Moulding and tooling outsourced to China returning to UK

01-Jun-09

Quality problems are causing the return of moulding and tooling work from China to the UK as per PRW. Dave Hughes of Hong Kong & China Moulds, accepts that there is a perception problem with Chinese tooling – but he stresses that there are excellent tool makers to be found. As a result, the company is still winning business, most recently from a UK-based automotive manufacturer. However, injection moulders at PDM reported that customers have started to source more moulding contracts in the UK again. Sales and marketing manager Alastair Green told PRW that this emerging trend for UK OEMs to place moulding contracts closer to home was because customers have become unwilling to hold stock after being badly exposed in the economic downturn. If mouldings are shipped from China, the customer has money locked up in stocks at three stages – on their own premises, on the sea and at the Chinese moulder. UK based molders are offering next day delivery as more customers start to demand a “just-in-time” service. This is a well-established practice for automotive moulders, but other moulding end sectors now seem to be adopting the “just-in-time” model as well. Beside perceived quality and stock issues, another reason why tooling and moulding is returning to the UK is the cost factor. Currency fluctuations between sterling and the Hong Kong dollar mean that in the past 12 months the cost of Chinese tooling has risen by 30%, along with affecting shipping costs.