Article: Toolmaking ripe for mergers.

This is the year of being careful.

That was the phrase used by John Hilbert, president of toolmaker Reddog Industries Inc. of Erie, Pa.

While the economic slide might not be as doom and gloom as the media have reported it, it has made mold makers shiver, Hilbert said. The slump is particularly hard for mom-and-pop toolmakers that helped build the industry in its earlier, salad days, he said.

"We've already seen a lot of them go out of business," Hilbert said. "I wouldn't want to start over today, and you don't see a lot of new shops. The money you have to spend in this day and age is mind-boggling."

As the decade progresses, the ...

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