Innovation is essential to the future of any plastics company. The need for innovation has been shouted from the rooftops countless times, and there hardly can be a processor or mold maker who has not heard the word.
The key to technological innovation is collaboration. Tomorrow's success will come from today's new ideas. And not all of those ideas are going to come from the same place.
During the last week of November, Nypro assembled key people at the Global Technical Conference at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
Experts from all over the industry - from engineers to vendors to university professors - attended. Participants included a strategist from Wake Forest University; three professors from the UML Center for Industrial Competitiveness; the heads of numerous UML's departments; the executive director of the Biodegradable Products Institute; the director of research and development for UML's Nano & BioManufacturing center; and the director of the state initiative to generate a billion dollars in life sciences funding for the future
There, we talked with creative minds that will improve the lives of future generations, and we learned how to be a part of it.
Long-term sustainability is an important goal. How customers rate their experiences with companies, as well as how employees at those firms are motivated to excel, are essential components of vitality.
And the goal cannot be achieved alone. Companies need as many friends as they can get.
Collaboration through technology is a key strategy. In the end, it's about serving customers - meeting their needs and even staying ahead of those needs, in order to provide a total solution.
To do this, employees need to be able to bring the world's best plastics technology and innovation to customers.
To compete, companies need to be real entrepreneurs, to deliver innovation with a passion that defines their niche.
Networked knowledge is critical. We have to communicate, share and work as a team to tap into new ideas, from wherever they come. It is essential to collaborate, communicate, and cascade technology projects along, working together as a team. History is full of examples of using joint ventures and alliances to grow and solve customers' problems.
Lapres is president and chief executive officer of Nypro Inc.
