SIC 3544 Special Dies and Tools, Die Sets, Jigs and Fixtures, and Industrial Molds

SIC 3544

This classification includes establishments commonly known as contract tool and die shops primarily engaged in manufacturing, on a job or order basis, special tools and fixtures for use with machine tools, hammers, die-casting machines, and presses. The products of establishments classified in this industry include a wide variety of special tooling, such as dies; punches; die sets and components, and sub-presses; jigs and fixtures; and special checking devices. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing molds for die-casting and foundry casting; metal molds for plaster working, rubber working, plastics working, and glass working and similar machinery are also included. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing molds for heavy steel ingots are classified in SIC 3321: Gray and Ductile Iron Foundries, and those manufacturing cutting dies, except metal cutting, are classified in SIC 3423: Hand and Edge Tools, Except Machine Tools and Handsaws.

NAICS CODE(S)

333514

Special Die and Tool, Die Set, Jig, and Fixture Manufacturing

333511

Industrial Mold Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

In the late 1990s, roughly 7,300 establishments operated in this industry. Employment totaled 127,854 workers receiving a payroll of more than $5.3 billion in 2000. Of these employees, 99,977 worked in production, putting in almost 205 million hours to earn wages of nearly $3.8 billion. Overall shipments for the industry were valued at more than $14 billion in 2000.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

In the mid-1990s, the states ranking in the industry top ten by value of shipments were, in order of descending value, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, Indiana, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota. Together these ten states accounted for 81 percent of total shipments and 79 percent of total employment for the industry. Of the top 15 firms in the industry, five were located in Michigan, reflecting the firms' proximity to centers of automotive design and production. The automobile industry has long provided tool and die producers with one of their most important markets.

The industry is served by the National Tooling and Machining Association of Fort Washington, Maryland, known as the National Tool and Die Manufacturers Association until 1960 and the National Tool, Die and Precision Machining Association until 1980. The Association was founded in 1943 and had 3,100 members and a staff of 40 in 1996, making it among the largest trade associations in the United States. Among the Association's publications were the annual Buyers Guide...