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We all know it’s easier to retain a customer than to find a new one. However, many manufacturers continue to pour millions of dollars into new business development while neglecting simple customer-retention strategies.

During the past 15 years, plastic has evolved into the preferred product choice for many packaging applications. During the same time it has also attracted increased scrutiny from consumers and marketers interested in environmentally responsible approaches to plastic packaging applications.

There has been a great deal of discussion over the past few years around the labor market, the unemployment rate, and so on. Most of it is at best uninformative, and at worst, just plain wrong. We are often left with a lot of data and very little information. In the next few paragraphs I will explain where all this data comes from, what it means,...

Across the industry, more and more recycling facilities are turning to certification to show their customers, competitors and peers that they are committed to the highest standards in the industry.

We advise our clients that being strategic in talent acquisition requires them to look forward and identify what's looming with regard to hiring trends and opportunities. With that in mind, here are eight recruiting trends we see emerging in the...

I have never worked in the plastics industry, but I believe that plastic is the material of the future. Plastic, more than any other material, will be used to improve the lives of millions of people. Hence, my frustration with the "plastic is bad" brigade and the plastic industry's often knee-jerk response, confirming already vaguely held...

North American manufacturing has a moment of opportunity in 2013.

On behalf of the Vinyl Institute, I'd like to respond to the article “Author, activist Terry proposes big steps” [Jan. 21, Page 12]. While we agree it is important to monitor our consumption of all precious resources, the use of plastic, including vinyl, has a significant positive impact on our overall quality of life.

I regularly get calls from plastics companies all around the country that are having a tough time finding technical candidates with plastics experience. There are a few reasons why this is happening.

To the untrained eye it might look like a growing coalition of environmental groups are pushing bans on plastic bags throughout the country. We in the industry know the truth. Only a small number of communities in the United States have even...

Crain's Chicago Business' Focus section ran an Oct. 29 report on manufacturing that featured a story [Page 21] about the difficulties of finding skilled talent — “30,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs in Illinois,” according to the...

Even with unemployment across much of the United States running just under 8 percent, there’s a manufacturing skills gap that is making it difficult for many plastics firms to find the skilled workers they need to grow. Many technically...

Not having a thought-out succession plan is a plan. It’s a plan that allows others to make your choices for you — whether or not those choices are in line with your goals and desires.

The thermoplastic manufacturing process has always included aesthetics to some degree. But in the past decade, the worlds of design and plastic manufacturing are intersecting more powerfully than ever before — and with exciting results for industries including aviation and rail interiors, medical parts and retail environments.

You may not always be hiring, but you should never stop recruiting for “A” players. Keeping your supply of talent filled with the highest quality of professionals requires continuous talent acquisition and a focus on identifying, hiring, ...

Caveat emptor is an adage most   of us have grown up with since childhood. (Those high school and college Latin classes have really come in handy.) Seriously, we check Consumer’s Report to determine what stove, refrigerator, camera, or car to purchase, but when it comes to a company looking for an ISO 9000 registrar many fail to...

In case you have been living under a rock for the last five years, times are tough. We have seen our 401(k)’s decimated, colleagues “downsized” and operating budgets slashed. We have canceled vacations, sent our children to public schools and driven our cars a couple years longer than planned. We have been forced to adapt to a...

The typical R&D person at a polymer company is creative and inquisitive by nature. Like most, they want to be fairly compensated, but that is not what drives their passion. To them, innovation is a new product or a change that adds value: longer life, better functionality, more sustainability.

For over 30 years I’ve been involved in manufacturing and quality, starting at Sikorsky Aircraft and weaving through myriad industries — plastics, medical implants, industrial materials and printing. Indeed, I can remember the time when it was a significant achievement and honor for a company to acquire ISO certification/registration.

OEMs depend heavily on their plastic component suppliers to execute projects. They also need vendors that can continually bring new innovations and cost-saving ideas to them. Seems like a simple concept — suppliers develop stuff and OEMs use it. What makes it difficult is the complex nature of the OEM’s role and its challenging needs,...