Management

These days in Brazil there is a lot of talk about the country’s emerging plastics chain, with links extending upstream to its state-run oil and gas companies; through the emerging petrochemical and plastics giant Braskem; down to the nearly 12,000 converters of resin in the country (plus the machinery suppliers that equip them); and finishing with the expanding middle class, whose consumption of plastics grows in direct correlation to their own climbing income.

Indiana is the latest state to join California, Florida, Massachusetts, and the Federal government in declining to intervene in a complaint filed earlier this year against JM Eagle, the world's largest pipe manufacturer, said the company in a statement. The so-called "whistleblower" lawsuit originally named 11 states and the District of Columbia in the plaintiff's lawsuit as "real parties in interest"-a listing that essentially invited those states and DC to join, or "intervene," in the lawsuit. Only four states have chosen to do so while three states and DC are still deciding.

In a study released in June by Deloitte LLP and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, the study found that, not surprisingly, the United States is losing ground relative to nations in Asia from a competitive manufacturing standpoint.

According to figures provided by the country's VDMA trade association, plastics processing machinery manufacturers in Germany have an awful lot to be happy about as orders grew 85% in thee first half of the year.

When it comes to investing in the green technology needed to create green jobs and safeguard the environment, small businesses in the U.S. are doing their part, as this manufacturer demonstrated during a recent visit by its state senator.  

There are many ways to be a sustainable company. In Part 3 of our in-depth look at the daily operations of the injection molding business of Xten Industries, our focus is on green design for more efficient manufacturing.

Xten Industries works hard at keeping its eye focused on productivity, profitability, efficiency, sustainability, and solving customers’ challenges with creative solutions. Opportunities for all of these exist in the various stages of the mold/molded part design, material selection, and the molding process chosen.

Being a resin market expert didn’t used to be one of the hats you had to wear. But now more than ever, it pays to understand what’s driving your biggest cost.

Waste is often only tracked within a mold cavity itself—is the part now cooling inside the tool ready to ship or is it scrap? A molder’s investment in material, however, extends over a broader scope of the process, from transferring resin out of the railcar to drying and beyond, reaching all the way to converting bad parts, runners, and sprues into renewed pellets. Out of every 10 lb delivered to your plant, how many pounds do you sell to customers as finished parts?

Onshoring is definitely happening, 
but offshoring continues.

Introduced in 2003 but still gathering steam in the market are Tug & Tote bags, a patented way to simplify supermarkets' logistics with produce bags while also improving customers' experience. The processor and converter, Waverly Plastics, took time to listen to and learn from its customers, and the effort has paid off many times over.