Integration through services in the tool and die making industry in high wage countries

The tool and die making industry is located on the critical path in the production industry between its customers in product development and in mass production. An increasingly competitive global production environment has eliminated the traditional advantage in tool quality of high wage countries. This requires the tool and die making industry in high wage countries to achieve differentiation through quick and reliable processes to enable on-time mass production for their customers. The quickness and the reliability can be increased significantly by offering specific services to integrate the customer at the interface with product development and mass production. Latest study results of the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) at RWTH Aachen University on value creation networks show that the tool and die making industry in high wage countries has identified the potential of integration through services, but is not able to realize this potential with the customer yet. To bridge the gap between the status quo in the industry and the demand for integration through services, solutions have to be developed. This paper addresses this demand and illustrates three generic tool and die making companies that master the integration through services and achieve differentiation against global competition.