2000 Top 25 Diemakers

"A lot of diemakers fear they will be quickly left behind if they don't embrace [new technologies], regardless of the long-term implications on their business," says die industry veteran Nick Crabtree, technical and educational facilitator for the International association of diecutters & Diemakers (IADD). The rub, and where the revenue-to-profit ratio is being lost, is diemakers feel they have to grow at least 10 percent annually. To achieve that goal, contends Crabtree, they spend $300,000 they don't have on new equipment in hopes it will give them the capability to reap that 10 percent increase. What they neglect to calculate out, he says, is whether that extra 10 percent in revenue is going to pay for that $300,000 machine or system and still return a profit for the business.