Nick,
Last I heard the number was $30 Billion worldwide. There is a leading moldmakers
association in the US. I'm certain someone on the list can supply a phone
number. In fact the president of Infinite Machines which owns ExpressTool was a
former president of this association. Also there is a major tooling show
11-Nov-98 in Detroit. Hope this gets you there.
Regards,
Jim Williams
Paramount Industries
215.757.9611
215.757.9784 fax
888.RPTOOLS toll free
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Size of market for prototype tooling?
Author: "Nick Osborn" <Nick@lip.co.uk> at INTERNET
Date: 10/27/98 5:41 PM
Dear List
Does anyone know of any independent information on the size of the current =
and potential markets for prototype tooling?
I am thinking primarily re. the injection moulding of polymeric materials, =
although any info. on the die and investment casting industry would also =
be most welcome.
At one end of the scale we have information on the number of RP systems =
sold, the general value of primary and secondary RP markets, etc. (e.g. =
Terry Wohlers' annual report http://www.WohlersAssociates.com, Marshall =
Burns @ http://www.ennex.com).
At the other end there is info. on the size of the injection moulding =
industry, in similar terms, i.e. number of injection machines sold, how =
many million tonnes of material processed, etc. (e.g. K98 website - =
http://www.kunststoffweb.de/k98newsweb/eng/back.htm).
We know of several companies whose annual tooling budget is >=A31m - one =
in particular systematically budgets for =A32m and regularly spends =A33m =
or more, i.e. overspend of 50% or greater, with the understanding that: =
"it's the nature of complex injection tooling...it goes with the territory"=
.
I feel sure that the actual figure spent on injection mould tooling =
globally would make interesting reading, given the level of hype around / =
interest in / demand for prototype tooling.
It would seem that more and more companies are recognising the hidden =
benefits of getting not just the design, but also the true functional =
capabilities of a component, fully evaluated before committing to (still =
expensive, still time consuming) production tooling.
I will post a summary of any responses to this enquiry to the list - =
thanks in advance for any information.
Regards
Nick
Nick Osborn
Technical Director
------------------------------------------------
nick@lip.co.uk
Laser Integrated Prototypes Ltd.
140 - 144 Station Road, March,
Cambs. PE15 8NH, UK
http://www.lip.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1354 650 789
Fax: +44 (0) 1354 650 799
-------------------------------------------
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