Page 7 - MetalForming Magazine February 2023 - Metal Forming for the Automotive Industry

Editorial
Brad F. Kuvin
Making Sense of Automotive’s Dizzying Pace of Change
Today’s automotive suppliers must learn to adjust their business models to account for lower volumes, while also leveraging technology to handle new material types and increasingly complex part designs and manufacturing processes. Such is the hand being dealt by OEMs as they transition their model lineups to electric vehicles. And even as the current economic climate might not spur sales growth, most OEMs have significant plans to introduce a lot of new models in the next few years, accompanied by a dramatic influx of new tooling programs.
All of this came to light at the Precision Metalforming Association’s Metal Stamping Tech- nology Conference, held in January in Nashville, TN. There attendees heard from industry analyst and consultant Laurie Harbour, from Harbour Results Inc., of a predicted increase in tooling demand: 14-percent CAGR in tooling volume from 2022 to 2025, she said.
Yet, in light of all of that tooling activity, make no mistake: OEMs are just fine with lower volumes, all while enjoying substantial profitability. Harbour shared several examples, among them: Ford, whose profit/vehicle declined by 48 percent year-over-year through October 2022, while overall profit climbed 11 percent.
© 2023 by PMA Services Inc. 6363 Oak Tree Blvd. Independence, OH 44131 216/901-8800 www.metalformingmagazine.com magazine@pma.org
PMA President | David C. Klotz dklotz@pma.org
Vice President of Sales/Publisher
Michael C. Vohland
mvohland@pma.org
Editorial Director | Brad F. Kuvin bkuvin@pma.org
Senior Editor | Louis A. Kren lkren@pma.org
Editorial Manager | Marlene F. O’Brien mobrien@pma.org
Art Director | Nikki Formica nformica@pma.org
Production Manager | Susan Cubranich scubranich@pma.org
Circulation Manager | Melody Berendt mberendt@pma.org
Sales and Marketing Staff
Midwest U.S., Western U.S., New England, PA, NY, NJ and Canada Damon Wolf
Sales Manager 216/901-8800 | dwolf@pma.org
Michigan
Michael C. Vohland 216/901-8800 | mvohland@pma.org
South Atlantic, South Central Bob West 678/377-5749 | metalform_bobwest@msn.com
IA, IL, IN, MN, WI
Mark Fortuna 773/531-8780 | mfortuna@pma.org
Inside Sales
Ilene Schwartz 216/901-8800 | ischwartz@pma.org
Marketing Manager | Drew Gutierrez dgutierrez@pma.org
Meetings & Events Manager | Katlyn Stratis kstratis@pma.org
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is strictly prohibited.
Use smart phone to go to www.metalformingmagazine.com
“We recently introduced a new monthly automotive-focused enewsletter (MetalForming Automotive) and dedicated a special area of our website to coverage of the automotive industry.”
More tools, lower volumes, newer and more challenging materials, increased design com- plexity, and now the effects of electrification— where does it all end? For this special automo- tive-focused issue of MetalForming, we pose this question to numerous experts, including prominent metal forming-company executives. As current powertrain components begin to
disappear, along with exhaust systems and more, to be replaced with battery packs, traction motors, etc., where does that leave metal formers? And, what’s the strategy for remaining vital links in the supply chain?
This crucial conversation comes to light in the article beginning on page 26, where Jeff Sotok, executive vice president of global operations at metal former Trans-Matic, explains the importance of understanding and adapting to market pricing and developing accurate target costs. “We must ensure that we’re developing the right process, the right tool design and the right solution for each job,” Sotok shares.
Sound, frequent communication throughout the supply chain also assumes a heightened role, which has Kelly Springer, CEO of Metal Flow, evaluating and fine-tuning communication channels. “As we reevaluate how we communicate,” she says, “we’re taking care to link the customer side of our organization with our materials-planning side, as well as shipping in some cases.”
There’s a lot more to unbundle in this issue of MetalForming, including an in-depth pow- ertrain-development timeline, compiled by senior editor Lou Kren and art director Nikki Formica, that got us to this point in the EVolution; and a report on the important R&D work underway at Alumobility to support efforts to increase aluminum content in future vehicles.
Lastly, I’m happy to say we are ramping up our coverage of this critical market, by intro- ducing a new monthly automotive-focused
enewsletter (sign up to receive it at metalforming-
magazine.com/newsletter) and dedicating an area
of our website to automotive-industry news. Visit www.metalformingmagazine.com/end- markets/?/automotive to take a look.
Editorial Director bkuvin@pma.org
4 MetalForming/February 2023
www.metalformingmagazine.com