to become more
innovative:
• Put your R&D efforts toward focusing on customer solutions.
• Invest in R&D – at least 5% of your revenues need to go into R&D
• Invest in new equipment – put 5% of your revenues into new
equipment
• Implement training programs. “You need at minimum of 40 hours
annually in training for your employees because new technology is
being created continually,” Woods said.
• Be an innovative leader. “Innovative companies are led by
innovative leaders,” stated Woods. “Innovation is for all
companies.”
Woods also added that the U.S. “must have direction – a strategy – that
will drive a central and specific mandate for policy” for manufacturers.
Woods offers these strategic means to promote manufacturing in the
U.S.:
1) Incentivize innovation and R&D for manufacturers
2) Assure the availability of capital to manufacturers
3) Minimize structural cost burdens to manufacturers
4) Increase global competitiveness for U.S. manufacturers
5) Enhance collaboration between government, academia and
industry
6) Build a better educated and trained “smart force – that’s your
creative element
“The big problem in the U.S. is a lack of focus on manufacturing as the
driver of our economy,” said Woods. “We need to get our government to
care about manufacturing, not about what side of the aisle they’re on.”
AMBA
Scott Paul addresses Conducting an Effective Meeting
on Capitol Hill
Scott Paul, the Executive Director,
Alliance for American Manufacturing,
discussed “Conducting an Effective
Meeting on Capitol Hill” at the conference.
An experienced Washington, D.C.
professional, Scott walked through
what the attendees could expect in
their meetings with Senators and
Congresspersons. Scott explained that
members of Congress play a huge role
in the competitiveness of manufacturing.
They need your expertise and perspective
as they attempt to address the numerous
issues that affect small business
manufacturing in America. A well intended
Scott Paul, Executive
Director, Alliance for
piece of legislation may have negative American Manufacturing
unforeseen consequences, so constituent
perspective is vital.
Scott explained the inner workings of the 100 Senators and 435
members of Congress, and the effect the looming election had on each
member. He pointed out that Congress often legislates by anecdote -
compelling stories prompt action. Members of Congress need to hear
from home. Constituents have an impact and with our input legislators
would struggle understanding specific issues that affect mold builders.
Congress is full of young staffers who have power and influence but not
the experience or expertise to appreciate the nuance of certain positions.
Scott said that because everyone is so busy, there would be relatively
little time for each meeting with your Congressperson. It would be
AMBA www.amba.org
important to get your key points out early and often. Be clear concise,
and compelling! The AMBA attendees were prepared with five key
points, and were ready with personal examples to drive their points
home.
Scott then wrapped up by giving a current status report. Congress
was nearing the end of its legislative session before the November
elections, which means that people may be distracted or stressed. The
House Democrats are in the midst of a modest but positive “make it in
America” agenda focused on manufacturing, and that it should be part
of our discussions. The Senate is gridlocked but our points still need to
be made. o
So, You Think You Have a Great Idea?
Introducing a new book by Clare Goldsberry that will help
you and the inventor. So, You Think You Have a Great Idea!
guides the inventor through the maze of dealing with plastic
part designers, mold designers, moldmakers and molders. It
offers tips to moldmakers and molders on how not to get stuck
with someone’s great idea, and tips to inventors on how not to
deal with mold shops. First rule for inventors - have money!
Second rule - never ask a moldmaker to build the tool now in
exchange for a piece of the action later. If you’ve ever dealt
with an inventor, or know inventors who need help dealing with
the plastics industry, this is the book! A special price at $6.95
available directly from Clare Goldsberry, please call (602) 996-
6499 or email at clarewrite@aol.com.
11
 2011 AMBA
Annual Convention
March 2-6, 2011
Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa
Las Vegas, Nevada

Accelerate Your Profitability

Keynote speaker:
Steve Rose, Practice Lead of Kotler Marketing Group
presents the keys to “Defending Your Price.” Learn
how to compete against low-cost, overseas suppliers
who can’t match your quality and service but undercut
you on price. Rose will share success stories and best
practices that have allowed high quality suppliers to
defend their price and win more business.

Also presenting:
Steve Lefever , Chairman, Business Resource Services
presents “Profit Mastery”. Back by popular demand as
an AMBA convention presenter, Steve will present an
educational and entertaining half-day session on his
“Profit Mastery” program. Optional Post-Convention Activity:
2011 Las Vegas Shelby
American NASCAR Race
March 6, 2011- Las Vegas Motor Speedway

12
Register at www.amba.org www.amba.org AMBA
 2011 AMBA Annual Convention Preview
2011 Annual Convention Combines Top- 2011 Convention Schedule of Events
Notch Speakers with Las Vegas and Wednesday, March 2:
NASCAR • Optional Las Vegas city tour
• Attendee Registration
It’s time to register for the AMBA Annual Convention, March • Welcoming Cocktail Reception
2-6 at the Red Rock Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, NV. The
theme, “Accelerate Your Profitability,” promises to bring the best Thursday, March 3: (Meetings run 8:00am-4:00pm)
presentations in the areas of business performance, cutting-edge • “Defending Your Price” – Keynote, Steve Rose, Kotler
Marketing Group
technology and best practices. 
• Economist Review of Profitability of the Mold Industry
• AMBA Team Building Activity
The Keynote address will be given by Steve Rose, Practice Lead
• Optional Evening Group Event
of Kotler Marketing Group, a leading consulting and training firm
specializing in sales and marketing for suppliers to the automotive Friday, March 4: (Meetings run 8:00am-3:00pm)
industry. Rose’s presentation, “Defending Your Price” will provide • “Profit Mastery – Accelerate Your Profitability”, Steve Lefever,
attendees with the keys to competing against low-cost overseas Chairman, Business Resource Services
suppliers who can’t match U.S. moldmakers when it comes to building • Technology Sessions
innovative molds and providing quality and service, but undercut the • Annual Dinner Meeting
price. 
Saturday, March 5: (Meetings run 8:30am-11:45am)
Rose will share success stories and best practices that have allowed • “Lessons from his Business Transformation” - Tom Duffy,
President of Plastics Components Inc,
high-quality suppliers to defend their price and win more business. It
• Best Practices Sessions from AMBA members who have been
doesn’t matter what markets you serve, learning how to defend your Successful at Accelerating Their Profitability
price and win new business is critical to your success.  • Best Practices Q&A
• Optional Afternoon Group Events
Back for the fourth time – and by popular demand – Steve Lefever,
Chairman, Business Resource Services, presents “Profit Mastery.” Sunday, March 6:
This half-day seminar will be classic Lefever, both entertaining • Optional: 2011 Vegas Shelby American NASCAR Race at the
and educational in a way you’ve never heard before. If you think Las Vegas Motor Speedway
accounting and P&L statements are boring, you’ve never heard Pricing
Lefever. Those who have heard him at past AMBA conventions are • $895 - Full Convention package - Member/Partner
excited about his return. If you’ve never heard Lefever before, you’re • $995 - Full Convention package - Non Member/Non-Partner
in for a real treat. You don’t want to miss “Profit Mastery” by Steve • $250 - Spouse/Guest/Child
Lefever. • Full Convention package - Early Bird ($100 off if paid in full by
1/7/2011)
And for all the NASCAR buffs out there, stay over and join the • Full Convention package - Late Fee (additional $50 if paid
AMBA group on March 6 for the 2011 Vegas Shelby American after 1/26/2011)
NASCAR Race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It’s a great way to Full Convention Package includes:
end a great convention in a great city!
• Welcoming cocktail reception
• AMBA annual dinner meeting
The AMBA Annual Convention has a long history of being a great • Keynote and guest speakers, educational programs
event where moldmakers get together, network, have fun and learn • Welcome gift for all participants
about new technology and best business practices to help you succeed. • Lunch on Thursday and Friday
If you’ve never been to an AMBA Convention before, this is the one • Team building event
you want to attend! Registration is open at www.amba.org.
[Note: Hotel not included]

Thank you to the following companies who have signed up before October 31st to be
2011 AMBA Convention Sponsors/Tabletop Exhibitors/ Advertisers:

AMBA www.amba.org 13
 2011 AMBA Annual Convention Preview
Get the Most Out of Your Next
Business Convention
Most business people attend at least one business convention
a year. You might attend many more than that depending
upon your position and the industry you’re in. But no matter
how many conventions you attend, if you don’t plan ahead,
you run the risk of wasting time and missing out on valuable
contacts and presentations.
Keep the following tips in mind to help you get the most out
of your next business convention:
Know why you’re attending. For some, conventions can
be an important opportunity to meet other business owners,
vendors, consultants, and experts in the field. Keep track of
how many contacts you actually make at each convention
by collecting business cards. If it’s information you’re after,
pay attention to the new products or services being offered.
When the conference is over, review your business needs
and how (or if) the event helped serve them. If a convention
you’ve been attending for many years no longer seems to be
doing anything for you, you may want to rethink attending it
every year.
Review the schedule beforehand. Plan ahead to get
the most out of your next convention. Review all of the
workshops and sessions and decide which ones you should
attend. If necessary, delegate the task of attending workshop
sessions to colleagues who are traveling with you.
Stroll the convention exhibitors. Most conventions
have dozens of exhibitors and vendors displaying the latest
industry information and products. Make sure you carve out
a block of time to peruse the convention floor. Stay away
from those time-wasters who ask you to fill out surveys and
watch their presentations.
Network, network, network. Carry an ample supply of
business cards with you at all times and don’t be shy about
handing them out. Introduce yourself to the people sitting
near you in workshops, while eating, on the exhibitor show
floor, wherever you can. Also, get the full list of attendees,
including company names, phone numbers, and email
addresses. This will help you continue networking after
you’ve returned home.
Be sociable. Most business conventions have multiple
parties on the schedule, so make sure you find time to
attend a few. Parties are a great, low-key way to meet new
contacts.
Create a post-convention action plan. After the
convention is finished, you might be tempted to toss those
business cards into the circular file and get back to running
your business. Don’t. Instead, sit down and create an action
plan. Maybe this plan will involve writing a few important
emails to follow up on possible leads. Or maybe it’s calling
the new vendor you met at one party. Is it time to purchase
that hot new product you saw on the trade show floor?
Whatever it is, do it within the first week of your return or
you’ll likely forget to take action.
Article taken from Allbusiness.com, a D&B Company.
14 www.amba.org
Prepare for Battle - Defending Your Price
& Bottom-Line
By: Steve Rose, of Kotler Marketing Group, and upcoming Keynote
speaker at the 2011 AMBA Annual Convention
With the North American economy
continuing to lurch forward, there does
appear to be signs of hope. The automotive
industry, in particular, has shown signs
that it is on the mend. Ford recently posted
a $2.6 billion dollar profit in the second
quarter and GM has announced that it is on
track to earn a profit for 2010. With such
a big market such as Automotive poised
for a rebound, does this bode well for the
fortunes of North American moldmakers
and their suppliers? The answer, we are
afraid, is a resounding “No.”
In fact, obscure but far-reaching strategies that automakers began
adopting 18 years ago contributed significantly to the industry’s gradual
decline since then, and to the dire situation that North American
suppliers, particularly small to mid-sized suppliers, face today.
In particular, the Detroit Three’s approach to dealing with their 1000s of
parts suppliers took shape during that period. It led to an OEM-supplier
paradigm that is profoundly counterproductive for the industry, as we
found in our research with suppliers. Changing this paradigm is critical
not only for suppliers, who account for most of our country’s auto
jobs – more than 600,000 U.S. workers at last count. Change can also
create the foundation for the entire industry to be more innovative and
sustainable going forward.
To understand the roots of the problem, we need to turn back the
calendar to a long-forgotten decision taken by GM. Struggling to
manage costs during the early-1990s recession, GM installed a new top
purchasing executive, Jose Ignacio Lopez de Arriortua. It was a move
that garnered little attention, compared to what it would today. At the
time, purchasing managers at Ford, Chrysler and GM wielded little
power. Their role was straightforward - order the products approved and
specified by Engineering. 
Almost overnight Lopez changed all that. He tore up existing
contracts and demanded that suppliers agree to immediate price cuts
of up to 20%. Many suppliers protested, but ultimately submitted
to his demands. Lopez’s early success delivered a windfall for GM.
Emboldened, they began crafting a new aggressive standard for
purchasing operations – a standard copied not only by Ford and
Chrysler, but also by many other large players in the supply chain,
both in the U.S. and abroad. Over the next eighteen years, Detroit and
its increasingly powerful purchasing departments demanded, and got,
ever greater discounts and cost-downs from their suppliers. Purchasing
agents began getting bonuses for successfully negotiating lower prices.
Suppliers, over time, became conditioned to believe that the “lowest
price always wins.”
In response, suppliers have spent decades working diligently to
lower their own costs, investing in Lean Manufacturing, process re-
engineering, and similar efficiency initiatives. But even when suppliers
are successful at reducing costs, purchasing typically responds by
demanding that any cost savings be passed on to them in the form of
lower prices.
AMBA
 2011 AMBA Annual Convention Preview
This success at negotiating suppliers down on price has come with huge
costs.  Last year, Kotler Marketing Group recently conducted a study
of 200 parts suppliers, including dozens of moldmakers, and found
that 72% of them claim some sort of non-cost advantage over their
competition. These include advantages like patented technology, quality,
or various value-added services. But notably, in price negotiations most
of them still end up matching the lowest bid more than 75% of the time.
The sad reality is that many of them have real innovations to offer but
they rarely get rewarded for the value they create.
This is a great deal for Detroit’s automakers in the short run. But in
the long run, if suppliers are not able to negotiate a sufficient return,
innovation and investment get systematically discouraged. This leads
to an even greater focus on price above all else, creating a downward
spiral. Consider that the rate of market share loss for the Detroit Three
actually began to accelerate at the same time they implemented their
current sourcing philosophy. 
In a sign of how dysfunctional the situation has become, most suppliers
instruct their salespeople never to reveal anything innovative to certain
carmakers. Not only are they unlikely to get rewarded, they fear being
forced to give the innovation away as a condition for the carmaker to
renew existing contracts. (The Detroit squeeze play!)
If the North American automotive industry is to reinvent itself, both the
automakers and suppliers must make changes to the way they work with
one another. For instance, the Detroit Three should consider radically
revamping the Purchasing Department’s incentive structure, or do away
with it completely. Better “scorecards’ need to be developed that reward
suppliers that bring true value and innovation.
AMBA www.amba.org
Suppliers must see it as their role to educate purchasing and other
stakeholders about why it makes good business sense to “pay more for
more.” History shows that suppliers cannot rely on purchasing to figure
it out on their own. As a purchasing executive at one of the Detroit
Three told us:
“I don’t mind paying a higher price, provided I can be convinced
that we will be able to reduce our costs as a result. But it’s not my
staff’s responsibility to figure out when it makes sense to do so; it’s
the suppliers’.”
For suppliers, this involves documenting the economic value that their
part or service delivers - benefits such as improved quality and reduced
scrap and re-work, or faster testing and homologation, or even getting
new models to market faster - the value of which is often not well
understood or recognized by the carmakers.
Building this type of “business case” is both challenging and rewarding.
It is challenging because it involves quantifying benefit claims – claims
that can touch on the complex vehicle design, development, and
production processes. But it is rewarding for the same reason. Meeting
the challenges that come with adopting this sales and marketing
approach will give moldmakers a powerful competitive advantage over
competitors from lower cost countries such as Mexico, China and India,
who can’t match the level of quality and innovation, but undercut them
on price.
The current situation presents a host of challenges, particularly for
moldmakers in the U.S. and Canada, but they are challenges that can be
overcome. What is required is a fundamentally different sales approach
and set of skills.
15
 2011 AMBA Annual Convention Preview
A different sales approach
In the current environment, it is becoming more and more critical for
companies to translate the features and benefits of their technology,
products and services into a language customer can understand – the
language of dollars and cents.
Most sales reps have learned to translate product features into benefits
(e.g., higher quality parts = fewer in-plant quality incidents and less
downtime). Now, they must help customers to understand what the
benefits are worth in monetary terms (i.e., what is a 5% improvement in
plant uptime worth?).
Research conducted by our firm earlier this year, in conjunction with
several associations whose members are suppliers to the automotive
and commercial vehicle industries, indicates that there is a segment of
suppliers that are able to consistently get paid for the innovations and
advantages that they offer to buyers, with some even winning price
premiums up to 31% of the time. These suppliers have found ways
to break out of the cost-focused, purchasing-driven, paradigm that is
increasingly taking hold of most industries.
How were they able to do this?
Pricing Leaders vs. Frequent Discounters
The study found that while discounting is still pervasive and
widespread, suppliers are able to win business without being the lowest
price. When suppliers win business without being the lowest price,
they have won a “premium.” For example, if a supplier of catalyst
LaserSales
16 www.amba.org
technology were to resist a demand for a 3% lower price and still be
awarded the business, it has just won a premium. When suppliers
successfully reject requests by purchasing to accept a cost down, they
have also won a premium.
To better understand why some suppliers are more successful than
others at winning premiums we wanted to benchmark against the most
successful suppliers and identify best practices for increasing that
success. The study defined two key groups for benchmarking purposes:
“Pricing Leaders” are respondents who not only win premiums
on more than 25% of bids, but also discount in similar or lesser
quantities than in the past. Pricing Leaders made up about 31% of
all respondents.
“Frequent Discounters” are respondents who win premiums less
than 25% of the time. They discount in similar or greater quantities
than in the past, and they made up about 36% of all respondents.
Interestingly, pricing strength correlated as much or more with effective
sales strategies and tactics as they did with product / service advantages.
For instance, the study found that perceived technology, quality or
service advantages do not correlate with winning premium prices.
It turns out what matters most is equipping account teams with the right
sales tools and collateral and making sure they are trained in the right
skills. What tools and training are particularly effective?
AMBA
 2011 AMBA Annual Convention Preview
Sales tools
One area where our research found best-practice supplier salespeople
differ the most from their peers is in the sales tools they use.
While every supplier provides customers with product brochures and
data sheets, best practice suppliers are more likely to offer sales tools that
document value to the customer. These fall into three categories:
• Anecdotal information regarding benefits to the customer
• Detailed analysis of how a supplier can lower a customer’s costs (i.e.
by reducing scrap and re-work)
• Case studies documenting and quantifying the value delivered to
customers
truly innovative and sustainable moldmaking industry can emerge from
the current economic recession.
About the Author:
Steve Rose is a Managing Director for Kotler Marketing Group’s
Automotive and Commercial practice. Kotler Marketing Group (www.
kotlermarketing.com) is a consulting, research and training provider
with extensive experience serving industrial suppliers to the automotive,
aerospace, technology and medical device industries. Kotler Marketing
Group has conducted numerous studies exploring sales and marketing
best practices. Their research has been published in many magazines
and publications, including the Detroit Free Press, Heavy Duty North
American Die Casting Association, Aftermarket Journal, Purchasing
Magazine, Business Week and Selling Power. o

The most successful suppliers differentiate themselves in their use of

in-depth case studies documenting total value to customers. With their
focus on efficiency and cost reduction, plant and quality managers (not
Purchasing!) are a particularly important audience for these types of Do you Want Company Exposure in Industry Magazines?
detailed, quantitative collateral.
Contact AMBA’s Marketing Consultant, Clare Goldsberry, and she
will write a FREE press release to help promote your company’s
Sales training
services, products, equipment & special milestones to industry
Study participants were asked about the types of sales training programs
magazines and local newspapers. Clare has a BA Degree in
they had taken in the past five years. The survey covered a range of
Journalism, and is the senior editor of Modern Plastics magazine.
training programs, falling into two basic categories: She also offers marketing assistance in developing company
marketing plans, brochures & customer lists. Contact her at (602)
Negotiations training – these courses address topics such as 996-6499 or email clarewrite@aol.com.
competitive bidding strategies, and understanding competitors’ and
customers’ bargaining power. Overall, the vast majority of suppliers
(81%) and even more Frequent Discounters (94%) report taking
negotiations training. However, only 68% of Pricing Leaders do.

Value-based programs – these sales training courses focus on

understanding customer problems and the value of solving them.
They include value-based selling and consultative selling programs.
Pricing Leaders prefer these types of training programs, with
68% saying they have taken them, whereas just 53% of Frequent
Discounters report doing so.

Much traditional, price-focused negotiations training are limited by their

lack of focus on understanding and communicating total cost and value.
Cognizant of this pitfall, best practice suppliers’ use of value-based sales
training helps them broaden the sales negotiation and shift the focus away
from price.

No one can argue that the moldmaking industry is experiencing

extraordinarily difficult times. But difficult times also create opportunities
for companies to survive and even thrive in the long run.

Armed with new skills and sales tools, suppliers will be in a position
to diversify their customer base within the automotive industry as well
as profitably penetrate new markets such as aerospace, healthcare, and
technology and telecom, where, like the automotive industry, purchasing
decisions are increasingly driven by price.

Suppliers that take these steps will have the capital to reinvest in R&D,
thereby setting the stage for future innovations and growth. Otherwise,
high-quality parts suppliers in high-wage countries will continue to lose
business to lower quality manufacturers in lower-wage countries like
Mexico, Eastern Europe, China and India.  

Not only is change possible, there is a growing understanding that it is info@wi-engraving.com

critically needed. Without such changes it is unrealistic to think that a
AMBA www.amba.org 17
 2011 AMBA
MOLD BUILDER
OF THE YEAR
AWARD
The AMBA Mold Builder of the Year Award was instituted to
recognize outstanding contributions made by an AMBA member.
The recipient of this prestigious award will be an outstanding
business leader dedicated to the industry, and an active member of
the AMBA.

For more than 37 years, the American Mold Builders Association has been the
only trade organization that dedicates itself to just one industry – mold
manufacturing. AMBA represents nearly 300 U.S. mold manufacturers over 30
states and 12 chapters. Member companies range from small, specialty niche
organizations to large, full-service firms, and equipped with state-of-the-art
machinery and CAD/CAM technology to provide the best in new-product and
mold design and build.

Try to find new ways to be competitive? Consistently

AWARD PRESENTATION
The 2011 AMBA Mold Builder of the Year Award
recipient will be announced during the upcoming
Annual AMBA Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada –
March 2-6, 2011 at the Red Rock Resort & Spa.
Announcement of the award recipient will be made
to local newspapers, national industry publications,
AMBA’s publication, and posted on the AMBA
website. The award recipient is expected to attend
the convention to receive this award.
AWARD
The MBOY award recipient will not only be presented
with the prestigious Mold Builder of the Year Award,
but the award recipient will also choose the
industry-related educational program or students(s)
that will receive a $5,000 Progressive Components
scholarship grant.
ELIGIBILITY
AMBA members may nominate themselves or
nominate a peer. Self-nominations are highly
encouraged. The award recipient will be the
individual, not the company. If you believe, and you
are very proud that you have built a good solid
business: a company that is doing positive things in
the industry…we encourage you to nominate
yourself! Do you work hard toward business growth?
looking for innovations? That’s what it takes to be
the Mold Builder of the Year! Tell us about it and
why you believe you deserve to be the award winner.
CRITERIA
AMBA will coordinate the judging based on the four
criteria listed below by a
panel of industry–related judges.
 Nominee must be a member of the
AMBA.
 Nominee should be an outstanding member
of the industry, working to promote the
industry through the AMBA, the community,
apprenticeship programs, trade school
participation, or other forms of education of
customers, employees and community.
 Nominee should be an outstanding
businessperson, as evidenced by his/her
company’s growth, commitment to technology
innovation, and dedication to the ideals of the
moldmaking business of honesty and
fairness, and creativity in meeting the
challenges that the industry faces.
 Nominee should be someone who exemplifies
an American mold builder, and is
representative of what the AMBA promotes in
its members.
Thank you for your participation!

AWARD SPONSORED BY PROGRESSIVE COMPONENTS

18 www.amba.org AMBA
 2011 AMBA MOLD BUILDER OF THE YEAR
NOMINATION FORM
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nominee’s Name Title
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Company Name # of years in business
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Company Address
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
City ST Zip
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone E-mail
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nominator’s Name (if different than above) Nominator’s Company Name
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nominator’s Phone # Does the nominee know that you nominated him/her for this award? ˆYes ˆ No

NOMINEE PROFILE
Number of years in the industry:_______ Organizations involved in outside the industry: _____________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Year member joined AMBA: _________________ List other industry trade groups that nominee belongs to:______
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Is nominee an active AMBA member, i.e. participates regularly in AMBA programs (meetings, committees,
boards, chapters, etc)? (Attach a separate sheet if necessary)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Describe nominee’s community work/service performed on behalf of the industry with regard to education,
government activities, apprenticeship programs, etc. (Attach a separate sheet if necessary)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Provide some history of the company’s growth, its use of technology innovation to provide creative, cutting
edge solutions to customer’s mold requirements, unique things this individual is doing to grow his/her
business in spite of the challenges of competition and economic downturns. (Attach a separate sheet if necessary)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Describe ways in which you think the nominee exemplifies the “American Mold Builder” and why he/she
deserves this prestigious honor: (Attach a separate sheet if necessary)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nominations (plus any attachments) must be received no later than, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010.

Mail, email or fax to:

Sue Daniels - Mold Builder of the Year Award
American Mold Builders Association
3601 Algonquin, #304, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
AMBA
Phone 847.222.9402 „ Fax 847.222.9437
www.amba.org
Email sdaniels@amba.org „ Website www.amba.org
19
 2011 AMBA CHAPTER OF THE YEAR AWARD

The AMBA Chapter of the Year Award was

established to recognize those chapters that
have made outstanding contributions to the
moldmaking industry.

For more than 37 years, the American Mold Builders Association has been the only trade
organization that dedicates itself to just one industry – mold manufacturing. AMBA represents
nearly 300 U.S. mold manufacturers over 30 states and 12 chapters. AMBA member companies
range from small, specialty niche organizations to large, full-service firms, and equipped with state-
of-the-art machinery and CAD/CAM technology to provide the best in new-product and mold design
and build.

ELIGIBILITY
AMBA chapters may nominate themselves or be
nominated by individuals outside the chapter. The
award recipients will be the chapter as a whole. If
you believe that a particular AMBA chapter is doing
positive things in the industry…we encourage you to
nominate them! Does the chapter work toward
implementing or maintaining apprenticeship
programs? Or does your chapter work to promote
moldmaking in your state and nationally? Those are
some of the things that we’re looking for from the
Chapter of the Year! Tell us about it and why you
believe your chapter deserves to be the award
winner.
AWARD
The Chapter of the Year award winner will not only
be presented with the prestigious Chapter of the
Year Award, but the winning chapter will also choose
the industry-related educational program or
students(s) that will receive a $5,000 Progressive
Components scholarship grant.
CRITERIA
AMBA will coordinate the judging based on the three
criteria listed below by a panel of industry–related judges.
 What has your chapter done to promote
education and apprenticeships in your
community and/or member shops?

AWARD PRESENTATION  What has you chapter done to promote

The 2011 AMBA Chapter of the Year Award will be
presented during the upcoming AMBA Annual
Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada – March 2-6, 2011
at the Red Rock Resort & Spa.
Announcement of the winning chapter will be made
to local newspapers, national industry publications,
AMBA’s publication, and posted on the AMBA
website. A representative from the winning chapter is
expected to attend the convention to receive the
award.
moldmaking in your state?
 What has your chapter done to promote
moldmaking nationally?
Examples are implementing apprenticeship
programs, working with local secondary schools,
technical colleges and community colleges to
promote interest in the moldmaking industry;
holding chapter meetings with state of the art topics
and speakers; working with state legislators to
implement mold lien laws; participating in letter-
writing campaigns to Congress.

Thank you for your participation!

20 Award Sponsored www.amba.org

by Progressive Components AMBA
 2011 AMBA CHAPTER OF THE YEAR NOMINATION FORM

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
AMBA Chapter being Nominated

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nominator’s Name Nominator’s Company Name

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nominator’s Phone # Nominator’s email address

Does the chapter know that you’ve nominated them for this award? ˆYes ˆ No

CHAPTER PROFILE
What has your chapter done to promote education and apprenticeships in your community or amongst
member companies? (Attach a separate sheet if necessary)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

What has your chapter done to promote moldmaking in your state? (Attach a separate sheet if necessary)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
What has your chapter done to promote moldmaking nationally? (Attach a separate sheet if necessary)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nominations (plus any attachments) must be received no later than, Friday,

December 17, 2010.

Mail, email or fax to:

Sue Daniels – Chapter of the Year Award
American Mold Builders Association
3601 Algonquin, #304
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
Phone 847.222.9402 „ Fax 847.222.9437
E-mail sdaniels@amba.org „ Website www.amba.org
AMBA www.amba.org 21
 AMBA News
2011 Annual Convention –
“Accelerate your Profitability”
March 2-6, 2011, Las Vegas, NV
See Convention Preview on page 12! o
Nominate the 2011 Mold Builder
of the Year!
Nominations are now being accepted! The AMBA
Mold Builder of the Year Award was instituted to
recognize outstanding contributions made by an
AMBA member. The recipient of this prestigious
award will be an outstanding business leader,
dedicated to the industry, and an active member of the
AMBA.
If you believe, and you are very proud that you have
built a good solid business: a company that is doing
positive things in the industry...we encourage you to
nominate yourself! Do you work hard toward business
growth? Try to find new ways to be competitive? That’s what it takes to
be the Mold Builder of the Year! Tell us about it and why you believe
you deserve to be the award winner.
Previous Mold Builder of the Year Award recipients are:
• 2010 Andy Baker, Byrne Tool
• 2009 Bill Mach, Mach Mold
• 2008 Pete Manship, Mold Craft
• 2007 Jim Florian, QME, Inc. - Quality Mold & Engineering
• 2006 Roger Klouda, M.S.I.Mold Builders
• 2005 Bill Kushmaul, Tech Mold
• 2004 Donna Pursell, Prestige Mold
• 2003 Olav Bradley, PM Mold Company
The 2011 AMBA Mold Builder of the Year Award recipient will be
announced during the Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada,
March 2-6, 2011 at the Red Rock Hotel & Spa. Announcement of the
award recipient will be made to local newspapers, national industry
publications, AMBA’s publication, and posted on the AMBA website.
This years award recipient will also choose the industry-related
22 www.amba.org
educational program that will receive a $5,000 Progressive Components
scholarship grant.
Contact the AMBA National office at 847-222-9402 or sdaniels@amba.
org for more information on the Mold Builder of the Year Award. See
the nomination form included on page 18 in this issue of The American
Mold Builder. o
Nominate the 2011 AMBA
Chapter of the Year!
The AMBA Chapter of the Year Award was
established to recognize those chapters that
have made outstanding contributions to the
moldmaking industry.
AMBA chapters may nominate themselves or
be nominated by individuals outside the chapter.
The award recipients will be the chapter as a
whole. If you believe that a particular AMBA
chapter is doing positive things in the industry...
we encourage you to nominate them! Does
the chapter work toward implementing or maintaining apprenticeship
programs? Or does your chapter work to promote moldmaking in your
state and nationally? Those are some of the things that we’re looking for
from the Chapter of the Year! Tell us about it and why you believe your
chapter deserves to be the award winner.
The 2011 AMBA Chapter of the Year Award will be presented during
the Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2-6, 2011 at the
Red Rock Hotel & Spa.
Announcement of the winning chapter will be made to local
newspapers, national industry publications, AMBA’s publication,
and posted on the AMBA website. A representative from the winning
chapter is highly encouraged to attend the convention.
The Chapter of the Year award winner will not only be presented with
the prestigious traveling Chapter of the Year Award, but the winning
chapter will also choose the industry-related educational program that
will receive a $5,000 Progressive Components scholarship grant.
Contact the AMBA National office at 847-222-9402 or sdaniels@amba.
org for more information on the Chapter of the Year Award. See the
nomination form included on page 20 in this issue of The American
Mold Builder. o
Nominations are Now Being Accepted for
AMBA National Board of Directors
If you are interested in serving on the national
board or wish to nominate another person,
please contact the AMBA national office for
a nomination form and return it to the AMBA
by FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2010. Board
members serve for a three-year term, four
board positions are available.
Nominations received after this date will not
be accepted. All nomination applications received by the deadline will
be submitted to the respective local chapter board for review. In the case
of non-chapter members, nomination applications will be submitted
to the chairperson of the Nominating Committee for review. Any
nominee to be considered for the national board must receive chapter
AMBA
board approval, or in the case of non-chapter members, approval by the
Nominating Committee.
The Nominating Committee will also have the responsibility of
preparing the slate of directors and presenting it to the general
membership via fax or email for a ballot vote not less than 21 days prior
to the date of the annual meeting.
The newly elected national board of directors will be announced during
the annual business meeting to be held at the Red Rock Hotel & Spa in
Las Vegas, Nevada, March 4, 2011. Full convention dates are March
2-6, 2011. o
AMBA Exhibits at Tooling MiniTech 2010
On October 19th, the AMBA exhibited at the Milwaukee SPE and SPE
Moldmaking & Mold Design Division Tooling MiniTech 2010. It was
a one day seminar event with 9 of today’s industry leaders presenting
technical overviews critically integrating your company’s needs with
those of today’s ever changing mold making technologies. o
Webinar Archives Available
“Calculating Your Shop Rate” Webinar - Archive
If you missed the AMBA presentation of: “Calculating Your Shop
Rate”, a recorded webinar archive copy is available for purchase.
Megan Johnson, CPA, and Jeff Wilson, CPA, from the accounting firm
HLB Tautges Redpath, Ltd., covered:
*How do you calculate your company’s rate?
*How to define and allocate direct/indirect overhead costs?
*How to calculate your break even point?
*How do you account for idle time or underutilization?
In the current economy, it is crucial to understand all costs that go
into making your product and allocate these costs appropriately. Often
times, indirect costs are over looked and not factored into the total cost.
AMBA www.amba.org
Dates To Remember
AMBA EVENTS
AMBA Convention
March 2-6, 2011,Las Vegas, NV
Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino
AMBA 2011 Annual Convention Combines Top-
Notch Speakers with NASCAR. Register now for the
AMBA Annual Convention, March 2-6 at the Red
Rock Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, NV .  The theme,
“Accelerate Your Profitability,” promises to bring the
best presentations in the areas of business performance,
cutting-edge technology and best practices. 
The AMBA Annual Convention has a long history of
being a great event where moldmakers get together,
network, have fun and learn about new technology and
best business practices to help you succeed. If you’ve
never been to an AMBA Convention before, this is the
one you want to attend! Register online at www.amba.
org.
INDUSTRY EVENTS
EuroMold
December 1 - 4 - Frankfurt, Germany
The 17th EuroMold, the world-wide leading trade fair
for Moldmaking and Tooling, Design and Application
Development will take place Dec. 1 - 4, 2010. As the
international meeting point of the industrial sector, it
presents products and services, technology and impulses
for tomorrow’s markets.
Plastics News Executive Forum 2011
March 6 - 9 - Summerlin, Nevada
For more information, please visit the forum website.
massPLASTICS 2011
March 15-16 - Fitchburg, Massachusetts
The massPLASTICS Trade Show attracts more than
two hundred companies and more than four thousand
professionals for two days of discussion, exhibits and
seminars on manfacturing, new technologies and innovative
applications for the plastics industry.
A two-day event, the massPLASTICS Trade Show is the
Northeast’s largest tradeshow for the industry, providing a
forum and exhibit space for companies in the plastics and
related industries.
23
 On September 14th, AMBA hosted the 2nd annual
Night at the Ballpark event in conjunction with the IMTS trade show in Chicago.
Over 75 AMBA members, partners, associates and friends attended the evening game with the Chicago White Sox,
who took on the Minnesota Twins at U.S. Cellular Field. A good time was had by all.
Round-trip bus transportation for all the participants was generously sponsored by:

This can lead to a shop rate that is too low and less profit on your jobs.
They walked through sample Company financials breaking out direct
and indirect costs as well as calculating the shop rate. They provided
some ideas and tools to be able to apply this information to your own
company. (Archive includes archived presentation, Powerpoint slides,
and sample Excel spreadsheets to calculate your shop rate.)
Mold Lien Laws - recorded 1/27/09, Presenter: David Lefere of
Bolhouse, Vander Hulst, Risko, Baar & Lefere
Marketing Your Mold Shop - recorded 11/17/08, Presenter: Kae
Groshong Wagner of North Star Marketing

To order any of these archived webinars, email Sue Daniels at

“Federal Healthcare Changes” Webinar - Archive
If you missed the 60-minute webinar presentation of: “How Will
Federal Healthcare Changes Impact My Company?”, a recorded
archive copy is available for purchase.
Brian Whitlock, CPA, JD, LLM, a Tax Partner at Blackman Kallick
explained how the current Federal healthcare changes will impact your
company over the next few years as the full impact of the law phases in.
Brian discussed not only 2010 and 2011 tax law changes, but he focused
on the new Obama Health Care Law, including: the Small Business
Tax Credit for Health Insurance; higher Medicare Taxes; Employer
requirements to provide “Free choice Vouchers”; employer penalties
for failure to provide “affordable” coverage; new information reporting
requirements and 1099 reporting for payments to corporations.
Other archived webinars available are:
What’s My Company Really Worth?  - recorded 5/5/10, Presenter: Pat
McNally, Blackman Kallick
What are Banks Looking for in Today’s Economy - recorded 8/12/09,
Presenters : Pat McNally, Blackman Kallick and Michael Moran,
American Chartered Bank
sdaniels@amba.org or call 847-222-9402. Archive fee: $25 for AMBA
members, and $45 for non-members. o
AMBA Executive Director
Initiates Career Change
Melissa Millhuff, the Executive Director of the American Mold Builders
Association resigned her position with this trade organization as of
Friday, July 9. Millhuff announced her resignation to the AMBA Board
of Directors, saying that she is relocating to Michigan after becoming
engaged, and her husband‐to‐be is unable to relocate to Chicago due
to business commitments.
“Melissa was very proud of what the team of the AMBA accomplished
during her tenure as executive director and wishes all the staff, members
and partners the best of luck as the organization evolves,” says Mike
Armbrust, President of the AMBA. “The Board of Directors would like
to personally thank Melissa for all of her dedication and hard work. We
appreciate her efforts and wish her the best in the future. I hope you join
us in congratulating Melissa on her upcoming marriage and wishing her
the best for the future.”

24 www.amba.org AMBA
The Board of Directors has retained Harbour Results Inc., a strategic
business planning and consulting firm, to step in as interim Executive
Management of the AMBA, and help with strategic planning for the
organization, an effort that began in early June. Starting July 12th
Laurie Harbour and Gary Burns from Harbour Results began working
with the staff of the AMBA to ensure that its accomplishments continue,
new initiatives are implemented and business goes on as usual.

“We have put some very exciting new plans in place to grow the The DMe Dual-Ring MDi.
Ultimate Flexibility
organization, create new programs, provide new value to members, get
great speakers for our upcoming events and promote the AMBA brand,”
says Armbrust. “We continue to remain focused and committed to the
vision of the Association and these new plans will allow us to do much
more for the members, customers, partners, suppliers, government and
educational institutions so we truly make a difference.” o ThaT geTs your sTamp of approval.
AMBA Members Exhibit at the K Show
Two members of the American Mold Builders Association crossed
the pond to attend the international plastics exhibition in Dusseldorf,
Kunstoffe 2010, better known as the K show. This event, which takes
place every three years, draws exhibitors and attendees from around the
world, and consists of 18 buildings filled with the latest and greatest
technology.

Moldmakers Inc., a business group of MGS Manufacturing Group

(www.mgstech.com) headquartered in Germantown, WI, will be
exhibiting at K for the fourth time. “We’ve attended the K show many
times and have exhibited at the last three shows,” said John Berg,
director of Marketing. “We found that the customers we have that have
a global footprint appreciate seeing us at that particular venue because
of its scope.”

Berg says that while it’s a large show, K provides mold exhibitors
the opportunity to display the latest technology trends in injection
mold building and equipment, molds, molding services and specialty Ultimate? Really? You be the judge.
equipment. MGS and its business units operate in 300,000 sf of
manufacturing space, and also operates a molding facility in Chihuahua, The DME Dual-Ring MDI packs 6 years of
Mexico. mold dating info into the world’s smallest
“We find that existing customers like seeing us there as it elevates our indexing insert. It also offers industry-
status as a global supplier, and show them that we are addressing their
global needs,” Berg says. “New customers – and we have attracted them
leading temperature tolerance of up
over the years – are European-based companies which are expanding to 300°F. Combine that with our other
into NA and find it more cost-effective and time-effective to have a
partner in the US with the breadth and depth of capabilities of MGS indexable MDIs – as small as 4 mm – and
Manufacturing Group. We’ve been able to capitalize on the event to you’ve got proof of ultimate flexibility.
help meet their build and manufacturing needs, and become a one-
stop-source for their engineering, design, mold building and production Only from DME... as always, with you every
molding in North America.” stamp of the way.
MGS highlighted its specialty equipment manufacturing by the
company’s TecStar Universal Manufacturing division, as well as
showcasing the multi-shot technology that MGS provides through its
Multi-Shot Systems division.

Cavaform International LLC (www.cavaform.com) is a long-time K

exhibitor, and finds K beneficial to its global business development.
Cavaform specializes in multi-cavity molds for the medical market dme.net • 248.398.6000
including molds for syringes, pipettes, needle shields, test tubes and
other medical disposables.
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Not only does Cavaform find leads from European customers, but leads Visit DME.net/MDI to find your solution today
from U.S. companies are plentiful too, says Dave Outlaw, Cavaform’s

AMBA www.amba.org 25
 marketing director. “That’s where everyone goes to see what’s new, so
we’re trying to bring a variety of things to K this year including mold
components for medical molds. We’re entering into the silicone market,
making molds for those applications.”

Through a variety of partnerships, Cavaform has developed new hot

runner technology as well as new technologies in mold polishing and
conformal cooling.

Several AMBA Partner companies also attended, including:

• Progressive Components
• DME
• INCOE
o

Member News
Pyramid Mold & Tool (Rancho Cucamonga, CA)
Pyramid Mold & Tool, recently installed a new Mitsubishi EDM sinker
cell complete with robotics to expand its badly needed capacity to
meet customer demand. Tony May, Director of Business Development/
Technical Sales, says that the company is evaluating its future needs
at this point and looking at adding more machinery/work cells in the
near future. “Our main objective right now is to automate, automate,
automate,” says May. “The only way we can compete is to work more
hours with machinery than people.”

The California chapter met on Tuesday, Oct. 19, and had one of its
largest AMBA meetings ever, May reported. Just over 50 people
attended the meeting to hear a presentation on Steel Selection and Heat
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Treating. “It’s exciting to see so much interest in our chapter,” May
comments.

Tech Mold Inc. (Tempe, AZ)

Tech Mold a leading mold manufacturer of high-volume production
molds for the medical, pharmaceutical, packaging and consumer
industries, just opened a White Room molding environment at its
Gilbert, AZ, testing facility – Tech Mold East – to better facilitate the
testing and qualification requirements for the many molds the company
builds for customers in the markets Tech Mold serves.

Tech Mold East was designed to provide customers with facilities in

which to perform R&D on new products with developmental tooling,
as well as validation of production molds. Tech Mold East’s facility has
private meeting rooms and an inspection room in which customers can
work. The White Room environment will initially house two all-electric
presses: a 65-ton Krauss-Maffei hydraulic, and a 55-ton Arburg all-
electric .

“Tech Mold has always been attuned to its customers’ requirements

throughout the entire process of product development. We offer
support starting with initial product design, pilot tooling and multi-
cavity ultra-precision high-volume production molds” stated Vince
Lomax, Tech Mold’s Vice President. “We recognize that many of
our customers operate in a high-volume manufacturing environment
and at times do not have the resources to run product off of two or
four cavity pilot molds for market testing, automation integration or
product development, so to that end, we strive to provide a molding
environment that is more compatible to meeting customers’ needs”.

Additionally, Tech Mold Inc. received certification from one of its major
medical OEM customers as a “Class C-3 Supplier,” which certifies
Tech Mold to run production parts in addition to pre-production and
validation.

26 www.amba.org AMBA
The White Room environment currently has two molding presses: a
65-ton Krauss-Maffei hydraulic press, and a high performance 55-ton
Arburg all-electric. Tech Mold East currently has a total of six presses
at the facility ranging from 40-440 tons. Tech Mold’s expertise includes
building automated molding cells complete with robotics for molding
projects that require a total solution.
Tech Mold also has an R&D division that specializes in collaborative
engineering for developmental prototype tooling, offering dimensionally
correct parts in hand, while at the same time laying the groundwork of
critical mold parameters and manufacturing information that translates
easily into multi-cavity production molds.
Tech Mold’s mold manufacturing expertise includes two-shot, multi-
component, and multi-material molds; stack molds, and high-production
hot runner molds to help OEMs optimize their manufacturing
requirements. The company also works with premier molding
machinery manufacturers and robotic providers to design and construct
molding cells.
Industrial Molds (Rockford, IL)
Industrial Molds has made it a practice to continually invest in the latest
machine tool technology. The company has just completed installation
of an Erowa Robot System (ERS-03000) heavy duty robot to add to
the S-56 Makino machining center. The total investment was around
$500,000 not counting the machining center which Industrial Molds had
purchased a year ago. “We bought the S-56 Makino machine knowing
that we would put a robot on it,” said Tim Peterson, vice president of
Industrial Molds. “We put the new cell in a different location from
the first two cells to accommodate the size of the robot, so we had to
improve the floor and get the infrastructure in to support the cell.”
The company currently has machining centers in house. The latest one
is for performing hard milling operations for mold cavities. According
to Chris Norman, Chief Operations Officer for Erowa Technology Inc.,
this represents a change for Industrial Molds. “They hadn’t automated
that part of the business yet, but after seeing the benefits of the two
previous manufacturing cells, they wanted to automate the S-56 with
the ERS,” said Norman.
The Erowa Robot System (ERS) has two rotary magazines for storage
of three different types of tooling. The cell also contains UPC 12”
square pallets and ITS-148 6” round pallets. The new cell also has the
ability to perform graphite milling operations as a backup to Industrial
Molds dedicated graphite mill.
Unattended operation is one of the biggest benefits to the automated
manufacturing cells. “In today’s economy you’re competing with
everyone globally, such as foreign suppliers who are working with
cheaper labor,” Norman said. “By automating these operations, they can
increase their efficiency by 50-70%, and greatly increase their spindle
time. That’s one of the best benefits.”
Peterson concurred that the first two systems Industrial Molds installed
proved to give the company increased productivity without having
to add a second (night) shift. “With the lack of skilled labor in the
moldmaking industry today, and the additional challenges of finding
people willing to work second shift, automating this process helps us to
maximize our investment in this equipment,” Peterson said.
Erowa’s Norman noted that these ERS systems are developed for the
type of work that mold shops do - the one-off job shop environment.
He added that Industrial Molds is also running Erowa’s management
software called JMS Pro. “This allows them to put whatever they want
in the magazine and the software can scan and know what jobs belong
to what projects,” said Norman. “Therefore it makes the equipment
more flexible for the job shop work that a moldmaker does, whether it’s
one cavity or 32.”
With 20 UPC pallet capacity and 35 ITS-148 pallets, Industrial Molds
can have 65 different jobs in the magazine at one time and all are
AMBA www.amba.org
associated by the software. “It allows Industrial Molds to be flexible and
respond quickly to customer’s needs,” Norman commented.
Peterson noted that Industrial Molds saw the benefits of automating
manufacturing cells from the first two systems they installed. “It
allows us to get greater coverage from the front to back of the day, as
opposed to requiring a second shift, giving us greater productivity and
efficiency” he said. “We’ve seen it on the EDM side and now on the
hard milling side we hope to see similar results.”
The new automated manufacturing cell is up and running at a phase
one level as Industrial Molds goes through the learning curve and gets
the cell running at its full capability. “We’ve run some production jobs
through, and we’re happy with the results. We look forward to getting
the system into full swing in the next few weeks.”
Craftsman Tool (Aurora, IL)
Craftsman Tool & Mold has five CNC Gundrills in-house available.
They run 18 hours a day for fast turn around and capacity is not an
issue. Craftsman’s standard hole sizes are from .062” up to 2”diameter.
Holes from .437” to 2” can be drilled 80” from one side. In addition,
their gundrilling machines have a work holding capacity of 40,000
pounds. They offer table dimensions up to 55 inches by 96 inches, with
table travel 48 inches vertical by 96 inches horizontal.
Services provided on machines: 
• Drilling
• Tapping
• Counterbores
• Chamfers
• Clamp Slots
New equipment:
Craftsman is excited about their recently purchased Taurus gundrill!
Featuring a heavy duty multi-spindle and 4-axis traveling column
• Table load capacity is 60,000 lbs
• Drilling spindle speeds of 0-3400 rpm
• Extra heavy duty milling spindle 0-2000 rpm
• CAT 50 Tooling
• STS Drilling system (Single Tube system)
• Angled lines NO PROBLEM
NOTE: the STS system drill removes chips through an internal tube,
eliminating all the problems of chip binding and jamming which often
occur with conventional deep hole drills. With the STS drill, operators
can increase feed up to 8 ipm for standard cooling holes. As a result,
they cut part cycle time by up to 50%!
Mold-Tech, (Albertville, MN)
Mold-Tech Inc has added mold sampling equipment to its
manufacturing plant in Albertville, MN. The purchase of a new Toshiba
110 all-electric molding machine allows molds to be fully tested and
validated before shipment.
The implementation of this new press coupled with RJGsm eDART™
Process Monitoring, Control, and Analysis Systems, strengthens Mold-
Tech’s strategy of being a full-service provider, and not simply a mold
builder. In addition to providing more control in manufacturing, the
press shortens mold qualification times and decreases transportation
costs. Mold sampling is one more benefit on a long list of advantages
customers find when working with Mold-Tech Inc, such as dedicated
project management, extensive technical and engineering expertise, and
an ISO 9001 certified tool shop. o
27
 Welcome New Member The new chapter President, Wayne
Sikorcin of Craftsman Tool & Mold,
Vista Technologies (Vadnais Heights, MN) said “We’ve had several meetings,
The AMBA would like to welcome new member company Vista including the August meeting where U.S.
Technologies, based in Vadnais Heights, MN. VistaTek, as the company Congressman Don Manzullo spoke. We
is known, designs, programs, and builds complex molds in-house, got great attendance response from our
and also has injection molding capabilities. The company also is a members.”
service bureau for additive manufacturing (AM) and provides rapid
prototyping and rapid tooling using Polyjet, Fuse Deposition Modeling, Wayne’s presidency follows that of Mike
Stereolithography and Selected Laser Sintering. Armbrust, who now serves at AMBA
National President, and remains a chapter
Dan Mishek, the oldest son of VistaTek founders Jim and Lorinda Director. “Mike Armbrust served way
Mishek, recently took the reins of the company as managing director. over his time and I’ve got some great Wayne Sikorcin, AMBA
Their daughter Jennifer Sutherland retains her position as director shoes to fill,” said Sikorcin. “He’s a great Chicago Chapter president
of operations, and youngest son Allen Mishek leads the marketing leader in this industry and we’re lucky to and owner of Craftsman
department. The company has 26 employees and operates in a have him in Chicago. Tool in Aurora, IL
15,000-square-foot facilty.
Serving with Mike as a chapter Director:
AMBA was privileged to have Jim Mishek make a presentation on • Alan Petrucci (BA Die Mold, Inc.),
additive manufacturing to the AMBA several years ago. We are pleased • David Plocinski (Tri-Par Die and Mold Corp.), and
to welcome Vista Technologies into the AMBA. • Alan Szymanski (Do-Rite Die & Engineering).

Visit VistaTek’s website at www.vistatek.com o The new Board of Directors serving with Wayne Sikorcin are:
• Francine Petrucci, Chapter Vice President (BA Die Mold);
• Mike Walter, Chapter Treasurer (MET Plastics); and
Chapter Spotlight – Chicago Chapter • Matthew Thurow, Chapter Secretary (Alpha Star Tool and Mold
Inc.).
The Chicago chapter of the American Mold Builders Association is the
first and original chapter of the organization, and has a lot of history.
Karen Norville, the Chicago chapter coordinator, reported that U.S.
That said, the Chicago chapter continues to be the largest chapter and
Congressman Don Manzullo, of the Illinois 16th District is “very pro
participation is high. With a new President and new Board of Directors,
manufacturing” and gave the attendees at the August meeting a lot
the Chicago
CRY-2883 chapter
Prelim1-1.fh11 continues
1/15/07 3:33 PM to provide
Page 1 interesting meetings for its
of good ideas on how to keep manufacturing at the forefront of both
members, and has lots of news to report. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K

Federal and state Senators and Representatives. “His best suggestion

was to have them visit your plant and meet your employees,” said
Norville. “Currently we’re in the process of sending all the contact
information of all the Senators and Representatives – both state and
Federal, to our members so they can contact them for plant visits. He
also suggested that if you’re in an industrial park then get your neighbor
companies to open their plants too. That was a great opportunity for us.”

For November, the Chicago chapter planned a healthcare meeting to

look at the changes, in particular with the Flexible Spending Accounts
(FSA) and the Health Savings Accounts (HSA) to help members
understand what those changes will do to their current healthcare plans.

The Chicago chapter wanted to provide an industry specific scholarship

award, so they are sponsoring the “Mold Your Career” scholarship
that will give a $1,000 gift certificate to the deserving apprentice at a
Chicago chapter member shop. The recipient can be working in any area
of the shop from mold design to programming, or CNC machinist. The
only criteria are that the apprentice must have been with the company
a year and receives a recommendation from his or her superior. “Tools
are very expensive to buy so we feel that this will help someone
who is actually in the trade,” said Norville. “We hope to eventually
get a sponsor for this award, but we’re underwriting this scholarship
ourselves the first year as a way to focus on getting apprentices
interested in moldmaking.”

Norville said that the chapter is getting a few new members, and more
are participating in the meetings. The chapter puts out a quarterly
newsletter to its members, and currently, the Chicago chapter has about
40 members. “It’s a great chapter, we’re very active and we try to
address issues that impact our businesses in our quarterly newsletter and
keep the members participating,” she said. o

28
Composite
www.amba.org AMBA
 West Michigan 3rd Annual Chapter Golf Outing
By: Jill Finley, West Michigan Chapter Coordinator Although our scholarship recipients are the ultimate winners, we
would like to extend our congratulations to David Lefere and his
On August 27, Quail Ridge Golf Course in Ada, MI hosted the West
winning team from the law offices of Bolhouse, Vander Hulst, Risko,
Michigan Chapter of the AMBA’s 3rd Annual Golf Outing. Sunny
Baar & Lefere, P.C.
skies, no wind, and warm weather definitely made this an enjoyable
day for all.
In all, we had 73 golfers in attendance and raised just over $8,000. A
It definitely would have been the icing on the cake if someone had big thank you to all of the vendors, members, guests, hole sponsors
taken home the $10,000 cash prize or the two year lease on a new and donors that helped make this event a success.
vehicle for a hole in one, but I think it is safe to say everyone had fun
If you weren’t able to participate in this year’s outing, please pencil
trying to win!
us in for next year. It is never too early to start planning!

AMBA www.amba.org 29
 U.S.
Congressman
Speaks at AMBA
Chapter Meeting
U.S. Congressman Don Manzullo of Illinois
16th District, and one of the head advocates for
manufacturers in the U.S. Congress spoke about his
mission to strengthen manufacturing in the U.S.
Congressman Manzullo and his wife, Freda spoke to
the Chicago Chapter on August 17, and listened to
their questions and concerns about manufacturing
and their businesses.

30 www.amba.org AMBA
Chapter News Minnesota
The chapter held its 15th
California Annual Chapter Golf
The chapter held general membership meeting on July 27th. There was Outing at Oak Glen Golf
a good turnout at the meeting and they welcomed speaker Mike Bastian Course. As always, this
of Accurate Steel Treating. He spoke to the group on dealing with some is a huge draw for the
of the more common issues associated with heat treating. Progressive chapter and there were
Components sponsored the cocktail hour, and we would like to thank more than 100 golfers
them for their support. After dinner, the national and chapter scholarship joining us on what was a
winners were recognized.
beautiful day. The outing
The chapter held another meeting on October 19 , and it turned out to
th was very fortunate to
be one of the most well attended California chapter meetings that have have numerous sponsors
ever been held with over 40 people in attendance. Speaker John Merlino at the event. The
of Bohler Uddeholm spoke to the attendees on mold material selections money received from
and moldmaking concerns. This meeting also attracted some attendees the golf outing is used
that are very interested in joining the AMBA and we look forward to for scholarships. After
including their information in our next publication! the tournament ended,
dinner was served for all
Chicago participants. A raffle was
held and enough prizes
were given out that almost everyone went home with something.

Southwest Michigan
The Southwestern Michigan chapter Board of Directors met on both
August 26th, and again on September 16th. The next general membership
meeting will be in early December (final date TBA) with speaker Harry
Moser on “Insourcing”.

U.S. Congressman Don Manzullo speaks to
AMBA Chicago Chapter
The chapter hosted a general membership meeting on August 17,
with local U.S. Congressman Don Manzullo as the speaker for the
meeting. Rep. Manzullo earned the reputation as Congress’ champion
of manufacturing and a fierce advocate for job creation. The meeting
had 55 people in attendance and Congressman Manzullo had some good
suggestions for the members—mainly to invite your congressperson
to your facility. He also said that attending the AMBA Fall Conference
is great way to network and get familiarized with the statutes, etc, the
affect the manufacturing industry.  thanks personally every one who helped make it a great event.
West Michigan
The chapter held their 3rd Annual Golf Outing on August 27th. (See the
full page on the West Michigan Chapter Golf Outing in this issue.)
It was a beautiful day with a cool start and plenty of sunshine. There
were 73 golfers in attendance representing 10 member companies,
seven partner companies and 10 vendor companies. There were also
“Hole’ sponsorship from four members, eight partner and eight vendor
companies.
The chapter members were amazed at how the community came
together for such a good cause. The members and vendors stepped
up and came out to support the AMBA chapter scholarship fund and
ultimately the employees of the chapter member shops. They raised
over $8,000 towards the chapter scholarship fund! The chapter wants to

The chapter also met on November 11 with speaker Rebecca Dobbs. A general membership dinner meeting was held on November 9th.
The group heard a presentation called “Health Care Reform Act – How Speaker Gary Rolls, presented on Risk Management, and current
Does it Affect Your Company?” The group had a cocktail party that was Insurance issues.
sponsored by Sodick.

The Chicago chapter has also just announced its 1st Annual “Mold Wisconsin
Your Career” Apprentice Award. They are currently taking applications The chapter hosted a
postmarked by December 17th for a $1000 gift card. Contact Karen joint baseball outing
Norville at (708)227-0373 or karennorville@comcast.net for more on August 24th with
information. the TDMAW, and the
NTMA. Members
from all the groups
Establish Yourself as an Industry Expert were in attendance to
watch the Milwaukee
Author an article or submit an idea for an article for The Brewers vs. the L.A.
American Mold Builder publication. Send your article(s) or Jim Sperber, of AMBA member company
Dodgers. The event
idea(s) to Sue Daniels at sdaniels@amba.org. Don’t worry Master Tool & Mold with Joanne Murphy.
was hosted from the
about grammar and punctuation; the staff at AMBA will Dew Deck, which
help! We will review your submission for consideration in an included tickets to the event, drinks and a great buffet. There was a total
upcoming issue. of about 50 people at the event and we had a beautiful night to watch an
exciting game of baseball! o

AMBA www.amba.org 31
AMBA Partner Spotlight -
Welcome New Partner
The American Mold Builders
Association welcomes Partner
Member Dynamic Metal Treating
in Canton, MI. Dynamic Metal Treating has been serving the mold
manufacturing industry for over 25 years with its DYNA-BLUE process
to increase tool life, reduce sticking, wear and corrosion, adding value
to the mold customer and increased market share to the mold builder.
Loren Epler opened the company in 1984, and today has 26 employees.
He has 25 years experience as a tool steel and high-speed steel
metallurgist. He developed the DYNA-BLUE process in 1984 and holds
two patents on that process.
Visit Dynamic Metal Treating at www.dynablue.com
We welcome Loren and Dynamic Metal Treating to the AMBA! o
Partner News
DME Announces Winners of 2010 Student Scholarships
DME Company, a leading manufacturer of mold technologies, recently
announced the three winners of its 2010 student scholarships.
Each year, DME offers this scholarship program to help finance,
encourage and support the future of qualified students who have interest
and potential in moldmaking, plastics and related career fields.
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Equotip Piccolo 2
For real-time monitoring and user specific conversions.
With additional software.
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Contact Proceq to find out how we can solve
your application needs.
Proceq USA, Inc.
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Tel: +1-724-512-0330
Fax: +1-724-512-0331
info-usa@proceq.com
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32 www.amba.org
This year, three $1,000 scholarships were awarded to the following
students:
• Jason McNulty: University of Wisconsin – Stout
• Kevin Backoefer: Penn State Erie, the Behrend College
• Amanda Zapatka: University of Massachusetts – Lowell
To qualify for the scholarship, students must be enrolled in a plastics
program at any accredited trade school or university with a 2-year
certificate, 2-year associate or 4-year bachelor’s degree program.
Applicants who were enrolled in related coursework were also
considered if they demonstrated a strong academic emphasis and
interest in plastics.
Along with an application, students were required to submit a
transcript, personal statement and recommendations for review. DME’s
selection committee considered a variety of factors including academic
achievement, interest in the field and personal qualities to determine the
winners.
DME and other major manufacturers have noticed a trend that students
are shying away from manufacturing disciplines. With an aging
population of skilled workers, the plastics industry is facing a major
human resources challenge.
The scholarship program is just one of the ways DME is taking action
to attract new minds to the industry.
The company also offers grants and scholarships to its customers
for continuing education - an extension of the popular DME Plastics
University on www.dme.net that was created to aid new plastics industry
students and professionals.
DME scholarship applications for the spring 2011 semester are
available online at www.dme.net/dme/resources/education.html and will
be accepted until December 1, 2010.
GPI Prototype Now Offers Exotic Metals for Your Prototype &
Rapid Manufacturing Needs
To all our fellow engineers, R&D specialists and garage inventors, 
GPI Prototype now offers:
Aluminum:
Prototypes / Small Production, Low Weight Applications, Thermal Parts
Inconel:
Turbine Engines, Rocket & Space Applications, Chemical Industry
Parts
Titanium:
Prototype and Production Parts of Lightweight Material o
AMBA Member Benefit:
FREE Qualified Sales Leads from AMBA trade show
participation. We do the legwork for you! Hundreds of OEM
mold purchasers and engineers stop by the AMBA booth at
industry trade shows (like NPE, PLASTEC, and PDx/Amerimold,
MoldMaking Expo) to get information about moldmaking
companies. We qualify them, scan their information and you
receive a list of hundreds of mold purchasers! It’s that simple!
Join AMBA and have access to Qualified Lead Lists today!
AMBA

Health Care Reform Advisory –
Grandfathered Plans
One of the most frequently asked health care reform questions we get is
the definition of ‘grandfathered’ plans.
Simply put, a grandfathered health plan is one that was in existence
before March 23, 2010. Grandfathered plans can make routine changes
to their policies and maintain their status. A routine change would
include making modest adjustments to existing benefits. If significant
plan changes are made, however, plans will lose their grandfathered
status. Changes that reduce benefits or increase costs to consumers
would be considered significant. To remain grandfathered, plans cannot:
1. Significantly cut/reduce benefits or lower employer contributions.
2. Raise co-insurance rates.
3. Significantly raise deductibles or co-payment charges.
4. Add or tighten annual limits on what the insurer pays.
5. Change insurance companies.
If your plan does lose its grandfathered status, most of the required
changes rest on the insurance carrier’s shoulders (e.g. dependent
coverage to age 26, 100% coverage of preventative care, no increased
cost sharing for out-of-network ER services, choosing any primary-care
physician, mandatory appeals process, etc.).
However, as a business owner, one required change when losing
grandfathered status may warrant a closer look - the non-discrimination
rules of the IRS. These rules require that a non-grandfathered plan not
discriminate in favor of ‘highly compensated individuals’ with regard
to both contributions and benefits. (Non-discrimination goes into effect
starting with the plan years beginning September 23, 2010.)
It’s important to step back and evaluate the relative benefits of a
grandfathered vs. non-grandfathered plan. Questions? Be sure to call
your insurance professional. o
Delay in W-2 Reporting
On October 12, 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice
2010-69, stating the W-2 reporting of the cost of employees’ health
coverage will be voluntary, rather than mandatory, for 2011.
Without the relief granted in the notice, the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act would have required employers to report the
aggregate cost of health coverage on employees’ W-2 forms for 2011.   • cough
Although the IRS expects to issue guidance on the reporting
requirements before the end of this year, it recognized that employers
may need additional time to modify their payroll systems to comply
with the new reporting requirement. As a result of the relief provided
in this notice, employers will not face a penalty if they do not report
the cost of employer-provided health coverage on employees’ W-2s for
2011.  o
Workplace Wellness
There is plenty of research stressing the importance of helping your
employees get into shape, eat right, exercise and stop smoking. But it is
AMBA www.amba.org
equally important not to forget about supporting and encouraging those
employees who already lead a healthy lifestyle.  
Here are some ways to help ensure your healthy employees remain that
way:
• Establish a smoke-free environment in and around your company’s
facility.
• Create an environment that promotes physical activity throughout
the workday.
a) Promote the use of nearby walking or biking trails during
lunchtime.
• Offer healthy food in the workplace to promote more health-
conscious employees.
a) Offer healthy food options in vending machines and
provide healthy foods during work-sponsored events.
• Make modifications and upgrades to your employee’s workstations
to create a more ergonomic environment.
a) Conduct workstation assessments - including placement
of the computer monitor, keyboard and mouse, quality of
lighting and chair mechanics.
• Create an environment that reduces your employees’ stress.
a) Establish clear expectations for your employees regarding
what their roles are within the company.
b) Provide employees with the necessary tools to get their jobs
done easily and effectively.
• Stress safety when driving on company business to avoid traffic-
related accidents, one of the leading causes of death among
workers.
a) Implement a policy requiring employees to wear their seat
belts, especially when driving on company time and in a
company-owned vehicle.
• Enforce emergency procedures within your facility.
a) Provide detailed information about these procedures to
your employees.
Taken from the Summer 2010 issue of the Gibson Insurance Benefits
Briefing Newsletter. o
Don’t Wait To Vaccinate!
The flu season is fast approaching.  Are you ready? Is your workforce
ready? The flu is a contagious respiratory illness that can cause mild to
severe illness, and can lead to death. The best way to prevent the flu is
by getting an annual flu vaccine. In addition, frequent hand washing is
an important precaution in preventing the spread of the flu. Symptoms
of the flu include some or all of the following symptoms:
• fever or feeling feverish/chills
• sore throat
• runny or stuffy nose
• muscle or body aches
• headache
• fatigue
• some people may experience vomiting and diarrhea, although this
is more common in children than adults
Manufacturers of vaccine for the 2010-2011 flu season have already
begun shipping their flu shots and nasal sprays.  The vaccine is
typically a three component vaccine; each component is selected
to protect against one of the three groups of influenza viruses most
33
prevalent among humans. This year, the vaccine will include the much
publicized H1N1 strain, commonly referred to as swine flu, requiring
only one dose for most individuals. For the first time, the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) is recommending that everyone six months and
older should get a seasonal flu vaccine. The CDC is also suggesting if
vaccine is available earlier, as it is anticipated to be, people shouldn’t
wait to get vaccinated. The vaccine is effective for 6-8 months, which
would last throughout the peak of flu season.
 
For more information on influenza, visit the CDC web site at www.cdc.
gov/flu/keyfacts.htm. 
Taken from the Summer 2010 issue of the Gibson Insurance Benefits
Briefing Newsletter. o
Misclassification of Independent
Contractors
One consequence of the Great Recession is more and more businesses
have begun to rely on the use of independent contractors as opposed
to full-time employees. The financial benefits of using independent
contractors are substantial and include the savings from employee
benefits, payroll taxes, and other employment expenses. This resulting
loss of tax revenue has not been overlooked by the federal government,
in particular the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue
Service.
 
The Misclassification Initiative by the DOL is targeting construction,
manufacturing, restaurants and home healthcare in an effort to recoup
unpaid payroll taxes. There is even a pilot program that would reward
the most successful states that detect and prosecute employers that fail
to pay appropriate taxes. At the same time, the IRS is also randomly
selecting individual companies over the next three years to perform
audits to target worker misclassifications.
 
There are obvious potential liabilities for penalties, taxes, and interest.
As a result, we suggest you review your classification of independent
contractors with your attorney and CPA.
Keep in mind that utilizing independent contractors has impact on
your workers’ compensation insurance. The IRS and the workers’
compensation system use different tests to determine employment
versus independent contractor status. Be sure to discuss this with your
business insurance advisor.
Taken from the Summer 2010 issue of the Gibson InsuranceUpdate
Newsletter. o
Healthcare Reform - The Impact On
Workers’ Compensation
Although still quite early, most agree the impact on workers’
compensation of Healthcare Reform could be significant with both
positive and negative effects on an industry that represents less than 2%
of medical spending.
 
Negatively, most agree that hospital and facility expenses are likely to
go up partially because reimbursements from government programs
will go down. According to some estimates, workers’ compensation
only makes up about 2% of hospital revenues but provides 16% of the
profit margin. Prescription drug prices will likely go up as well. With
the likely increase in demand for services, there could be delays in both
treatment and processing of workers’ compensation claims.
 
On the positive side, Healthcare Reform should lead to less cost shifting
to workers’ compensation since more people will be covered by health
34 www.amba.org
insurance. The increased use of electronic medical records should
certainly improve the efficiency of treating workers who have been
injured. And with the increased attention to wellness, the hope is this
will lead to a healthier workforce. Stay tuned for more on this as the
long-term effects unfold.
Taken from the Summer 2010 issue of the Gibson InsuranceUpdate
Newsletter. o
Human Resources
By: Karla Dobbeck, PHR, Human
resource techniques, Inc.
Final Rules Issued for
I-9 Forms
For those of you who store your I-9 forms
electronically, these new guidelines will
help to clarify your responsibilities and
provide answers. The final rule took effect
August 23, 2010.
The final rule:
• Permits employer to complete, sign, scan and store the I-9 form
electronically.
• Clarifies the three day rule. Employers must complete their portion
of the I-9 Form within three business days (not calendar days).
• May use paper, electronic systems or combination of both for
storage.
• May change electronic storage systems as long as the systems meet
the performance requirement of the regulation.
• Need not retain an audit trail for employee viewing, only for time
of creation, changes and updates.
• May provide a confirmation of viewing to employee but only
required to provide one if the employee requests it.
• Employers may, but are not required to, keep copies of the
ancillary documents used to complete the employer portion of the
form. If kept, must be kept consistently for all employees.
• Only the portion of the I-9 form that the employee and employer
complete needs to be retained. (not the instruction pages)
• Nothing in the electronic clarification removes the employer’s
responsibility to physically examine the documents presented by
the employee for identity and eligibility for employment.
Even today, almost 25 years after the law requiring I-9 forms, I still
find companies who are unaware of this requirement. I-9 forms must
be completed by every new employee and employer, regardless of
company size. Forms are free. o
Contracting with a Temporary Agency
Contracting with a temporary agency may be a great way to decrease
your obligations and control costs. Agencies typically charge between
130% - 170% of the hourly wage to cover the costs of mandatory
benefits and for their profit margin. In return, you will have fewer
additional obligations. As with any contracting arrangement, you should
be specific about your needs.
AMBA
Decide whether the assignment is truly temporary or if you might wish
to hire the individual in the future. Most temporary agencies offer temp-
to-hire arrangements and you will be able to place the worker on your
payroll after he/she has worked a minimum number of hours. Utilizing
the temp-to-perm arrangement is very helpful as a trial employment
period. You can try out the employee for a number of months before
deciding whether or not to ‘buy’. If hiring is a possibility, ask the
service to verify employment eligibility through either the social
security administration or through immigration. Ensuring employment
eligibility is easily done over the phone or by fax. Also, consider skill
assessments for competencies you need such as math, attention to detail,
reading, inspecting, analysis, filing, etc. Skill assessments are available
at a minimal cost from companies such as G.Neil or Wonderlic. o
Agency & Employer – A Dual Relationship
When using a temporary agency, please remember that just because
you are not the ‘employer’, you still have legal responsibilities. If the
temporary worker claims harassment or discrimination, both you and
the temporary agency may be held liable. In fact, most labor laws cover
temporary employees and a good lawyer will sue both the agency and
the assigned employer.
A good rule of thumb is to ensure that the temporary employee goes
through a short orientation so that he/she understands your policies
regarding harassment, discrimination and safety. Consider giving your
policies and job descriptions to the temp service so that the temporary
worker can review them before the assignment begins. Also ask that the
service provide proof that your policies and descriptions were reviewed.
Unless specifically stated in the contract, workers’ compensation
costs may fall to you. If there is any change in the job responsibilities
AMBA www.amba.org
or assignments you may also be found liable for workplace injuries
so always remember to contact the agency if the assignment or job
responsibilities change. Doing so may incur an increase in wages but
the payoff is decreased liability and more protection for you.
Lastly, if you require audiometric testing, drug testing or pre-
employment physicals, please require them for your temporary workers
as well. You will be assured the temp has the ability to do the work and
is not impaired. o
Tax & Business
2011 HSA Limitations
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) were created as a tax-favored
framework to provide health care benefits. HSAs are targeted mainly at
the self-employed, small business owners, and employees of small to
medium-sized companies who do not have access to health insurance.
The tax benefits of HSAs are quite favorable and substantial. Eligible
individuals can make tax deductible (as an adjustment to AGI)
contributions into HSA accounts. The funds in the account may be
invested (somewhat like an IRA), so there is an opportunity for growth.
The earnings inside the HSA are free from federal income tax, and
funds withdrawn to pay eligible health care costs are tax-free. The dual
benefit of tax-deductible contributions into and tax-free withdrawals
from HSAs (and existing Medical Savings Accounts) is truly unique.
No other tax-deferred type of account currently exists that offers such a
benefit.
35
 The annual 2011 inflation-adjusted deduction for individual self-only
coverage under a high-deductible plan is $3,050, unchanged from 2010.
The comparable amount for family coverage is $6,150, also unchanged
from 2010. For 2011, a high-deductible health plan is defined as a health
plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,200 for self-
coverage and $2,400 for family coverage, and the annual out-of-pocket
expenses (including deductibles and copayments, but not premiums)
must not exceed $5,950 for self-only coverage, or $11,900 for family
coverage.
Taken from the September 2010 issue of the Tax & Business Alert. o

Small Business Jobs Act: A Windfall for

Small to Mid-sized Manufacturers
By: Mark Lauber and Karim Solanji

With a resounding and somewhat historic move, Congress passed and,

the President signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act (SBJA).
The SBJA provides much needed tax relief for small and medium
sized businesses for 2010. Of particular and significant note are two
provisions: the modification to a five year credit carryback and the
modification of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) in relation to
general business credits.

Five year carryback on unused general business credits

Previously, the carryback and carryforward rules for general business
credits stated, generally, that unused credits were to be carried back only
one year and, if unused in that year, then carried forward up to twenty
years. The previous rules did not provide the immediate tax relief many
taxpayers badly needed.

With the SBJA, taxpayers will be able to carry back unused credits
generated in 2010 a total of five years before having to carry them
OVER forward. This change will allow many taxpayers who have been hit
US
A 75S
YE
ma
de recently by the economy to still receive an immediate tax benefit, even
AR
Micro Welder if they are unprofitable in 2010.

General business credits not subject to AMT

Prior to the SBJA, general business credits generated by a taxpayer
Do you have an easy-to-use
portable solution for your were subject to the AMT. This credit subjugation to the AMT drastically
limited or completely eliminated the benefit of the general business
MOLD & DIE REPAIR? credit to many taxpayers. With the passage of the SBJA by Congress,
Parting Lines many small to medium sized businesses will not have this AMT
Corners / Edges limitation applied to general business credits generated in 2010.
Scratches / Dents
Congress has defined the businesses that can take advantage of this
“Effective in repairing
areas where tig welding AMT change as being sole proprietorships, partnerships, and non-
would have destroyed publicly traded corporations with $50 million or less in average annual
edges and surfaces” gross receipts for the prior three years.

“One of the best investments With more than 20 million Americans paying AMT, the ability for
we have ever made”
business owners to reduce their taxable liability through a slew of
general business credits, including, the R&D Tax Credit, is especially
“Saved us thousands in significant.
labor and materials”

Immediate tax relief

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These two provisions will provide the immediate tax relief needed
by many small to medium sized businesses to help them succeed in
today’s economy. It is noteworthy that these provisions will apply to the
Research and Development Tax Credit when it is passed later this year,
thereby allowing many taxpayers to take advantage of this credit that
previously were unable to due to a lack of utilization.

36 www.amba.org AMBA
The positive effect on the R&D tax credit
Due to the economy the last few years, many manufacturers have been
unable to take advantage of the R&D Tax Credit. The main reason being
that the taxpayers for these companies were subject to AMT.
Now with the SBJA, the R&D Tax Credit can reduce a taxpayer’s tax
liability, regardless of AMT, thereby opening up the R&D Tax Credit to
most of these taxpayers.
Even for smaller manufacturers, the R&D Tax Credit can be significant.
Here are some examples:
Example 1 – Four Year Study
Annual Payroll: $1.7 MM
Total Credit: $80,000
Example 2 – One Year Study
Annual Payroll: $6.5 MM
Total Credit: $50,000
Example 3 – Four Year Study
Annual Payroll: $1 MM
Total Credit: $60,000
Example 4 – One Year Study
Annual Payroll: $3.5 MM
Total Credit: $60,000
Recommendation
Contact a consulting firm specializing in the R&D tax Credit. The firm
will have the knowledge to help determine if your company can take
advantage of the Small Business Jobs Act as it relates to the R&D Tax
Credit. If you can, it can result in a substantial reduction in your 2010
tax liability and a tax refund for previous tax years.
About the Authors:
The authors are Karim Solanji, J.D., Director, and Mark Lauber, VP of
Marketing, M.S. Industrial Engineering, both of Paradigm Partners.
Paradigm Partners is a national tax consulting firm specializing in
niche tax services such as the R&D Tax Credit, Sales and Use Tax,
the IC-DISC (U.S. Exporters’ Tax Incentive), Hiring and Location
Incentives, Section 179 and Cost Segregation. Mark’s email is
MLauber@ParadigmLP.com and his phone number is (281) 558-7100
X-105. Our website is www.ParadigmLP.com. o
Business Owner’s Relatives May Qualify
for New Payroll Tax Breaks
The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (the HIRE Act)
includes two temporary payroll tax breaks intended to boost hiring. An
interesting point about these breaks is that they could be claimed for a
business owner’s newly hired spouse. They might also be claimed for
wages paid to other newly hired relatives of a minority business owner
(a person who owns 50% or less of the employer, after considering both
direct and indirect ownership). The information below summarizes
how the two tax breaks can apply for wages paid to spouses and other
relatives of business owners.
Social Security Tax Exemption for Wages Paid to Eligible New
Hires
Wages paid by a private-sector business (large and small alike) to a
qualified new employee between March 19, 2010 and December 31,
2010, are exempt from the 6.2% employer portion of the social security
tax. The maximum amount of employer social security tax savings for
AMBA www.amba.org
a high-paid employee is $6,622 (6.2% × $106,800 social security tax
ceiling for 2010). However, the actual savings realized will be less for
high-paid workers who are paid less than $106,800 between March 19,
2010 and year-end.
Qualified new employees are full-time or part-time workers who start
work between February 4, 2010 and December 31, 2010, and who
provide the employer with a signed IRS Form W-11, Hiring Incentives
to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act Employee Affidavit, certifying that
they were not employed more than 40 hours during the 60-day period
ending on their start dates. However, the new worker cannot replace
another worker unless that person quit voluntarily or was discharged for
cause.
Employer Is a Sole Proprietor. When the employer is a sole
proprietorship or a single-member LLC treated as a sole proprietorship
for tax purposes, wages paid between the specified dates to the
taxpayer’s (owner’s) newly hired spouse are eligible for the temporary
social security tax exemption if the spouse meets the preceding
definition of a qualified new employee. Wages paid to other newly hired
relatives of the owner (including in-laws) generally will be ineligible.
Employer Is a Corporation. When the employer is a corporation,
wages paid between the specified dates to a majority shareholder’s
newly hired spouse are eligible for the temporary social security
tax exemption if the spouse meets the definition of a qualified new
employee. (A majority shareholder owns more than 50% of the
employer, after considering both direct and indirect ownership.) Wages
paid to other newly hired relatives of a majority share-holder (including
in-laws) generally will be ineligible. However, wages paid either to
a newly hired spouse or other relative of a minority shareholder are
eligible if the new hire meets the definition of a qualified new employee
and is not a relative of the majority owner.
Employer Is a Partnership. When the employer is a partnership
(including a multimember LLC treated as a partnership for tax
purposes), wages paid between the specified dates to a majority
partner’s newly hired spouse are eligible for the temporary social
security tax exemption if the spouse meets the definition of a qualified
new employee. (A majority partner owns more than 50% of the
employer, after considering both direct and indirect ownership.) Wages
paid to other newly hired relatives of a majority partner (including in-
laws) generally will be ineligible. However, wages paid to a newly hired
spouse or other relative of a minority partner are eligible if the new hire
meets the definition of a qualified new employee and is not a relative of
the majority partner.
Tax Credit for Retaining Eligible New Hires
In addition to the social security tax exemption, employers can also
claim a new temporary tax credit of up to $1,000 for wages paid to
each qualified new employee who is retained for at least 52 consecutive
weeks. Wages paid during the second 26 weeks of the 52-week period
must equal at least 80% of wages paid during the first 26 weeks of that
period. The definition of a qualified new employee is the same as for the
social security tax exemption.
The credit amount equals the lesser of 6.2% of wages paid during the
52-consecutive-week period, or $1,000. To claim the maximum $1,000
credit, the worker must be paid at least $16,130 during the 52-week
period.
Here’s the important point: even if the new hire is a spouse or relative
of a business owner and is eligible for the social security tax exemption,
wages paid to that spouse or relative may also be eligible for the new
employee retention credit. That’s because the definition of a qualified
new employee is the same for both breaks.
37
Time Is of the Essence
If you have questions or want more information about the temporary
social security tax exemption or the temporary new employee retention
credit, please contact us. The eligibility rules in family business
situations are complicated, and these breaks will soon expire. o
Business Insurance, The Forgotten Asset
By: Kevin W. La Mont, ChFC, President Advance Planning and
Investments, The La Mont Group
It’s rare for a business or business owner not to have purchased life
insurance at one time or another. Life insurance is often acquired to
fund a buy/sell agreement, provide additional equity in the event of a
key employee’s death, provide additional dollars to back up a business
secession plan or just to provide the capital necessary to pay the estate
taxes. All are good reasons to acquire life insurance and you’ll never
know just how important life insurance is until you need it. Sometimes
the insurance is owned by the business, other times it’s owned by the
business owner. At times the insurance is term with no cash value and
other times its cash value driven. What ever type of insurance you or
your company may have, one thing is sure, there may come a time when
the insurance you acquired yesterday is no longer needed today. Some
of the reasons a person my no longer require their insurance may be the
following:
• Under performing policies
• Sale of business
• Estate tax reform act
• Need money for family-owned business to continue
• Provide family members with much-needed capital in a weak
economy
• Beneficiary predeceases insured
Until now, policy owners only had two options as to what to do with
their unwanted policies. One option was to cash it in for its surrender
value. The other option was to stop paying the premium in which case,
the policy would lapse. Either way, the cost of the insurance was greater
than the return.
There is now a third option available to those individuals who may
have a policy they no longer need or want; it’s called a Life Settlement.
A Life Settlement is the sale of a life insurance policy in exchange for
cash in excess of the policy’s cash surrender value – even if none exist.
This innovative wealth and estate planning tool removes the burden
of expensive insurance premium payments in addition to providing
lump sum payment. Life Settlements present a unique opportunity to
extract the maximum value from an existing life insurance policy and
repurpose those funds for whatever financial need may exist.
Who qualifies for a Life Settlement? Currently most funding groups
focus on seniors over the age of 70, or insured’s with serious illnesses of
any age. Policies of $100,000 or greater and cash value or term policies
qualify.
Recent Cases: language other than English. However, OSHA is concerned that
Male age 72 employees for whom English is not their native tongue are being put at
$4,000,000 Universal Life Policy
Cash surrender $538,000
Life Settlement amount $1,041,000
Male age 69
$10,000,000 Term Policy
Cash surrender $0
Life Settlement amount $1,460,000
38 www.amba.org
If a Life Settlement is right for you, only you can answer that question.
But keep in mind, being a business owner you do have options and the
choices you make today can have profound economic repercussions.
So, before you allow your term policy to lapse or you decide you can
no longer afford the premiums on your existing policy, check to see if a
Life Settlement makes sense.
For more information contact Kevin W. La Mont, at phone: (949) 253-
0480, (800) 824-3911 or email kwlplanner@yahoo.com o
Workplace Strategies:
Keeping Up with OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been
busy this year implementing new policies and aggressively stepping
up enforcement against employers. However, by paying attention to a
couple of OSHA’s current hot spots, employers can keep themselves out
of OSHA’s sights.
Recordkeeping
OSHA has launched a recordkeeping National Emphasis Program
intended to identify employers who are not properly maintaining
their OSHA 300 injury and illness logs. OSHA is under the belief that
employers are under reporting workplace injuries and illnesses resulting
in artificially low injury rates. Consequently, compliance officers have
been instructed to carefully review employer’s OSHA 300 logs, workers
compensation runs, accident reports and other company records to
identify errors and/or unreported injuries and enforce strict compliance
with the regulations. (e.g. issue a separate violation and penalty for each
error as opposed to a single citation and single penalty for inaccurate
logs as a whole).
Accordingly, employers should ensure that the person responsible
for recordkeeping is properly trained. The OSHA 300 logs are not
difficult to keep if the recordkeeper knows what he or she is doing.
Unfortunately, too often OSHA recordkeeping is seen as a thankless
task and delegated to an untrained employee or, by default, ends
up being kept by the human resources department or an untrained
“safety manager.” These individuals have never been trained in proper
recordkeeping and often make very basic errors that can cost the
company thousands of dollars during an inspection.
We also highly recommend that the recordkeeper spend an hour
reviewing the last three years of OSHA logs against workers
compensation runs, accident reports and other company documents to
make sure injuries and illnesses are being properly captured on the log.
For example, if there were only 10 injuries reported on last year’s log,
but there were 25 workers compensation cases, you should take a close
look to make sure injuries and illnesses are not being missed. Correct all
errors that are found and properly update the logs.
Native language training
OSHA cannot mandate that safety training be given in any specific
risk for accidents and injuries when all of their safety training is given
in English. This is especially true for employers with a highly Hispanic
workforce. Therefore, OSHA recently announced its Native Language
Initiative, directing compliance officers to ensure that employees
are receiving their written and oral safety training in a language they
understand. Where OSHA finds that employees receive safety training
in a language that is not the employee’s native tongue, the compliance
officer may issue citations and penalties for failure to properly train the
employees.
AMBA
Accordingly, employers should make sure safety training is being
provided in a language that their employees understand. If some of
your employees do not speak or read English, then make sure you
are providing safety training in their native tongue. Likewise, if your
supervisors are giving their crews daily work instructions in a language
other than English (e.g. Spanish) you should consider making safety
training available in that language as well as English. This also goes for
written training documentation. Do not provide employees with safety
manuals or have them sign training acknowledgments that they cannot
read. Rather, have those documents translated into the relevant language
that your workforce understands. Likewise, consider using bi-lingual
trainers or offer training sessions given in each language to ensure that
your employees will understand their training.
Taken from the August 3, 2010 issue of Seyfarth Shaw Management
Alert. o
Succession Planning… Why So Many
Family Business Owners Fear It and How
to Calm Those Fears
By: Irving Blackman
The 32nd president (FDR) said in 1933, “Fear paralyzes those who
succumb to it.” Some things are downright scary. Try taxes… especially
estate taxes. Can you guess what area in estate tax planning causes the
most anguish? … Hands down it’s business succession.
Most successful business owners started their business from scratch…
many took over the business from their dad or other relative… some
bought the business. Few came to be the owner in some other way. All
share a common future (no exceptions): someday they will have to pass
the management baton.
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AMBA www.amba.org
Whether the reason for stepping down is age, illness, a desire to travel
or play more golf, give into your wife’s pleading to “spend more time
with me,” or a host of other reasons, the fear factor is almost always a
player.
Following are the six questions (yes, there are many more) that lead the
unwelcome-fear-factor parade:
1. How high will my income tax/capital gains taxes be if I sell to the
kids (or employees) now?
2. If I don’t sell now, how much will the increasing value of the
business increase my estate tax liability?
3. What if the kids mess up? Will I get paid? Will I be able to
maintain my (and my spouse’s) lifestyle?
4. Will the bank let me off the hook for the business loans that I
guaranteed?
5. How can I treat my non-business daughter fairly?
6. What’s the number one fear?... Control! It is rare that a business
owner is willing to give up control of his business… even if you
satisfy the owner with a perfect answer to all of his other questions
and concerns.
Here’s an example of the control-fear factor at work: About one out of
every three business owners who call me to do their estate plans own
51% of their business, while the kids own the other 49%. Why 51%?
… Hey, the fear of losing control. Worst of all, in my experience, few
professionals know what to do to calm the control fear. Read on, to
learn the simple solution.
Let’s face it, the author of this article has neither the power nor the
know-how to change human nature, which includes the fear factor. Yet
experience – having done hundreds of business succession plans – has
taught us how to get the succession job done and done right. Our job,
39

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40
as consultants, is to come up with solid (accepted by the IRS) solutions
that will calm the business owner’s fears.
Just how do we do that? We take every fear, question or concern that
you, as an owner, have and turn it into a goal. Then we show you how
to apply the correct strategy (that we have used over and over again for
other owners) to accomplish each of your goals.
Following is a true-life example of a reader/business owner (Joe) of
this column. Joe is married to Mary. His son Sam (age 31) works in the
family business (Success Co.) David (age 36 and the key employee) –
not related to the family – has natural business instincts, is respected by
the employees and helps Joe run Success Co.
Let’s list Joe’s fears and concerns, which we have turned into goals. The
goals are in italics.
#1. Keep control for as long as Joe lives. Joe owns 100% of the stock
of Success Co. (an S corporation). We recapitalized (a fancy word for
having voting and nonvoting stock) Success Co. so Joe now had 100
shares of voting stock and 10,000 shares of nonvoting stock… a tax-free
transaction. The strategy is for Joe to keep the voting stock (and control)
to the day he dies. The nonvoting stock will be transferred to the kids
(#2, following).
It should be pointed out that if Joe had owned only 51% of Success
Co., the strategy would work the same, but after the recapitalization,
Joe would own only 51 shares of the voting stock (keeping control) and
5,100 shares of the nonvoting stock.
#2. Transfer Success Co. to Sam now (freeze the value) without getting
beat up with income/capital gains taxes. Sell the nonvoting stock to an
intentionally defective trust (IDT). The tax beauty of an IDT is that Joe
legally avoids capital gains tax on the sale (say the price is $8 million
– paid with a note – and the profit is $6 million). No capital gains tax is
owed on the $6 million profit and no income tax is due on the interest
Joe is paid on the $8 million note.
Typically the note is paid in full over five to eight years, using the cash
flow of Success Co. When the note is paid in full the trustee of the IDT
distributes the stock to the trust beneficiary (Sam). As you can see Sam
never pays even a dollar to own the nonvoting stock. Neat!
An IDT sure wins taxwise over a typical sale to Sam. Why?... The huge
tax burden on Sam for a typical sale disappears. For example, if the
income tax rate is 40% (state and Federal combined), Sam must earn
about $167 dollars, pay $67 in income taxes to have $100 left to pay his
dad. With an $8 million price, Sam must earn over $13 million to pay
Joe the $8 million. Ouch! So bless the IDT.
#3. Make sure that Joe and Mary can maintain their lifestyle for as long
as they live.
First, a little more information: Sam does a good job as one of 80
employees at Success Co… Is well liked by his fellow employees, but
simply does not have what it takes to now or ever manage the business.
Yet, Joe and Mary want to keep Success Co. in the family… So Sam
then is the only choice. But what to do about management?
David, the key employee, is the logical choice. We created a non-
qualified deferred compensation plan that gives David the benefits of
ownership – a share of the profits, gets paid if he gets sick (covered by
insurance) and $1 million (again insured) for his family if he gets hit by
a bus… all without owning any Success Co. stock.
www.amba.org AMBA
David immediately took over as president of Success Co. and took over
the day-to-day management of the company. Joe continued as chairman
of the board and consulted with David regularly. Interesting, Joe
technically had absolute control (owned all the voting stock) but never
(so far, two years after the sale to the IDT) found a reason to exercise
the control.
Joe continued to work, at full salary, but only worked half days. The
intent is for Joe to cut his salary and days worked once his IDT note is
paid in full.
An interesting note: Success Co. has grown in sales and net profit since
David took over.
#4. Remove Joe’s bank guarantee for Success Co.’s loans? That was
easy. A meeting at the bank caused the term-loan provisions to be
rewritten, removing the guaranty once the IDT loan to Joe was paid.
#5. Treat Susan (the nonbusiness child) fairly. Besides Success Co. Joe
and Mary have only $4.5 million in other assets, not enough to treat
Susan equally, which is their definition of fairly. Remember, Success
Co. is an S corporation and every year the IDT will receive a dividend
from Success Co. equal to about that year’s profit. Here’s the strategy:
We had the IDT buy second-to-die life insurance on Joe and Mary.
Susan is the beneficiary of the IDT for the amount of the insurance,
enough to treat Susan fairly. Where do the premium dollars come
from?... The dividend distributions, each year, are first used to pay the
insurance premiums, and the balance to pay the $8 million IDT note.
Finally, let me point out that most succession plans are similar to the
hundreds of others we have done through the years. Yet each one, like
Joe’s above, has some unique fears, problems and concerns. Do you
have a business succession fear/problem?.. with or without a unique
twist? We would like to write about your story and the proper solutions
(without revealing your identity) in a future column. Please contact me
by fax (847-674-5299), phone (847-674-5295) or email (Blackman@
estatetaxsecrets.com). I’d love to hear your story.
In the meantime, if you have a question concerning the succession of
your closely held business, call me (Irv) at 847-674-5295. o
Five Trends of Family Business
A client recently asked me an interesting question regarding family
business: what are the five major trends you see in family business? The
question is a good one. If you wanted to answer this on your own, you
could try to get through the Wall Street Journal or your local newspaper
(if you still have one), if for no other reason than to add credence to the
trend that reading is the leading cause of depression. I would not advise
it because even a simple escape article on fashion offers tips on how to
dress for the recession.
So in order to protect you from any further depression, I offer my take
on the five mega-trends that I see in family business in 2009 and beyond
without the E or R words (that is economy and recession in case you
have not been paying attention).
1) The new demography.
In every inch of the world the human species is changing and doing
so very quickly. While it might not feel like it sometimes, humans
are better off today in terms of health, wealth, and the basic human
condition than at any time before. The result is that we are
living longer, and this alone is straining society. Another complication
is that technology and industry have made us a very mobile and
AMBA www.amba.org
interconnected society particularly regarding business and culture.
The impact on family businesses is tremendous in terms of succession
planning, which now is further complicated by people living longer.
But perhaps the most profound impact, is the “stack-up” of various
generations in the family and the business that has resulted from longer
life-spans and delayed retirement. Furthermore, cultural and societal
norms are stressed by the melting pot of positions, expectations and
perceptions that are all culturally and generationally valid. The problem
is that there is no easy way to make decisions when everyone is right
from their own perspective, and when the old rules no longer apply.
Hot Spot to Watch: China’s life expectancy has increased eight years
in the last 20 years, as well as the documented disparity of males to
females (currently estimated at 20 million more males than females),
and then add into the mix of ancient cultural norms of birth order, birth
right and gender clashing with the modern generational pressures.
2) The new diversity - generational differences.
In the United States we are faced with the new reality that we have
five distinct generations in the same house and work place. The five
generations GI Generation (1905-1924); Silent Generation (1925-
1944); Baby Boomers (1945-1964); Generation X (1965-1980); and
Generation Y (1981-20??). Each generation has its unique outlooks,
perspectives, communication styles, and perceptions. The result is a
living “Tower of Babel” where each generation has a difficult time
understanding, communicating and working with each other. Family
businesses must pay careful attention to build bridges and understanding
between the generations.
Hot Spot to Watch: The “stack-up” of ownership with the GI Generation
and/or Silent Generation, as Baby Boomers wait for their turn to lead
and own, while right on their heels are their own Generation X and
Generation Y children expecting their shot at ownership/leadership.
3) What is family?
Many people might not be aware of the fact that one of the most
contested debates amongst academics, government officials, sociologist,
anthropologist, psychologist, and theologians is how to define the
modern family. Forty years ago most Americans defined family as
that of kinship through blood and marriage. The current demographic
realities represent a society with a decline in marriage, rise in
cohabitation, increased divorces, multiple remarriages, and re-parenting.
The question for the family business is how do we define family? This
basic question should be asked often, as the dynamics of the family
continues to change over time. My experience with clients that ask
this question that are able to talk about whether they choose “blood”
only, or have the most open definition, is that they spend time thinking
about and discussing this fundamental question that propels the family
business.
Hot Spot to Watch: With an increase in remarriages and the
phenomenon of “his”, “her” and “our” kids succession and estate
planning can be complicated and the role of an outside expert can be
extremely helpful for a family business to navigate these challenging
areas with the hope of still having a good holiday season.
4) Power of spouses.
Some time ago, Dr. Leon Danco’s classic book Beyond Survival
warned the family business leaders’ lack attention to the in-laws and
spouses was the quickest recipe to family business disaster. With more
generations in the mix, along with the increased complexity of family
roles, Danco’s point is even more important. Today spouses and in-laws
are far more likely to be inquisitive, expect to be involved, and are more
41

aggressive in voicing their opinions. Let’s face it, the family business
has tremendous influence on all relationships within the family and
the stress that resonates from a family business can severely impact
every relationship. To be successful, the family business must look
at the system of family ownership and management like a good party
where everyone brings something. This means that each person has at
least one clear role, an opportunity to contribute, and has a free flow of
communication.
Hot Spot to Watch: Failure to communicate and educate spouses about
the business and leave time for the family leads to misunderstanding
and poor communication. At the same time, failing to respect the
contributions of spouses and the boundaries between family and
business is certain to lead to serious problems.
5) I am too busy.
I am known by family and friends for making silly but simple New
Year’s resolutions. A couple of years ago I decided that I would attempt
to go the entire year without saying the phrase “I am too busy”, or I
would find myself and/or be publicly admonished by my family or
friends. I can tell you this was one of the most challenging New Year’s
resolutions and it took me until about October to break the habit.
The point is that we are all very busy as our lives are packed with
social, work, personal, family, community, commitments, and events
that run our lives. The simple fact is that is there nothing more
important than our families. And if we have a business, it also needs to
be a high priority. We know that in today’s world if it is on our calendar
we usually get it done. Then doesn’t it make sense that we put time on
our calendar to spend time with our family to get to know each other
as adults socially? This is not only important for one generation but
it makes the time for the next so they can build their relationships as
adults and business partners.
Hot Spot to Watch: In the model of generational handoffs of siblings
to cousins we must acknowledge the fact that our time together as
siblings and cousins has diminished as we become more mobile and
geographically dispersed, as well as the increasing time constraints
placed on us by busy calendars and lives. We must make the space in
our lives as family business people to interact socially if for no other
reason than to build bonds with our children and expand our knowledge
of each other as adults. Check how many times you say, “I am too
busy”.
Reprinted with permission of Family Business Consulting Group® at
www.familybusiness.co. o
Another Tidbit -
A “How To” Resource!
In business, we ask a lot of “How To” questions. Here is a great
resource: www.ehow.com/business/
 
Just as a sample, I entered, “How to best advertise locally?” in the
search box. Among, other links, here was what I found:  could come to UCLA, where he likely would never start a game, but
www.ehow.com/how_2305152_advertise-locally-free-internet.html
 
Another question I searched answers for was, “How do I reduce the cost
of my employee’s health insurance?” I found some solutions:  game at UCLA. “Swen understood that to become the best he needed to
www.ehow.com/how_5658477_reduce-employee-health-insurance-
costs.html o
42 www.amba.org
Business Success Strategies
Achieving Greatness: The Value
of Associations
By: Don Yaeger
Association leaders and corporate executives have long recognized that
great lessons – lessons in leadership, team building, handling adversity,
and managing success – can be learned from their peers in the world of
sports. This explains why some of the most sought after public speakers
at corporate events are sports greats – Miami Heat President Pat Riley,
Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyewski, former Pittsburgh Steeler
running back Rock Bleier and former LSU basketball coach Dale
Brown are among the most popular speakers on the circuit. The lessons
they teach and exhibit in their world translate perfectly into yours.
 
In my 20-plus years as a writer for Sports Illustrated and author of more
than a dozen books, I have been blessed to spend hours interviewing
great winners like Riley, Krzyewski, basketball legend Michael Jordan
and Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton. Some of the best lessons
I have learned, however, have come at the foot of the greatest winner
of them all, the late John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach and
winner of unprecedented 10 NCAA championships. Wooden also was
an oft-tapped corporate consultant on the subject of leadership.
 
Before Wooden’s passing, I often traveled to Los Angeles to talk with
him about greatness and the traits of those who have achieved it.
One characteristic he was passionate about was that the truly “great”
understand that value of Associations. They know they can only become
great if they surround themselves with others who are headed in that
direction.
Just a couple of years ago, the then 97-year-old Wooden, his mind
sharp as any 30-year-old I had met, got a twinkle in his eyes when told
me he had a story to share, one I enjoy sharing with others. “Many
people, when they ask me about coaching great players, always ask
me about my two most famous centers, Lew Alcindor (who became
Kareem Abdul-Jabaar) and Bill Walton,” the coach said, “But one of
the greatest I have ever coached is a player many wouldn’t suspect. It
was Swen Nater.” I think Coach enjoyed the look of surprise on my
face. I remembered Nater, but just barely. What I remembered was that
he was cut from his high school basketball team as because, even at
6-foot-11, he was too clumsy to offer the team any value. He didn’t give
up, though, and several years later made a community college team.
He became talented enough that several four-year colleges offered him
scholarships.
At the time, UCLA and Wooden were in the middle of one of the
most spectacular runs in all of sports, winning seven of eight national
championships. Alcindor had graduated, but Wooden had a new center,
Walton, who he thought might be even better. Nater’s community
college coach asked Wooden to consider his player. “I was told he
could, at the very least, be a great practice opponent for Walton,”
Wooden recalled. “So I spoke with Swen. I was honest. I told him he
could go to a small school and play all the minutes he wanted, or he
where he could play against the best center in the country every day.
That’s the best I could offer him.” Nater didn’t flinch. He accepted
the opportunity and, as Wooden had promised, he didn’t start a single
associate himself with the best he could find,” Wooden said. “There was
no better than Bill Walton.”
 Or John Wooden.
AMBA
 19647_EDRO_AD 7/12/07 3:42 PM Page 1

 When his three years at UCLA were complete, Nater had been part of
a team that won a record-breaking 88 straight games and had played for
three more national championships – all as Walton’s backup. Nater then
made history when he became the first player selected in the first round
of the professional basketball draft without ever starting a college game.
He played 12 years professionally and now is a senior executive in the ™
corporate offices of COSTCO. His career “is absolutely and directly
the result of having made the decision to associate myself with folks
who were the very best,” Nater told me. “I learned that you are who you Holder Steel for improved plastics mold tooling
associate yourself with.” Today, RoyAlloy™ Stainless steel is the preferred mold base steel
  of choice throughout North America. RoyAlloy™ demonstrates
Coach Wooden was succinct: “Mark these words…You will never out- significant improvements, including enhanced machinability,
perform your inner circle. If you want to achieve more, the first thing improved stability, greater toughness, better weldability, and
you should do is improve your inner circle.” more consistent uniformity and hardness when
  compared with 420F/1.2085.
At its core, that is exactly why associations hold annual events. Those
conventions are a member’s opportunity to improve his or her inner
circle, to learn and associate with the very best. Like Swen Nater, I hope
that each of you have identified those in your profession from whom
you could learn, those who share your passion for greatness. Then,
while attending your national conventions, introduce yourself, spend
time asking and learning what it is they do that makes them successful.
These lessons are often transferable.

Then take the lessons home with you. Make your aspirations known
to your staff and your membership because they want to associate
themselves with greatness, too. You’ll be amazed by what you can Edro Specialty Steels, Inc.
achieve when you surround yourselves with those headed in the same California - Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
West: 800.368.3376
direction. At each of these steps you’ll understand why John Wooden East & Midwest: 888.368.3376
Appenweier, Germany
agreed that the value of Associations is one of the most significant traits Tel +49 (0) 7805 91579-0

of greatness. Global_adv GB 3_75x4_875:Layout 1

email: royalloy@edro.com
www.edro.com 15.01.2010 13:53 Uhr Seite

Don Yaeger is a nationally acclaimed inspirational speaker, “New York

Times” best-selling author and longtime associate editor of “Sports
Illustrated”. He speaks on the subject of Greatness, taking lessons from

Your Global Advantage !

the world of sports and translating them to business and professional
audiences. He can be reached through his website: www.donyaeger.
com. o

Update on Section 529 Plans

A section 529 plan is a program established and maintained by states or  exclusive
instrumentalities of the state that allows taxpayers to contribute to either  reliable
a prepaid educational service account (i.e., prepaid tuition account) or
an education savings account (which is similar to a Roth IRA) for a Your partner for
designated beneficiary. All contributions to 529 plans made by the donor exceptional standard
grow tax free and are distributed tax free as long as the funds are only components and
used to pay for a student’s qualified education expenses at an eligible hot runner solutions
educational institution.
 acknowledged
Qualified education expenses  available
Eligible expenses are any expenses required for enrollment or
attendance at an eligible educational institution. These expenses
include:
• tuition
• room and board
• fees
• books
• computer equipment and services (i.e., internet access and
educational software) – only for 2009 and 2010. In general,
computer technology expenses are not qualified expenses for other
education credits like the American Opportunity credit, Hope www.hasco.com
credit, or Lifetime Learning credit.
quotes.america@hasco.com

AMBA www.amba.org 43
Eligible educational institution
529 Plans can only be used for higher education expenses. Eligible
educational institutions are any college, university, vocational school,
or other postsecondary educational institution, including graduate
programs, eligible to participate in a student aid program administered
by the Department of Education
Contribution limitations
While there is no income threshold limiting who can contribute to a
QTP, the total amount that can be contributed has an upper limit. This
limit varies from state to state, but the  range is from $224,465 for
Louisiana to $386,600 for Pennsylvania. The limits are an effort to deter
contributions “in excess of those necessary to provide for the qualified
higher education expenses of the beneficiary” [Sec. 529(b)(6)]. There is
no ceiling on annual contributions.
Since contributions to a 529 plan are for the benefit of the designated
beneficiary, the amounts are treated as gifts; however, contributions
that are in excess of the annual gift exclusion do not necessarily have
gift-tax consequences. When setting up a QTP, it is possible for each
taxpayer to elect to use up to five annual exclusions for each beneficiary,
and therefore each parent or grandparent can contribute up to $65,000
($13,000 gift-tax exclusion x 5 years) without any tax consequences.
It should be noted that by contributing in this manner the taxpayer will
impact one’s ability to gift in the  four succeeding years.
Distribution rules
Distributions from 529 plans are not taxable as long as they do not
exceed the student’s adjusted qualified educational expenses, which
comprise the total of all qualified expenses less any tax-free educational
assistance such as scholarships or grants for the related tax year. Any
distributions that do exceed the qualified expenses are to be included
in the beneficiary’s gross income subject to tax as well as an additional
10% penalty.
What to do with an underperforming 529 plan
Many taxpayers are reassessing all of their investments after the
difficult times the market faced in 2008 and 2009, and while many are
wary of any plan that can be market sensitive, 529 plans have built in
a great deal of flexibility for investors when things are not going their
way.  under “My AMBA”.
• The first and simplest way to reverse a declining 529 plan is to
change your investment choices within the plan. Once a year,
the asset allocations of a plan can be changed and, depending on
the stability of the market, the IRS has been known to allow two
investment allocation changes, as they did in 2009. Investors and
their advisors should take advantage of this benefit to annually
evaluate the investment advantages and disadvantages of their
current 529 plans. When analyzing a 529 plan, emphasis should be
placed on factors such as the length of time until the funds will be
used, investment costs, and current market conditions.
• Another way to turn around an investment that is not performing
is to transfer 529 plans. Annually, taxpayers can transfer funds tax
free from one plan to another as long as the transfer takes place
within 60 days. A major benefit of this option is that changing the
plan or the beneficiary can alter the investments available or the
length of the plan, creating a better investment situation. However,
if the taxpayer is transferringfroma plan in State A to a plan in
State B, special attention should be paid to whether there are any
limitations or penalties with each state-specific plan.
• The final option is to close the account. If the current fair market
value of the assets is less than what was originally contributed to
44 www.amba.org
the plan, you can fully liquidate the account and take an ordinary
loss. This loss is treated as a miscellaneous itemized deduction
subject to the 2% floor. However this is not beneficial for those
taxpayers who are subject to Alternative Mminimum Tax. The
amount that is withdrawn when the account is closed is not subject
to federal tax and is not penalized federally, but there may be state
tax consequences.
Illinois Bright Start college savings program
While most states offer their own college-savings plans, Illinois’s stands
out as having one of the lowest investment costs with expense ratios
ranging from 0.20% to 0.22%. An additional benefit for Illinois resident
taxpayers is that any contribution to an Illinois plan, up to $10,000 for
individuals and $20,000 for married couples filing jointly, is deductable
on their Illinois income tax return. Note, there is no carryover of excess
deductions from year to year.
Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia offer some form of tax
incentive for investing in their college-savings plan. Taxpayers should
contact their tax preparer or account representative to verify state-
specific information.
Selecting the most beneficial 529 plan can require a great deal of
time and research since most plans offer a wide variety of investment
options, from stock and bond funds to money market accounts to
federally insured certificates of deposit. Yet this can be time and
money well spent because the tax incentives of 529 plans outweigh the
potential risks. Benefits include no AGI limitation for contributions,
the ability to change investment allocations and plans annually, and
earnings and distributions that are tax free as long as they pay for
qualified education expenses.
Taken from the August 2010 issue of Blackman Kallicks Tax Highlights.
o
AMBA Answers 
Have you used “AMBA Answers”? The AMBA offers
this unique networking option that you can use right
from your office! It’s located on the AMBA website
My AMBA is part of the “Members Only” section of the site. You can
post a question to AMBA Answers and your question will be broadcast
to all the AMBA members. If you have a question that you need
assistance with, please visit the AMBA Answers section of the website
and post your question! Your fellow members will be happy to help you
out and get you the answers that you need! Here are some examples of
the kinds of questions and responses you’ll find on “AMBA Answers.”:
Question:
We generally “guarantee” our molds for one million cycles. This is
usually adequate because we are confident in our mold’s quality and
we generally manufacture low cavitation tooling. We are now quoting
a 64 cav mold and the customer wants to know our guarantee. With the
64 cav’s and an estimated cycle of 10 sec. Our normal guarantee would
expire in six months!
 
Also, the customer claims that they guarantee their tools (they build
molds and mold parts) for 10 years. I was thinking I’d go the 10 years
provided they return the mold bi-annually for PM... What are your
typical mold guarantees? Posted 5/14/10
Answer:
I can’t believe anyone guarantees a mold for 10 years unless there
AMBA
are a large number of conditions that go with that. There are a lot of
considerations when guaranteeing a mold:
1. What is the polymer material being used? Polypropylene or 30%
glass-filled nylon? Big difference!!
2. Will they maintain the mold in accordance with the recommendations
in the mold manual and have written proof that this was done?
3. Bringing the mold back to the original mold manufacturer once
per year for a thorough inspection is a good idea -- I’d make this an
absolute must for a 10-year guarantee.
4. Workmanship and mold fit and function, and conforming parts are
guaranteed, but components that wear out due to normal wear and tear
that occur from high-cavitation, high-volume parts molding are not
covered, as are other items that wear such as parting lines, etc.
5. A condition in the guarantee that any damage to the mold done by
improperly processing the mold, using sharp instruments to dislodge a
stuck part, or other damage caused by inept personnel at the molders,
lack of proper cleaning and regular maintenance, or failure to return
the mold annually to the moldmaker for inspection, makes the 10-year
guarantee null and void.
If a mold is only going to run several thousand parts a year, it might
make sense to guarantee a mold for 10 years, but if it’s going to run 2
million parts a year, a moldmaker must protect himself with conditions
for that. I’d ask the other moldmaker for his conditions for guaranteeing
his molds for 10 years, then duplicate those (if they cover some of the
things listed above) o
Tech Corner
Smart Solutions for Mist
Collection Technology!
Since 1951 Amano Corporation has been
providing environmental solutions that
improve the workplace and now introduces
its filter-less model of oil and water soluble
mist collectors. With collection efficiency
greater than 99.9% of 2 micron without a
filter, four models sizes are available with
applications for all types of machining
applications: machining center, turning
centers and grinding machines.
Amano Corporation also has a full product line of electrical and filter
mist collectors along with its line of dust collectors.
Contact information: Scott Fernandez 800.228.2969 or www.vega-tool.
com o
YRC Shipping Discounts
Discounts with New Penn, Holland, and Reddaway are available
to AMBA members. If you would like to take advantage of
your member benefits or you need more information, please
call your association benefits coordinator, Krista Appleton, at
800.647.3061, Ext. 6549.
AMBA www.amba.org
IS’TECH Sequential Valve Gating System
SISE is introducing the IS’TECH Sequential
Valve Gating System, which is capable of
handling up to 20 valve gates and up to five
openings & five closings per cycle and per
valve gate. This new system provides the
following:
• Valve gates triggered by any Sensor
Signal (from either the mold or the
press)
• Six Standard Mold Signals (four for
Pressure & two for Temperature)
• Mold Recognition Plug (1 to 128 Molds)
• Integrated Multilingual Interface (more than nine standard languages)
• Very Fast Reaction Times
• 48 Mold Setting Saved in Controller
• Enhanced Windows-Operated Monitoring System:
o Memorization of All Cycle Curves
o SQL Database Management System
o Cycle-To-Cyle Parameters Monitoring
o Indicators Creation Device (Viscosity…)
o Standard USB Cable Connection
o Increased Performance & User-friendliness
For more information contact : Pierre CROZET - North American
Operations Manager - pcrozet@sise.fr, Phone: 404-784-8676, Web:
www.sise-plastics.com o
New Anti-Drool Sprue Bar Device for Stack
Molds - Melt Design Inc
Melt Design, Inc. (MDI), a leading
manufacturer of runnerless injection
molding systems, introduces a new
Anti-Drool Sprue Bar device.
Specially designed for use with
stack molds, MDI’s new, patented
shut-off device puts plastic drooling
problems to rest and can be
installed on new sprue bars or retrofitted to fit existing, non-functional
ones. Other exclusive features include:
* No internal springs or components to contaminate; guaranteed to
function flawlessly
* Dual engagement surface action assures perfect alignment between
the sprue bar and molding machine
* Anti-drool technology is located between the machine nozzle and
sprue bar, which will keep molds running. No messy cleanups needed.
* No material waste equals more cost savings
* This device can also be used on hot runner systems running on
horizontal injection presses with vertical clamp
* Compact and easy to install
“Since introducing this device to market, customers who are using our
Anti-Drool Sprue Bar device have seen a return on their investment in
less than three months’ time,” says Tom Siwek, General Manager at
MDI. “In a world where lean is a top priority, this is one device that can
help a company achieve its cost-saving goals very quickly.”
For more information, call 800-MDI-ONLY (800-634-6659), or visit
www.meltdesign.com. Outside the U.S. dial 1-630-443-4000. o
45
 Anatomy of a Better
Single Cavity Valve Gate
➡ Simplicity Through
Thoughtful Engineering
SIMPLICITY
• Simplified Installation
• Simplified Adjustments
• Simplified Operation
INSTALL INSERT
NOZZLE ◆ ACTUATING ROD
➡ Cylinder Mounts
Outside Mold
Call Us Direct
(800) 499-OSCO
★ www.oscosystems.com ★
Mold Platen Insulation Materials
Custom Fabricated Components
Energy Cost Savings
H320 & H330
Gund MPI Glastherm HT
Consistent Mold Temperature
www.thegundcompany.com
2121 Walton Road, St. Louis, MO 63114
Tel: (314) 423-5200 Fax: (314) 423-9009
mkleine@thegundcompany.com
46
Advertiser’s Index
Alliance Laser Sales.......................................... 16
Alliance Specialties........................................... 11
PERFORMANCE
• Gates up to .312
• Shaft Driven
• One-To-One Ratio
Crystallume Engineered Diamond.................. 28
ATTACH
◆ CYLINDER CVD Diamond Corporation ............................ 36
DME Company................................................. 25
Duro-Chrome Industries ................................ 15
Edro Specialty Steels, Inc. ............................... 43
Ellwood Specialty Steel.................................... 48
A. Finkl & Sons Co........................................... 35
Graphic Products North America.................... 26
The Gund Company . ....................................... 46
Hasco America.................................................. 43
Incoe Corporation.............................................. 7
Makino.............................................................. 47
Millstar LLC...................................................... 40
MoldMaking Technology Magazine.................. 6
Osco ................................................................. 46
PCS.................................................................... 26
Proceq USA, Inc. . ............................................ 32
Progressive Components................................... 2
Rocklin Manufacturing Co. . ........................... 36
Ultra Polishing.................................................. 10
Wisconsin Engraving Co., Inc. / Unitex.......... 17
Yellow Transportation, Inc. ............................ 39
www.amba.org AMBA
AMBA www.amba.org 47
American Mold Builders Association PRSRT
U.S. Postage
P.O. Box 404
PAID
Medinah, IL 60157-0404 Medinah, IL
(Change Service Requested) Permit No. 20

Ready when you are…

The specialty steel industry is not as big as some
may think. In reality, buyers only have 2 choices
when it comes to specialty steel suppliers in
North America.
One supplier is posing as three separate compa-
nies, but operates as a joined enterprise. And the
other is a bit more nimble.
Ellwood Specialty Steel is the number-one choice
for fast service and faster delivery, on the day
promised or earlier. Whether you need a quote or
have a question, ESS stands ready to meet and
exceed expectations, every time.
For more information on how to avoid the 3-headed
enterprise or to get a fair and independent quote,
please visit http://nostrings.elwd.com

NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
Ellwood Specialty Steel - Ready and Reliable.

United States Canada

Ellwood Specialty Steel Ellwood Specialty Metals
800-932-2188 877-978-2772
esssales@elwd.com esmsales@elwd.com T O O L S T E E L P R O D U C T S

USA★
MADE IN THE

48 www.amba.org AMBA