When the cocktail keeps getting better

18 small and medium-sized entrepreneurs gathered on November 5, 1992, at the Bad Hotel in Bad Überkingen. Their goal: to establish an association that advocates strongly for the interests of everyone in the industry, that consolidates the strengths and potentials of many small and medium-sized companies, and represents them against the industry. The birth of the Association of German Tool and Mold Makers, the VDWF.

25 years later, what was once an idea has become a vibrant network with more than 250 members, through which companies form strategic partnerships to jointly handle orders and leverage synergies. Yesterday, on the trade fair day of Moulding Expo (Wednesday, May 31), the VDWF celebrated its anniversary with a ceremony on the grounds of Messe Stuttgart. Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann delivered the keynote speech, focusing on the key role that tool and mold making plays in industrial manufacturing: “As a toolmaker, you produce the world's best products, and that must remain our goal and motivation. Therefore, I must give you all a big compliment for your great commitment in a tough competition, making our country a true success location and continuing to do so.” Kretschmann also emphasized the importance of not only striving for technological leadership but also demonstrating that it exists, and working on the training and further education of toolmakers. In this context, the Prime Minister pointed to the live injection-molded component “Polyman” displayed at the VDWF joint booth: “I am a teacher by profession, and Polyman is a brilliant idea because it shows practically what a tool can do wrong and right — hats off.”

Kretschmann also expressed his thanks and recognition to the VDWF, its member associations, and the entire industry for their overarching commitment: “As Prime Minister of an important industrial location, I know that prosperity, good jobs, and good tax revenues — which allow us to shape things — depend on you. The prosperity of this country rests on your shoulders — many thanks to you and your employees for showing this every week and for making good products.” At the end of his speech at Moulding Expo, Kretschmann directly appealed to the entrepreneurs behind the many SMEs shaping Germany's tool and mold industry: “Continue to push your companies forward on the global market, also through such trade fairs where you showcase what you can do.”

VDWF as a Meeting Space

Professor Thomas Seul also highlights the “driving forward.” “In the past quarter of a century, we have managed to become the most important industry association for tool and mold making,” says the VDWF President. “We are consulted on all matters of the trade, and we provide competent answers when our expertise is required.” The VDWF is economically healthy and can rely on a stable financial situation. “We can act completely independently, which is a crucial starting point to credibly offer the right services to our members. Only then have we succeeded in turning the VDWF into an active meeting space for the entire industry,” emphasizes Seul.

In 1992, there was hardly any talk of meeting and synergy in tool and mold making. Rolf Helle, initiator of the VDWF and former managing director of the association, recalls: “25 years ago, toolmakers were very self-confident minds — and they were mostly quite old-fashioned. Marketing? Superfluous — everyone knew me, that was the self-understanding in terms of marketing.” “Communication was via mail, and at best, a toolmaker would pick up the phone. The word data didn’t even exist; it was a foreign word in mold making. Technologically, it was the Stone Age,” says Helle.

With the opening of borders to the east and falling trade restrictions within the European Union, toolmakers increasingly faced powerful cheap competition — which brought small and medium-sized companies closer together and fostered the need for collaboration.

Heterogeneity as a Path to Success

“'Together strong' is our motto today,” says Thomas Seul. “We call on companies in the industry: You don't always have to do everything alone; you need to form strategic partnerships with others. Cooperative manufacturing strategies are the future.” The strength of tool and mold making, and also of the VDWF, lies precisely in the different orientations of individual companies. “We are heterogeneous in the size of companies, heterogeneous in the products, heterogeneous in the business fields or the business models of our members. This simply ensures that we always have interesting minds who do not say yes to everything but constantly question established facts — and that’s what moves us forward.”

The VDWF operates exactly in this spirit. For example, interfaces to other industry associations such as WI.SWF, VDMA, VDW, or BVMF, as well as to research institutes and universities, are maintained. “We still serve as the voice of our many smaller members, giving them the opportunity to be heard by corporations, clients, and markets where they couldn't reach on their own,” explains Seul. “Our companies have also learned to handle this situation well over the past 25 years. They have developed their own self-image.” And Seul adds that it’s not always a disadvantage to be a small company, comparing German toolmakers to speedboats that can always act flexibly and efficiently, thus giving the large tankers more than just a fight...”

To continue succeeding, the VDWF offers competent advice and practical support on topics such as training and further education, marketing, management, and expert services. The association also actively engages in overarching issues relevant to its members, such as DIN standards committees or CE conformity of tools and molds.

“Being present” – Visible and Active

The VDWF has created a completely changed culture of engagement within the industry. Thomas Seul: “How we interact, how we exchange ideas — we have cultivated this to foster growth. And of course, much depends on the attitude of the actors.” The VDWF developed event formats that help members stay technologically and organizationally ahead and promote exchange within the network. These include professional events, training sessions, seminars, joint stands at trade fairs at home and abroad, delegations, study trips, and informal gatherings like ski weekends and barbecues.

And, of course, Moulding Expo: Here, the VDWF celebrated its anniversary on the largest joint stand it has ever had. “This has never happened before in such quality — a platform presented by members for members in the tool and mold making industry,” says Thomas Seul. “Being present — being a strong and visible player in German industry — that is what the association and all toolmakers — not just VDWF members — must work together for if we want to continue claiming technological leadership not only in Germany but globally.”

The industry’s training strategy is becoming increasingly important. The VDWF sees training and continuing education as one of its main focus areas for the coming years. “We are involved in the inter-company training initiative and offer study programs at the Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences. That’s our unique selling point! Which other association has its own study program?” says Thomas Seul, who is a professor of manufacturing technology and tool design, prorector for research and transfer, and head of the Laboratory for Applied Plastics Technology at Schmalkalden.

But it’s not only the consolidation of technical and technological expertise of all members that makes the VDWF so interesting in the industry. There’s actually more — namely the individual as an actor in the industry. “It’s worth becoming a member of our association,” says Thomas Seul. “We are serious, authentic, goal-oriented, but above all, personal and human — always in the interest of our members. To ensure everything runs smoothly, we also indulge in a big sip from the bottle of free thinking and sometimes nonsense, to keep moving forward. This mixture is a very exciting cocktail, and I can only recommend everyone to try it once.”