Page 35 - MetalForming Magazine June/July 2022 80th Anniversary Issue

was no sure thing, with the economy in midshift to wartime footing. Without a strong central voice, the metal stamp- ing sector of industry found itself at the mercy of Big Steel and customers alike. And, metal stampers had no ready means to interact to share com- mon concerns or disseminate technol- ogy and process improvements.
Stampers discussed their options and by the end of 1942 agreed to form PMI. Organized in Cleveland, OH, and with 42 charter member companies, PMI evolved to become the American Metal Stamping Association (AMSA) in 1961, and PMA in 1987.
Upon its founding, besides providing the means for stampers to communicate with each other and promote goodwill with customers, PMI sought to educate customers, suppliers and the general public on the advantages of stamping. In addition, formation of the institute was seen as a means to mutually study cost-accounting systems and the costs of manufacture, and “to improve and
32 MetalForming/June/July 2022
develop commercial methods in the manufacturing and marketing of pressed metal products,” according to PMI’s constitution.
Also, PMI undertook collecting and disseminating trade statistics and other information of value to the industry and the public; conducting research into markets; and handling trade inquiries. Just as today, unfair trade practices received attention, as did efforts to promote apprentice training, and educate and train those connected with or interested in becoming affili- ated with the industry. PMI members worked then, as do PMA members today, to promote and protect the industry’s interests in public and gov- ernmental matters, and to secure ade- quate presentation of its problems before governmental, economic and business groups.
Gaining Strength After the War
Post-World War II, the metal stamping industry grew, as did PMI’s
membership rolls and activities. PMI held its first National Technical Meet- ing in Cleveland on March 16-17, 1950, and also that year introduced its Blue Book of Stamping Manufac- turers, a listing of all member com- panies distributed to some 15,000 purchasers of metal stampings. The book became known as the Annual Stamping Buyer’s Guide.
PMI, in 1951, issued its first Industry Mobilization Survey, and its first Wage and Hour Survey. Another emphasis that year: international trade, as PMI officials visited England under the sponsorship of the Economic Cooper- ation Administration. In 1955, PMI established industry awards, as its Spring Technical Meeting featured the first-ever presentation of the John Woodman Higgins Redesign Award to engineers from General Electric’s appli- ance group in Louisville, KY, for redesign of integral back plates and a drain trough for GE’s combination refrigerator-freezer. The award, spon-
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