Kickstart: Safer living with plastics

A rotomolded storm shelter is being credited for saving a family in Bremen, Ky., from the tornadoes that blew through the U.S. Southern and Midwestern states on Dec. 10 and 11.

The Evans and Pointer families told local TV station KSDK that their neighboring homes were on a concrete slab with no basement. About 10 years ago, though, the families had invested in a pre-made, in-ground storm shelter.

When the tornadoes swept through, eight adults and two dogs took shelter in the tiny capsule. The tornado badly damaged one house while another was blown away.

A number of companies, including rotomolder Granger Plastics of Middletown, Ohio, produce the shelters.

Justin Pointer said his father doesn't remember how much he paid for their shelter, "but he said he'd pay 100 times more for it now."

Every year sees a flurry of yearend mergers and acquisitions announced, and this year continues the trend. One of the interesting things I've seen popping up, though, is the move by companies to target purchases that allow them to vertically integrate.

While there has always been interest by companies to fill in portfolio gaps, there was also a big emphasis on focusing on core operations and shedding business units, that way companies figured they could simply buy what they needed from outside suppliers.

Maybe the new acquisitions are just part of the pendulum swing in M&A trends toward being "full-service" suppliers. Maybe they're in response to the supply chain chaos that has left firms waiting for deliveries. Either way, it's interesting to watch.

Consider the recent moves by two companies known for their plastics operations that recently acquired metal-based businesses.

On Dec. 20, Sonoco Products Co. announced a definitive agreement to buy Ball Metalpack of Broomfield, Colo., a manufacturer of metal packaging for food and household products and the largest aerosol producer in North America, for about $1.35 billion.

And on Dec. 21, Tide Rock Holdings — the owner of Plastics Design & Manufacturing, Pikes Peak Plastics and other cable and plastic subcomponents-producing companies — said it has acquired Bayless Manufacturing LLC of Valencia, Calif. That move will allow it to offer U.S.-based metal fabrication.

"Tide Rock has been interested in the metals and machining space for a while now. Many of our manufacturing companies' customers have metal fabrication needs. With Bayless, we can now offer them high-quality metal fabrication, machining and coating capabilities based in the U.S. and with capacity to scale,"  Tide Rock President Brooks Kincaid said in a news release.

Every guitar player needs a pick or two. But which one? It's not just a question of a finger pick vs. a more common rounded diamond-shaped pick, but rather what material should it be made from?

Alexander H. Tullo in the American Chemistry Society's Chemical & Engineering News writes that musicians have a range of plastics at their, well, fingertips.

There's the traditional cellulose as well as nylon and acetel. Each has its benefits and drawbacks, and many musicians have very specific preferences.

"Nylon picks are ... extremely durable, barely wearing down after many hours of use. The material is somewhat flexible, and perhaps as a result, the tone — at least this guitarist finds — can be a little dull," Tullo writes. "Acetal is a stiff engineering polymer with a slick surface. The material can be found in gears for electronics with moving parts, like printers. This guitarist finds that polyacetal picks offer a sharp attack and a clean, bright tone."