2017 Editorial Advisory Board: Tim Krieger

Tim Krieger is the president and owner of Krieger Craftsmen Inc., MoldMaking Technology’s 2016 Leadtime Leader Award recipient. Investment in skilled employees, high-end machine tool technologies and automation equipment, with an eye on “productionizing” mold manufacturing, is of chief importance to Tim as he leads his company toward future growth and diversification. An expertise in molds for automotive lighting products, including reflex, fresnel and pillow optics, has helped propel Krieger Craftsmen into a leading position with OEM customers. The company also serves the appliance, medical, and consumer product industries. 

Looking back, Tim will tell you his company is rooted in humble beginnings. He established Krieger Craftsman (singular, as he was a one-man shop) in 1989 while living in Monterey, California. In 1993, he returned to his home state of Michigan, where he restarted his moldmaking business and ran it out of the garage of his Grand Rapids home. By 1995, Tim had moved his company into a 5,000-square-foot stand-alone building in Walker, Michigan, and with the addition of employees, changed the name to the plural “Krieger Craftsmen.” In 2009, Tim decided he had to take his company in a new, innovative direction and introduced a new management team that shared the same fundamental values that he says he had from the beginning: integrity, honesty and quality. He says the success of a company rests on those values, combined with teamwork based on mutual respect. To drive this home, Tim often tells potential customers and valued suppliers (expecting the same accord), “I won’t lie to you, and I won’t lie for you. We’ll do what we say and won’t take on something we can’t do. If I wouldn’t bring you home to Sunday dinner with my wife, and this is not an invitation, chances are we won’t be doing business together for very long.” 

Tim says he is honored to be part of the MMT EAB. In this role, he says he brings valued life lessons to the table, and he believes mentorship and a focus on people and company culture is critical to recruiting and retaining young talent. He’s also passionate about exploring new and unconventional avenues for streamlining the moldmaking process at his Grand Rapids-based company. Tim resides with his remarkable wife, Jennifer, at their cabin further north. He enjoys fly fishing rivers and cruising and fishing the Great Lakes, as well as traveling to the Florida Keys.