Jeff Lucas, Assistant Manager, Toyota Purchasing Total Cost Assessment Group

Having served an apprenticeship in both tool & die and mold making, Jeff received his journeyman’s card from NTDPMA – now PMA. He worked in the automotive industry for many years prior to working for Dell Computers as a tooling engineer. This opportunity provided Jeff international exposure to tooling in Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, Mexico, China, Taiwan, etc. Understanding their cultures, methods, logic, and costs provided Jeff opportunity to develop analysis tools needed to determine factual tool costs and the process improvements necessary to compete in a global market.

With 36 years of tooling, Jeff’s interest now lies in helping and teaching others to become the best suppliers and tool builders in the world. He believes that OEM’s don’t need to off shore their tool builds, but rather, localize at globally competitive costs and put the North American workforces back to work so they will be able to afford to purchase the vary products the OEM’s are trying to sell.

In support of this effort, Jeff wants to help tool builders compete in a global market, change their cultures, their business models, and their methods. Jeff believes that deeply held values and convictions without arrogance can help create a vision with clarity, and one needs to embrace creativity to build a successful enterprise. Not fearing competition, but learning from it, improving it is what is critical.