Page 59 - MetalForming Magazine June/July 2022 80th Anniversary Issue

Celebrating 80 Years:
What the
Future
Looks Like for
Metal Formers
The drive to achieve and maintain operational excellence for the foreseeable future has metal forming company executives consumed with the race to scale, competing for workers, examining new markets and opportunities, and evaluating and implementing Industry 4.0 technologies to begin their digital transformation.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
In 2022, the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) celebrates 80 years serving as the only North American trade association committed to developing networking events aimed at helping metal formers and fabrica- tors expand their businesses; providing technical training programs; amplifying the industry’s voice in Washington, D.C.; and regularly publishing industry data to help companies forecast their business decisions. While recent head-
winds have created hurdles of the mag- nitude perhaps never experienced before, metal forming company leaders able to face these challenges head on— strategically and aggressively— undoubtedly will prepare their organ- izations for what lies ahead.
As noted in a recent article from Harbour Results Inc. (HRI), summa- rizing results from the Q1 2022 PMA Metalforming Insights financial study, “nearly a quarter of study participants remain in a risky position of high debt relative to earnings. Employee Reten- tion Credits arriving this year may pro- vide short-term relief to those who qualified, but these businesses must find ways to drive cash to the bottom line—and that is far easier said than done. EBITDA won’t be coming from high depreciation and amortization since capital expenditures remained low in 2021 compared to historical
averages and optimistic spending fore- casts for 2022. This all boils down to one thing—earnings must come from improving your EBIT.”
We’re all too familiar with the chal- lenges to earnings—higher prices for materials and labor, unfilled job open- ings that inhibit growth, supply-chain disruption, and so on. Strategies for overcoming these challenges, per HRI director Jason Brewer:
• Be disciplined to ensure that every penny is recovered from material costs. A delay in calculations and invoicing surcharges or price adjustments is a lost opportunity and a hit to profit.
• Change the mindset on what “fac- tory” and “onboarding” means. Making a good first impression with potential employees by cleaning up your facility and improving new-hire onboarding can provide later returns in the form of retention.
56 MetalForming/June/July 2022
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