On the road for mold making

ISTMA Europe Meeting Brno (Czech Republic)

From 5 to 7 October, this year's ISTMA Europe Meeting took place in Brno in the Czech Republic. 35 members from 8 nations made their way to the Congress Centre at the Brno exhibition grounds. Even the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade and the Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce came to the toolmakers' meeting.

ISTMA Europe President Stephan Berz reported on the current situation in the industry and on what he is doing to make the industry tangible for policymakers. This was followed by a number of fascinating talks on technology, marketing and benchmarking.

Company visits and a walk up to the castle were also on the agenda. On the way home, I visited friends in Pilsen.

PDMEX 2026 Manila (Philippines)

At the invitation of Jimmy Chan, President of the Philippine mold makers' association, I visited PDMEX and the MTSC from 23 to 28 July 2026. I was given a very warm welcome at the trade fair and gave a technical presentation that also attracted attention in the online press.

On the last day, we visited the MTSC (Mold Technology Support Center) in Cavite. This is where companies send their toolmakers and mold makers for training. The facilities are very good, and there is room for more students. We are working on a cooperation in theoretical training based on my book.

My family was also able to visit the trade fair. For them, it was a completely new experience!

ISTMA World Conference Shanghai (China)

Every three years, the big ISTMA World Conference takes place, this time from 1 to 4 July in Shanghai. It was a superbly organized meeting of ISTMA members from all over the world. The official opening was followed by numerous speakers, including my friend Ryan Huang, President of the Chinese mold makers' association.

The main item on the agenda of the internal session was the election of a new president. Bob Williamson, who had been an outstanding and dedicated president for nine years, did not stand for re-election. Christian Dihlmann from Brazil, a long-standing member of the association, was unanimously elected as the new president.

Company visits and sightseeing were part of the program, and so was my book. We celebrated the finale with our Portuguese friends in downtown Shanghai.

Tryout in China

This year, I have already been to China several times for tryouts of various parts. Here are a few photos from 29 April. After a successful tryout, a walk and a dinner together are a must.

NORTEC Hamburg

On 4 February 2026, my wife and I took the train to Hamburg for NORTEC, a smaller trade fair for mechanical engineering and production technology. It was freezing cold. Before visiting the fair, we made a quick stop at the harbor for a few photos.

A special exhibition on tool and mold making may be planned for one of the next NORTEC fairs. That is why I wanted to get an idea of the fair and its exhibitors. If the current exhibitors stay on board, such a special show would be easy to organize. There are certainly enough suitable partners at the fair.

ISTMA Europe Meeting Berlin

There is always something going on at ISTMA: on 3 and 4 November 2025, the Europe Meeting took place in Berlin. Top-class speakers, exciting talks and a very special overall program!

K Show 2025 Düsseldorf

From 8 to 15 October 2025, the K Show took place again at the Düsseldorf exhibition center. It is considered the world's largest plastics trade fair: everyone who is anyone in the industry is there. So at least two days at the fair are a must.

Something I have always wondered about: how are bulbous glasses made? Injection molding alone cannot do it. As so often, it is quite simple once you know how. First, a preform is produced by injection molding. It is then inflated upside down with hot air in a blow mold until the plastic takes on the right contour in the closed mold. Cool down, done.

Of course, my book could not be missing at such a leading trade fair. Many thanks to Mark Smith, my editor at Hanser.

Plastpol trade fair Kielce (Poland)

Seeing something different for a change: the Plastpol trade fair from 21 to 23 May 2025 in Kielce, Poland. I was surprised how many German exhibitors and German exhibits there were at this fair in Poland. With 7 halls, around 600 exhibitors from all over the world and 15,000 trade visitors, it is one of the larger fairs in Europe!

As I already wrote in my report from Gdańsk: mold making in Poland is clearly on the rise! By the way, Plastpol stands for plastic and polymer and not, as you might think, plastic Poland. 😉

VDWF poster campaign 2025

In spring 2025, the VDWF (German association of tool and mold makers) launched its poster campaign “no product without mold making – think global, source local!”. On our Sunday trip to the Porsche Museum, we photographed all 7 posters along the way. There is also a photo of the Porsche Museum.

VDWF delegation trip to Portugal

The VDWF delegation trip took us to Portugal from 1 to 4 April 2025. With the region around Marinha Grande and Leiria, the country is one of the most important locations for tool and mold making in Europe.

The gallery shows a few photos and impressions of the trip.

ISTMA World Conference 2025 São Paulo (Brazil)

From 24 to 28 March 2025, the next ISTMA World Conference took place in São Paulo, Brazil. There are no photos of the conference itself this time, but SENAI impressed me deeply once again. Professor Spada has a great team, and the students are remarkable. I would love to be a teacher there!

To round things off, I flew home from São Paulo at night, with a great view of the skyline.

ISTMA Europe Conference Gdańsk (Poland)

From 11 to 13 February 2025, the ISTMA Europe Meeting took place in Gdańsk. After arriving, we took a historic sailing ship along the Motława river out to Westerplatte. It was on this peninsula at the harbor entrance that the Second World War began on 1 September 1939: at 4:45 a.m., the German battleship “Schleswig-Holstein” opened fire on the Polish munitions depot there. Today, a large monument commemorates the Polish defenders.

The actual meeting followed on the second day. The highlight was the election of Stephan Berz as the new President of ISTMA Europe.

After the meeting, we took a bus to Bydgoszcz, the center of the Polish toolmaking industry. There we visited three mold making companies, followed by a dinner together. In Poland, too, politicians took the opportunity to welcome the participants and say a few words. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the companies. Mold making in Poland is developing very quickly and will probably become a serious competitor for Germany in the future.

Visit to SENAI University São Paulo and ABINFER annual meeting Joinville (Brazil)

Visit to SENAI University in São Paulo and the annual meeting of ABINFER (the Brazilian association of tool and mold makers) from 16 to 21 June 2024.

At the invitation of SENAI University, I was in São Paulo in June 2024. SENAI is probably one of the largest educational institutions in the Americas, with several locations throughout Brazil. Every year, more than 100,000 students are trained in all kinds of disciplines. My focus was on the training of toolmakers. Students told us about their training, its content and how it is organized. What impressed me most was the motivation, courtesy and discipline of the trainees. It was a real pleasure to meet these young people. By the way, the ratio of boys to girls is 50:50.

Afterwards, the ABINFER annual meeting took place in Joinville. Even the Vice President of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin, took the opportunity to speak about the importance of the industry. And of course, company visits and my book were part of it too. It was a very impressive week!

ISTMA World Conference 2023 Cape Town (South Africa)

From 6 to 10 November, I attended the ISTMA World Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Exciting talks, interesting company visits and some free time made for an entertaining week. My personal highlight was climbing Table Mountain by the front, most difficult route with my friend Flori. When we reached the top, we were completely exhausted!

Publication of the 3rd English edition of my book

On 12 August 2023, the 3rd English edition of my book “Injection Molds for Beginners” was published.

Do you know how this book came about?

From 2010 to 2015, I was head of the Technology Center at a well-known manufacturer of machining centers. Part of my job was to work with the sales team on tool and mold making in more depth. Materials, manufacturing processes and so on were to be discussed. But there was no suitable material for the presentation that met the requirements. So you make your own pictures, texts and lists.

And in 2015, this small handbook from 2011 became the book “Spritzgießwerkzeuge für Einsteiger”. Meusburger, the main supplier of my own mold shop for many years, kindly translated the book into English. I am still very grateful to Meusburger for that!