Cutting Tool Conference a huge success
By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 5/1/1998
Boca Raton, Fla.--The first-ever World Conference for Manufacturers of Metal Cutting Tools, held here April 1-4, was deemed a huge success by both organizers and attendees. The landmark meeting was attended by nearly 200 cutting tool professionals from around the world.Sponsored by the United States Cutting Tool Institute and the European Cutting Tools Assn., with support from the Japan Small Tool Makers Assn., the conference was the culmination of several years of brainstorming. Representatives from USCTI and ECTA began attending each other's meetings in the early 90s and soon decided a world conference would be a good way to "make the world even smaller than it already is," according to ECTA president Anders Ilstam, president of German manufacturer CTT Tools. Planning for the 1998 conference began almost two years ago, with the hope of holding future conferences every three years. Ilstam says the next conference will likely be held in Europe in 2001.
"It's beyond our wildest dreams," USCTI secretary/treasurer Chuck Stockinger said of the conference. "This is the first real coming together of the cutting tool industry...to network, have dialogue on business issues, technology issues...and it can only get better as we go along."
"USCTI's incoming program director Roger Taylor, president and CEO of North American Tool Corp. in South Beloit, Ill., was especially pleased with members' response to the international scope of the workshops and seminars.
"The initial enthusiasm for the first-ever conference is terrific," he said. "It has exceeded our expectations...especially from a programming perspective. We're off to a wonderful start."
USCTI president Bill Cleveland, president of Craig Tools in Los Angeles, said one of the most gratifying things he heard during the four-day event was members' desire to have a world conference every year.
"People are coming up to me and saying 'let's have one every year,'" Cleveland said during a press conference held on the final day of the meeting. Cleveland was impressed with such comments because, "we didn't know how [the conference] would be received."
Terry Osawa, president of the JSTMA, was equally pleased with the turnout. "This kind of world conference," he said, is beneficial because, "to know each other and to know the markets...this is really worth it."
Programming for the meeting was centered around the need to do business in a global marketplace. Speakers from the United States, Japan, Germany, and The Netherlands addressed such issues as distribution, electronic commerce, machining trends, customer service and world market conditions. Speakers included industry consultant Frank Lynn, of Frank Lynn & Associates, Michael Herscher of Boeing Corp., Carsten Marzenell of the University of Hannover, Germany, and Jan Huijs of Jabro Tools in The Netherlands.
In addition to technical presentations on dry machining and high-speed machining, a main topic of discussion was the need for global suppliers. Hersher talked about Boeing's need to find various suppliers around the world, while Saturn Corp.'s David Kummer talked about GM's desire to find individual companies that can supply them on a global scale.
Delegates got a chance to hear more about the global state of the industry during market reports given by representatives of each association. Ilstam reported that after a recession in the European cutting tool market in the early 90s -- during which volume dropped by about 35 percent -- the region experienced dramatic growth in 1995. That growth leveled out in 1996-97, and Ilstam predicts an upward trend in 1998-99. He expressed concern over the state of the Asian market, and added that the American economy is also another question mark because, "it cannot grow forever."
Ilstam also said Europe is moving in the same direction as the United States in distribution strategies. Integrated supply is slowly coming to the region, catalog houses are growing, EDI is beginning to be used more, and the Internet is gaining prominence, as well.
James Christie of Valenite, Inc., reported on the North American market, predicting continued steady growth, stable pricing, continued consolidation (in both manufacturing and distribution), and the further development of integrated supply strategies. Christie also expressed concern over the strength of the Asian market, saying that a major recession there will have a considerable impact on North American and European markets.
Osawa, who reported on the Japanese market, touched on the current instability of the Asian economy, noting that he is hopeful it has already hit bottom and will come back up again soon. Looking ahead, Osawa said that developing global supplier status will be a difficult task for many cutting tool manufacturers, since most are small and regional in scope. However, with many large customers looking to developing countries for growth, Japanese manufacturers will have the opportunity to expand their market penetration. I
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