PMAEF Proudly Honoring Pioneering Metalforming Companies

Beginning in 2011, the PMA Educational Foundation (PMAEF), through a grant from the Hitachi Foundation, has been identifying and developing case studies about metalforming companies excelling as successful businesses, through enhanced values, culture, policies, practices and investments. These are companies whose success fosters and is driven by skill enhancement and advancement opportunities for their production employees, creating paths to reach higher levels of business success while also improving the skills and increasing earnings of their lower-wage employees. The Metalforming Pioneer Award has been created by PMAEF to identify and recognize these excelling metalforming companies.

In collaboration with MetalForming magazine and in partnership with The Manufacturing Institute, we are sharing the stories of these successful pioneer businesses. The PMAEF Board of Trustees proudly recognizes the third group of companies to be honored as Metalforming Pioneer Award winners:

• Diemasters Manufacturing Inc., Elk Grove Village, IL

• Eclipse Manufacturing Company, Sheboygan, WI

• Marlin Steel Wire, LLC, Baltimore, MD

As with the first two groups of pioneers, the submissions received in this round were evaluated by a Steering Committee of PMAEF officers and staff from The Manufacturing Institute. These three companies join the first and second round selections featured in the December 2011 and May 2012 issues of MetalForming: E.J. Ajax and Sons, Minneapolis, MN; GR Spring & Stamping, Grand Rapids, MI; The McGregor Companies, Springfield, OH; Oberg Industries, Freeport, PA; Pridgeon and Clay, Grand Rapids, MI; and Roll Forming Corp., Shelbyville, KY.

The ultimate goal of this project is to foster direct engagement with other employers in the industry with similar values, culture, policies, practices and investments that strive to meet similar goals of good businesses and good places to work. I hope you enjoy reading about Diemasters, Eclipse and Marlin Steel Wire in the following pages; they truly exemplify the principles of the Metalforming Pioneer Award. While these are the final three companies to be recognized through the grant, the pioneer spirit and learning opportunities will live on through live events and the Metalforming Pioneer Award website —www.pma.org/foundation/hitachi, where you will find all of the articles, links to archived webinars and other useful information.