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How Busy (Or Slow) Are you currently - Midwest Tool and Die / Automotive

TheBigLebowski

Aluminum
Joined
Sep 9, 2018
I am the sole employee/owner of a small business,doing detail/job shop work centered around the tool and die industry, especially stamping and fixtures/gages.

While I did pretty well earlier in the year, the last 3 or so months I have been disconcertingly slow. I have Dedicated A few days a week going shop to shop trying pick up new work/customers.

I have been able to pick up some work and new customers, but the overall theme is the same. Most of the places I stopped in are really slow, without even enough work to feed there own machines. I also continually hear that there is a "ton" of new stuff in the pipeline of the big three, though I cant confirm for sure. Several of the big stamping and mold shops have told me that they expect new tooling is still 3 or so months out.

Is Anybody in the tool and die field currently busy? Should We be concerned about another 08?
 
IMO, everyone should be expecting a recession, though lets hope it's not on the order of 08. It's been 11 years, we are due. I work mostly in repairs, so often a down economy is actually good for me.

I don't know what to tell you. Some shops are busy, some are slow. Seems to be hit or miss everywhere I have been.

I had the worst year I've ever had last year, but it's been pretty decent here for 4 months or so.
 
I had heard that the service centers (Alro?) had mentioned that things had been slowing up. So that covers a lot of different areas as a whole, but I'm not sure how much Automotive they would supply? Seems like most of that would be mill direct, but I don't know?

Personally - we have had a record year so far, but there could be light at the end of the tunnel. My production orders don't have as much backlog right now, but I have quite a bit of big/heavy parts to run right now that fills that gap.

FWIW - we are not typically Tool and Die as you ask, but the big/heavy stuff would seem to fall in that category.

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Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
I thought it was gonna be a slower summer about 3-4 weeks ago, but now it looks like its gonna be another pretty good year, really hoping it keeps going until 2024.
Could get even better if Canadians pull their heads out of their paper drink water box type things in October.

That said, some scrap prices appeared to go down a bit lately but maybe that's just me getting dicked around here.

As to automotive, GM managed to piss off quite a few buyers once again so I doubt that helped, well maybe it helped Ford, Toyota and Honda anyway...
 
Not you. Scrap has tanked the last 2 months.
I have been hoarding for several years, and was hoping to sell off this year, but doesn't look like it will be in the foreseable future.


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
I thought it was gonna be a slower summer about 3-4 weeks ago, but now it looks like its gonna be another pretty good year, really hoping it keeps going until 2024.
Could get even better if Canadians pull their heads out of their paper drink water box type things in October.

That said, some scrap prices appeared to go down a bit lately but maybe that's just me getting dicked around here.

As to automotive, GM managed to piss off quite a few buyers once again so I doubt that helped, well maybe it helped Ford, Toyota and Honda anyway...

I simply can not understand how incredibly retarded our PM is.
Actually, thats harsh on the mentally deficient.


Yeah, thats the retard thats in charge here....


Still busier than a 3 peckerd billy goat here. Mainly doing high dollar custom automotive stuff, with a mix of visual structural for monuments and high notoriety buildings.
 
Trade you. Two for one. Trump AND Pelosi.

At least YOUR retard gives cause to laugh ..... instead of crying...

:(

Done deal, where do we sign?
Pelosi is a magnum of wine away from stroking out lol
The orange man at least seems to be somewhat based in old school. We could use all of that we can get.

You surely wouldnt tolerate OUR virtue signalling, apologetic retard for more than 10 minutes.

sorry to drag in politiks....

Pretty sure it would be a war crime to send you poor bastards the "Turd"

Dont worry, come October we'll be exchanging him for whats hopefully not a red tory.
 
Done deal, where do we sign?
Pelosi is a magnum of wine away from stroking out lol

You surely wouldnt tolerate OUR virtue signalling, apologetic retard for more than 10 minutes.

She doesn't drink, actually. She's on meds for a legitimate health issue. Prolly live to be 100 with it, and herd cats in Congress the whole time.

And we could tolerate him just fine.

Our system, whomever is Pres doesn't much matter to anyone but the media.

Rest of us are just glad the lot of them are penned-up inside the beltway most of the year like weasels and snakes sharing a gunny sack.
 
business went from record breaker down to normal business levels(still be a good year)
.
the rumor is if you are going to order say $10,000,000. in new machines and if accountants say if you wait a few months and if tariffs are reduced and the machines you want are then $9,000,000. or $8,0000,000. so people wait to save millions of dollars
.
same as if somebody said a new car is $33,000. or if you wait a few months it will be $30,000., i dont know many that wouldnt just wait to save money.
 
Hey Egg Heads...................keep the poly ticks down in that other forum........................


Going strong here..............diversified costumer base.

And yeah.................scrap prices...............ugh! I've been fillin' a 10 yard lugger every coupla months with Ali and all I have been gettin is low 20¢/lb. Yuck!
 
Been really busy at the Cathouse since the start of 2017, as we are heavily into mining replacement parts. And our industrial customers seem to still be busy as well.

One good thing about this tariff war is when the US and China eventually come to agreement, the economy will be like a rocket with it's engines lit!

Chips are definitely down though (imagine China isn't buying as much out of "spite"). We sent off 21,000 pounds of 4140 chips last month, and I just received a check for $95!! (Yes, less than half-a-cent per pound). Had been averaging 3-5 cents....

ToolCat
 
Hey Egg Heads...................keep the poly ticks down in that other forum........................


Going strong here..............diversified costumer base.

And yeah.................scrap prices...............ugh! I've been fillin' a 10 yard lugger every coupla months with Ali and all I have been gettin is low 20¢/lb. Yuck!

If that is 20 cents for al turnings that beats our 15 cents. Solids are 32-35 cents at the two local yards.
$140 a ton for ferrous machine castings, cars are only $80 a ton.
 
Chips are definitely down though (imagine China isn't buying as much out of "spite"). We sent off 21,000 pounds of 4140 chips last month, and I just received a check for $95!! (Yes, less than half-a-cent per pound). Had been averaging 3-5 cents....

ToolCat

I hope they at least hauled it off for that $95.
 
when they announce tariffs going up months later obviously people order more stuff before price goes up and when tariffs are in effect with maybe being reduced months later if a agreement is reached obviously people delay on orders waiting for a cheaper price.
.
its like when a few years back USA had a tax break if you turned in a bigger pickup truck and got a smaller pickup truck, after smaller pickup truck sales dropped off cause of it after. so instead of steady business rates you got larger than normal swings in production and sales. maybe why Ford stopped selling the Ford Ranger truck for almost 10 years in the USA but continued to sell the Ranger overseas.
 
Prototype shop in central FL. Busier than ever, medical and optics work primarily (along with the usual assortment of odds and ends)
 








 
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