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As MoldMaking Technology celebrates its 10th anniversary, Aurora, IL-based B A Die Mold also has something to commemorate—40 years of service under the watchful eye of industry veteran Alan Petrucci, who started the company back in 1968 and has been an active participant in the industry for nearly half a century.

Although Petrucci’s daughter Francine has been president of the company for the past six years, Petrucci is the principal of the company and is still actively involved in the daily aspects of running the business—especially in the areas of design, sales and quoting.

Photos courtesy of BA Die Mold.

Immersed in the Industry
Once Petrucci graduated from Lyons Township High School (La Grange, IL), he promptly entered the moldmaking trade—serving as an apprentice in Chicago-based Midland Die & Engraving. Petrucci worked at three shops before he made the decision to strike out on his own. In February 1968 he formed B A Die Mold with a partner, whom he bought out two years later. Since then, the company has stayed in the family.

Petrucci takes pride in the fact that the company has survived tough times and continues to thrive. “The last 10 years have seen dramatic improvements in CAD/CAM as well as accuracy and speed of machine tools,” he notes. “We are working with fewer people and turning out more work because of this technology, so we are staying as lean as we can be while producing more. And, we haven’t changed our shop rates in the past five or six years. We are holding the line because we are more efficient.”

A Bright Future
Although Petrucci sees himself “partially retired” over the next 10 years, he wants to remain active in the company. He believes the industry is poised to grow busy once again.

“There is more purchasing power in third world countries now than there ever was before, and I believe that will continue to grow, and as that grows, they will require consumer products. The U.S. still has the edge in moldmaking and molding and we will be very busy.”

Clearly, Petrucci has every reason to be proud of his accomplishments on both a personal and professional level. He believes he has received just as much as he has given—if not more.