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December 08, 2014 01:00 AM

Plastics News by the year: 1998

Rhoda Miel
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    File photo
    It was supposed to be the "merger of equals" as Daimler-Benz and Chrysler join forces. It was not.

    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: 1998.

    January

    Plastics News announces it is launching the IDSA/Plastics News Design Award along with the Industrial Designers Society of America to honor top designs using plastics.

    Kortec Inc. predicts that medical containers will make a big shift to plastic from glass now thanks to coinjection molding which provides oxygen and moisture barrier not previously available.

    February

    Inflatable furniture is “very, very hot right now,” says the owner of Flipo Enterprises, the maker of PVC inflatable PVC chairs, sofas and ottomans.

    The plastics industry's public image is slipping, according to a new APC survey, which showed 27 percent of people polled had a negative image of plastics, up from 22 percent a year earlier.

    March

    DuPont's survey of engineers in the auto industry shows that cost issues far outnumber any other issues driving automakers' demands now, with 39 percent citing cost as the biggest issue in the industry. Only 9 percent picked recycling as a major drive.

    Members of the Composites Institute vote to split from SPI, opening the door to a fragmenting of SPI's largest business unit.

    April

    McCormick Place

    The trade show Plastics USA is debating whether to return to Chicago's McCormick Place as exhibitors complain about costs.

    GE Plastics unveils the Nomad, a personal computer created using its resins extensively, and designed to compete with more metals-based computers. GE doesn't intend to make the Nomad itself, but instead is offering the technology to existing computer makers, and will supply the materials.

    Media groups are trying to find a standard package for DVDs which will set them apart from CDs while also protecting them.

    May

    The National Plastics Center and Museum is replacing 100-year-old slate roof tiles with ones made of Noryl PPO. The replacement project has been in development for four years.

    Auto suppliers are trying to figure out what the “merger of equals” between Chrysler and Daimler-Benz will mean for them. It could be good for innovative parts — such as Chrysler's planned plastic-bodied car — but difficult for resin suppliers who will see the move push prices down.

    June

    Poorly made PVC tubing in dialysis machines is suspected as the cause of four deaths and 35 hospitalizations. Supplier Gambro Healthcare Inc. says the problems are from one faulty batch made in Mexico in which flashing blocked the tubes.

    Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. agrees to make its biggest ever press — an 8.800-ton machine —as part of Chrysler's ambitious plan to mold an entire car body. (While Chrysler never does make its injection molded body, the machine does make a limited number of Jeep Wrangler roofs before the project quietly dies and the machine is sold outside the auto industry.)

    July

    Borden Chemical Co. exits the film business when it sells its remaining plants to Anchor Packaging Inc.

    SPI loses another unit as the Plastic Drum Institute votes to end its 16-year affiliation with the group and go solo. “We didn't feel like we were getting any bang for buck,” says PDI's chairman.

    August

    With television makers set to roll out their first high definition televisions this year, injection molding suppliers of television cabinets say they don't expect to see much of an impact for now. The televisions are expensive, and there are only a limited number of stations broadcasting in high definition, they say, although the general manager for one California molder notes that the sets are thinner and will require less plastic.

    Cincinnati Milacron Inc. will spent $210 million to buy Johnson Control Inc.'s Uniloy blow molding and structural foam molding machine business. JCI previously exited the packaging business, but retained its machine making unit.

    September

    Plastic is taking over from paperboard for single use milk containers. Dean Foods' HDPE Milk Chugs added 40 percent to its sales base when it began offering single serving chocolate milk in plastic. 

    Lego's Mexican arm reaches out to parents and children with a series of stops at shopping malls in which families are invited to help build giant Lego versions of iconic items such as the pyramid at Chichen Itza. Mattel Inc. announces it is phasing out the use of phthalates in chewable children's toys.

    October

    Injection mold makers Tradesco Mold Ltd. and Fairway Molds Inc. have merged ownership under the name StackTech Systems Inc.

    Exhibitors at Plastics USA in Chicago say they're seeing a new attitude at McCormick Place, where the union workers are helping to make setup easier. They're hoping this means a better relationship in the future, but: “Chicago is one of the few cities, along with Philadelphia, that have done virtually nothing to make it easy for show manages to do their jobs,” one organizer warns.

    Newell Co. is spending nearly $6 billion to buy Rubbermaid Inc., one of North America's largest injection molders.

    November

    File photo

    The rotomolded Think electric car.

    Norway's Pivco AS, the designer and creator of the rotomolded electric Think Car is forced into bankruptcy, leaving the fate of the eccentric car up for grabs. (The Think may have nine lives, though. It has had been purchased, shuttered and purchased again at least four times, most recently opening — then closing — an assembly plant in Indiana. It currently appears to be closed for good.)

    Machinery makers in Europe say the coming common currency the euro will make it easier to compete globally. “It will save time and money, and also it's much easier to compare the prices between euro countries,” one executive says.

    December

    Tyco International Ltd. is on track to become a major maker of connectors with two acquisitions set for companies worth a combined $12 billion.

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