Page 48 - MetalForming April 2013

20th Annual
Auto-Parts
Suppliers
Gaining the Upper Hand
Dave Andrea, senior vice president of
industry analysis and economics of the
Original Equipment Suppliers Associa-
tion, once again will moderate the Automotive Forecast Panel, one of the most valuable agenda items of the APSC meeting. Last year Andrea discussed several “mega-trends” affecting automotive-parts suppliers, including the energy and material markets and social and environmental sustainability.
The automotive-parts supply chain is rattling, shaken by capacity constraints that have improved competitive dynamics for lower-tier suppliers. If it’s true that automotive metalformers should be solid and enjoying improved profit margins, how can that success be sustained? Attend PMA’s Automotive Parts Supplier Council Meeting to find the answers.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
Happy 20th Anniversary to the Precision Metalforming Association’s (PMA) annual Automotive Parts Supplier Council (APSC) meeting, slated for Novi, MI, April 30- May 1, 2013. Launched in 1993 to provide a forum for met- alforming-company executives serving the automotive mar- ket, the event provides a unique opportunity to exchange ideas related to profitability, capacity, market forces etc. Aside from the invaluable networking opportunities afford- ed by the APSC meeting, attendees also learn about best prac- tices being performed by metalformers in the automotive- parts supply chain, hear presentations on capacity constraints and receive valuable forecast data.
“As an automotive supplier, this is the most important PMA event that you can attend,” says Wes Smith, president of E & E manufacturing, Inc., “both for content and net- working.”
“How can you be selling to the automotive market and not take the opportunity to hear such information and facts about the market,” adds Arnie Mayher, sales manager, Strip- matic Products.
And, adds Neil Allen, president, Sunstone Components Group:
“I know of no other place to obtain an al-encompassing outlook on the state of the automotive industry.”
High Single-Digit Profits
“Metalformers serving the automotive industry should be earning solid and improving profits, taking costs out of their businesses while riding the escalating volumes we’ve seen in the last few years,” says Craig Fitzgerald, Plante Moran, a long- time industry consultant and contributor to the APSC meet- ing. As he did last year, at this year’s meeting Fitzgerald will moderate an industry panel on Automotive Supplier Best Practices, with an emphasis on strategic positioning.
“The underlying message and key discussion points will focus on how metalformers can improve competitive dynam-
46 MetalForming/April 2013
www.metalformingmagazine.com