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December 15, 2014 01:00 AM

Plastics News by the year: 2003

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    GE Plastics
    GE Plastics marks the 50th anniversary of Lexan polycarbonate, which went to the moon on astronauts' visors.

    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: 2003.

    January

    Pickup trucks are going upscale, with Ford debuting an overhead entertainment system for its iconic F-150. “We are going to change the expectation about what a truck can be,” says Ford executive James Padilla.

    Disney is going plastics, with SPI supporting a “Fantastic Plastic” exhibit at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center. The facility will open by the start of next year

    February

    GE Plastics marks the 50th anniversary of its Lexan polycarbonate at an event attended by former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, whose helmet was made of Lexan when he walked on the moon.

    Auto supplier Visteon Corp. tells its Tier 2 suppliers that not only does it want cost cuts, it expects its suppliers to pre-pay the first year worth of reductions in order to remain on the supplier list. The “prepay to play” plan is soon tossed out when the industry rejects the idea.

    March

    The auto industry is taking notice of China. GM says it saw its sales in the country triple in one year, while Volkswagen says the country will account for 15 percent of its global sales. Some forecasters are saying China could see sales approaching 14 million by 2015. Their prediction is off. China's numbers top that long before 2015 and is closer to 20 million now.

    Mexican molders who had grown thanks to production moving from the U.S. there are now worried that production will move to China instead.

    April

    A global outbreak of a flu-like illness called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, is complicating global production, forcing travel bans into some areas of Asia.

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. may be investing in American production now, but in 2002 its officials were telling suppliers to “suck it up” when it came to resin price increases.

    May

    General Motors is hoping to revive its struggling Saturn brand, with its thermoplastic body panels, by launching a performance version of its Ion, the Red Line.

    Tornados sweep through the Midwest, causing turmoil for plastics companies. PolyOne Corp.'s plant in Dyersburg, Tenn., is hit on May 4 and a day later another storm destroys an Owens Corning fabrication plant in Springfield, Tenn.

    June

    SPI launches a petition drive to try and get legislators to recognize the economic turmoil facing the plastics industry. “We're the fourth largest industry in this country,” notes SPI's Lori Anderson, “and I don't think anybody on Capitol Hill understands that at all.”

    Attendance at NPE is expected to drop nearly 20 percent this year as companies cut travel costs.

    July

    Amazon

    Procter && Gamble's Folger's coffee brand went plastic with its containers in 2003.

    Eastman Chemical Co. has its first development project with an industrial design firm when it works with IDEO to develop prototype sunglasses using its resins. The company has developed long-term relationships within the industrial design community since that first project.

    Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. Inc. buys baseball helmet maker ABC Helmet Co., buying a bit of baseball history in the process. ABC was started by baseball innovator Branch Rickey, the same man who integrated baseball when he hired Jackie Robinson.

    Procter & Gamble Co. switches to HDPE for containers for its Folgers coffee brand.

    August

    The gas-assist molding legal dramas continue as Gain Technologies Inc. sues a Canadian molder saying its production violates its patents, while Cinpres Gas Injection Ltd. sues Gain in a German court.

    Dutch Boy paints make the switch from metal pails to HDPE and wins an industrial designers award for the product.

    Hundreds — perhaps thousands — of plastics companies are hit in a massive blackout that cuts power to regions stretching from New York to Michigan. The outage will be blamed on a cascading series of outages that began in Ohio

    September

    Listerine debuts the breath freshening mint film, an edible film that melts in your mouth.

    October

    The Strong Museum of Play

    An attempt to revive the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots died in 2003.

    An attempt to revive a classic line of injection molded toys including the Big Wheel and Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots comes to an end when the owners of the company seeking to sell the replica toys are charged with stock fraud.

    The London Metal Exchange will offer trading on PP and LLDPE futures.

    November

    Bayer AG says it will spin off its chemicals business and part of its polymers business into a separate publicly-held company by early 2005. The split will see the company keeping its polycarbonate and polyurethane business, although in 2014 it announced plans to spin the rest of its plastics business into a publicly traded firm.

    Omnexus pulls the plug on its eMarketplace online commerce site, admitting it no longer made business sense.

    December

    Newell Rubbermaid Inc. is closing its landmark Rubbermaid Home Products plant in Wooster, Ohio, cutting more than 850 jobs and a symbol for the city and the company.

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