At Sirois Tool we feel it’s important to support industry associations. We believe that at a minimum you should join your industry associations to share and learn from fellow members. But it’s also important to support the organizational structure. At the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) Fall Conference in San Antonio last month Alan Ortner was nominated, elected and sworn in as an NTMA Executive Committee member for a 3-year term starting 1/1/18.

NTMA is a trade organization representing the precision custom manufacturing industry throughout the United States since 1943. Their vision is to become the premier center of knowledge, to lead the U.S. precision custom manufacturing industry in continuing world leadership. And their mission is to help members of the U.S. precision custom manufacturing industry achieve business success in a global economy through advocacy, advice, networking, information, programs, and services.

Another way to support industry associations is through participation at conferences and trade shows. This is a great way to stay current and learn about more than Tooling and Machining. At the 2017 Fall Conference, we attended a session on Digital Marketing (and Social Media.) This was very helpful in helping us understand what we’re doing right and where we need improvement.

Sharing best practices benefits not only the members of the organization but their customers as well. Understanding the most recent developments in the custom manufacturing industry helps us to use the best processes to continuously improve quality and delivery times while ensuring that price savings from this knowledge can be passed on to our customers.