Riding the Edge of the Decision Making Process: Incoming ACMA President Bill Kreysler and the Precarious Existence of the Composites Custom Molder When most of your customers place orders for no more than eight parts, with any one project in the shop holding the potential to sink the business, when you have to referee the all out wars between the creative and analytical armies in your mind, when you have to almost perfectly time the end of jobs and the beginning of others, then, maybe then, you can wear the badge of custom molder. How do they do it? Incoming ACMA President Bill Kreysler tells his story. By Andrew Rusnak

When Are Caul Plates Called For?
What are the mechanics behind the tool that can help prevent resin pressure loss, boil out, starvation and enrichment, as well as core crush, ply slip, intra- and inter-laminar delamination, and excess porosity? When should caul plates be used and how can they improve quality and prevent costly process failures?
By Kirt Butler

How Can We All Get Along? The Relationship Between Manufacturers, Distributors, and Suppliers
About the only costs that aren't going up these days are the ones manufacturers pass on to customers. Are they getting squeezed in the middle? Are new strategies, or a new paradigm, called for?
By Russ Fisher

Composites and Politics
ACMA charges to the political fore.

Columns

President's Message - Outgoing ACMA President Richard Morrison, President of MFG, wraps up a triumphant term in office, summarizing a long list of goals the Association has risen to meet.

President's Message - Incoming ACMA President William Kreysler, President of William Kreysler & Associates, promises to build on the successful legacy of years past, as well as challenge each and every member to think in new and exciting ways.

In-Frastructure - NCC's Ela Kos elaborates on how composite bridge decks helped to merge beauty and performance for the Anacostia River waterfront in Washington, D.C.

Regulatory Perspectives - ACMA Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs John Schweitzer steps small manufacturers through the single most important issue they will face. MACT: A Primer.

Pulling Strings - CM's Production Coordinator Rebecca D'Amico interviews Gabrielle Gallegos, co-owner/CEO of Gorton Merrick.