Demag Plastics Group has made it official: Brian Bishop, who has served as interim president of its North American operations since March 2005 - now is president.
Bishop, 46, is overseeing the Strongsville factory's move to lean manufacturing, including an assembly line to make injection units that will start this fall.
``When molders see a machine made by Demag, I want them to see the industry's highest-quality machine, backed by the industry's leading aftermarket support,'' he said.
Pepyn Dinandt, chief executive officer of Mannesmann Plastics Machinery GmbH, made the announcement Dec. 16. Munich, Germany-based MPM is the parent of Demag Plastics Group.
Also, on Dec. 5, Bishop became chairman of the Committee on Equipment Statistics at the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. of Washington.
Bishop has 21 years of experience in plastics machinery. He spent 14 years at Mount Gilead, Ohio-based HPM, now a division of Taylor's Industrial Services LLC. His last position at HPM was general manager of injection molding.
After leaving HPM, Bishop became vice president of sales for Engel North America in York, Pa. He joined Demag Plastics Group in 2003 as vice president of sales for North America, then was promoted to executive vice president of sales and aftermarket in January 2005.
Bishop took on the post of interim president after the former top U.S. executive, Bill Carteaux, left to become president of SPI.
DPG's Strongsville plant specializes in making its Titan-brand press, a large-tonnage, two-platen machine. DPG sold a 2,200-ton Titan to Pilot Plastics Inc. of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Another 1,220-ton Titan was shipped in December to German automotive mold builder Christian Karl Siebenwurst Modell und Formenbau GmbH & Co. KG in Dietfurt.
``We've got a backlog of quite a few Titan machines that are on the floor right now,'' Bishop said. Demag also is getting requests for quotes from molders in other European countries and China, Malaysia and Australia.
Clamping force on the Titan ranges from 1,000 to 4,400 tons.
``There is a lot of activity in the world market on large-tonnage machines. ``We think we can play a major role in it,'' Bishop said.
High resin prices are a broader-based issue, since they impact the entire plastics industry, Bishop said. ``When you cut into the profit of an injection molding company, it makes it a lot harder for them to invest,'' he said. But he thinks resin prices have peaked and are leveling off.
In Strongsville, Demag also makes toggle-clamp HT machines, Newbury vertical presses, the all-electric IntElects and the Caliber, the predecessor of the Titan. DPG also makes injection presses at two German plants, in Schwaig and Wiehe.
Bishop said DPG has had two years of double-digit sales growth in North America.
