Plastics News by the year: 1993

As Plastics News marks its 25th year of publication, we take a year-by-year look back at some of the events, people and curious coincidences that have shown up its its pages. Check back through the end of the year (not including holidays) to follow along. This year: 1993.

January

The National Plastics Exposition is changing its name. While it retains the initials NPE for a shorter version of the name, the official name for 1994 will be: the International Plastics Exposition and Conference.

Injection molder Rodon Group entered the toy market with an investment of more than $3 million to make a new, proprietary toy called K'Nex. Bob Glickman, Rodon's secretary and treasurer, points out that Kmart and Wal-Mart are picking up distribution of K'Nex in the coming year.

February

Molders looking to take advantage of the coming North American Free Trade Agreement and open shops in Mexico say they're running into an unexpected problem: Creditors worry that the companies will take their machines to Mexico and never return.

More than 30 companies are part of the estimated $275 million market for the new in-line skate business. The skates have a rigid plastic boot and polyurethane wheels. “No one's really sure right now what level of growth there's going to be,” says one molder.

March

Ford and GM are both considering a move that would shift the cost of tooling onto suppliers, rather than paying for molds up front. Suppliers would then amortize the cost of the tool throughout the life of the vehicle. This will not be the first or last time that automakers seek a change to tooling financing.

Portland, Ore.'s Puget Corp. is expanding production to make keyboards for Apple Computer's new Macintosh computers, shipping keyboards to Apple production in California, Ireland and Singapore.

April

Philips Consumer Electronics Co. of Knoxville, Tenn., is investing in laser disc production, betting that it will represent long term growth. (That's one bet that didn't pay off long term.)

May

Plastics processors throw their support behind the American Plastics Council's ad campaign, with 81 percent of them saying they are effective in reaching consumers.

German machinery maker Engel decided to stop manufacturing small presses with tie bars in Europe. Since introducing tie barless machines in 1989, the company has seen sales swell for those machines.

June

SPI Canada says it will create a vinyl division to defend the material against attacks on PVC by the environmental group Greenpeace.

The U.S. National Park Service says it saved nearly $17 million by using HDPE pipe rather than iron pipe to replace water and sewer lines serving Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty. Crews slipped HDPE pipes through existing iron lines as part of the renovation at the Statue.

July

Processors say that if they move, they would consider North Carolina first. But which state calls them most often? Nebraska.

Flooding along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers are disrupting production throughout the Midwest. Floods and broken levees wipe out Galt Packaging in Wathena, Kan., Stevens Manufacturing Co. in Hermann, Mo., and Tetra Plastics Inc. in Chesterfield, Mo., in just a few examples.

August

PVC and chlorine manufacturers are teaming up to fight a potential ban on chlorine.

Two big names in toys are about to become one as Mattel Inc. — the maker of Barbie dolls — seeks to acquire Fisher-Price Inc., the maker of items such as the View Master and Chatter Telephone.

September

The new Clinton administration withdraws a proposal that would have given plastic pallet makers a major boost by requiring federal agencies to buy “environmentally preferable” plastic pallets rather than wooden ones. But on the other hand, it also withdrew a proposal that would have required reusable tableware over disposable plastic.

GM's Saturn division has purchased a 7,000-ton injection molding press from Ube, believed to be the biggest single action injection molding machine in North America. Saturn already has 17 presses with 5,000 tons of capacity and 17 with 3,150 tons of capacity.

October

Plastics processors say they worry they will see their costs increase under the terms of a proposed health care law from President Bill Clinton. (Clinton will withdraw the proposal, but many of the same concerns have come up under President Obama's Affordable Care Act.)

Wellman Inc. has started recycling PET bottles into a fleece material, which is then sold to high end clothing manufacturers including Patagonia Clothing Co.

November

Tariffs on many finished plastic goods and resins are about to fall now that the North American Free Trade Agreement has cleared the House of Representatives and is on its way to expected approval in the House.

December

As office printing technology moves from dot matrix to laser, ribbon cartridge molders are feeling the squeeze with sales falling rapidly. “It's a cutthroat business out there right now, and companies are in a panic mode,” says one molder.

The Mazda Miata is offering drivers an alternative: rather than a standard equipment ashtray, non-smokers can instead get a cup holder. Aeroquip Corp. of Maumee, Ohio, is making the ABS cup holder.