If there is such a thing as a "Canadian dream" counterpart to the "American dream"—pull yourself up by the bootstraps, work hard and you'll enjoy great success—then Keith Ambtman is living it. In 1969, Ambtman immigrated to Canada from Holland. Today, he's the president and owner of a thriving mold and die finishing distributorship in Toronto.

"I started out working in the purchasing department of a mold-making company," says Ambtman. "I befriended a man whose family owned a company that distributed their products in Canada from a location in the United States, and he offered me a distributorship here for the Canadian territory."

KTS Tooling Supply was founded in 1974. The supplier was Paul H. Gesswein Co., a mold and die tool, equipment and abrasives manufacturer.

Celebrating its 31st anniversary this year, KTS Tooling is still a mold and die distributorship, but has since taken on other products that complement the Gesswein focus, grabbing every opportunity to expand.

"We grew very rapidly," says Ambtman. "In our first six years, we moved five times. We now carry cutting tools, fasteners, measuring tools, and such, but all are specific to mold and die. We specialize in the mold and die finishing products."

KTS Tooling is housed in an 11,000-square-foot building that Ambtman had built in 1985. But even now the company is expanding—a planned extension will add to the space, increasing it to about 16,000 square feet.

Ambtman's, and by extension, KTS Tooling's, philosophy is short and sweet: to be the total source of all equipment for mold and die manufacturers, including tools and supplies. The company concentrates on nothing else.

"We started that way, and we'll stay that way," explains Ambtman. "The MRO market is just too competitive. There are too many of them, and in that case, they all have to resort to pricing wars. We wanted to be able to contribute something special."

That something special is a fine-tuned knowledge of product and industry, adds Ambtman. Employees at KTS Tooling are able to consult on projects, and polish and finish tools as well as sell them.

"With too much product, the knowledge itself isn't as focused," he says.

KTS Tooling services most of the mold makers across Canada, with concentrations in Toronto, Montreal and Windsor.

Because of the company's niche market, it has not been hit as hard by the economic troubles of other industries in the United States and Canada.

"Of course, we haven't gained anything either," emphasizes Ambtman. "Prices have stayed stable. And recently, the Canadian dollar seems to be strengthening, which is good for me, if not for the U.S."

"Before doing business with KTS, Gesswein sold directly to customers in Canada," says Roger H. Gesswein, Jr., chairman of Gesswein & Co. based in Bridgeport, Conn. "They would send in their order, we would ship it out, and after it went through customs, the customer would receive it."

Ambtman, according to Gesswein, saw this rather inconvenient mode of servicing customers as an opportunity to better serve Canadian customers with a more local (in the country) distribution warehouse, giving them a steady supply of product in stock.

"We made Keith and KTS Tooling the exclusive distributor of Gesswein products in Canada," says Gesswein. "Keith felt that we could reach customers better and sell more product, and we have."

Another example of Ambtman's ambition that Gesswein cites is Ambtman's creation of a partnership with the manufacturer to reach jewelry manufacturers in Canada.

"We have sold to both mold manufacturers and jewelry makers in the U.S., and Keith knew it," says Gesswein. "He wanted to take our jewelry products and sell them in Canada as a distributor, too. We told him no, that he couldn't be a distributor. We would like to be his partner in the venture."

Gesswein Canada, Ambtman's jewelry product company founded in 1977, is owned 50/50 with Gesswein & Co.

"That should tell you what we think of Keith as a distributor, and as a person," says Gesswein. "He does business in the proper way, with really solid ethics, and has shown constant and steady growth. Of course, we've been very happy with that."

Explains Ambtman, "The tool needs of the big jewelry manufacturing plants overlap with mold and die manufacturers. I saw the opportunity there, and expanded in that direction."

Up until recently, the jewelry business was constant, but Ambtman admits to some market pressure coming in from India and Asia. His response has been to shift focus a little to the educational factions, selling product to schools that teach jewelry making.

"There's not much I can do but look for other opportunities," says Ambtman.

One other such opportunity is National Tool & Machine, a wholesale distributor of machine tools that Ambtman started in 1978.

"This is a limited operation, as it is only wholesale," says Ambtman. "But you sell to who you can, which means I sometimes even have competitors buying from me."

Business in the wholesale sector has also been steady though not improving, but Ambtman sees it picking up because of the Canadian and U.S. economies.

Ambtman's skill for identifying and pursuing opportunities is a trait he's passed on to his children. Operating out of the same building , his son has set up a digital photography business focusing on the jewelry industry. While Gesswein Canada sells the equipment used to photograph jewelry, his son branched out, and does the photography and graphic design as a value-added service.

"Each metal and stone has different refractions and reflections," says Ambtman. "It is specialized equipment that requires specialized skills."

Having a company like this in house has proven to be good for business, as Ambtman can utilize the in-house expertise for the benefit of his own businesses.

With all three main businesses working in the same building, Ambtman is able to stay focused on the quality of product, customer service and knowledge, ensuring that it meets his standards.

"I'm focused on the quality of our service and tools," says Ambtman, also citing KTS's ISO 9001:2000 certification. "As a service to our customers, we don't want to have to compete for them [only on] price."