Kickstart: Take those old records off the shelf

The story this week from Plastics News' Jim Johnson that Sony is halting manufacturing of polycarbonate data discs for audio, video and gaming in the U.S. and consolidating it in Austria got me to thinking: When is the last time I actually interacted with any kind of a disc?

I typically stream music or listen to the radio (the actual over-the-air radio), I stream movies and TV shows and outside of the daily Wordle puzzle (an obsession I share with the rest of the internet, apparently) am not really a game person.

After some thought, I recalled the drive I took last summer where it was hard to pick up radio signals or data for streaming, and I switched instead to listening to CDs.

I still own a lot of CDs, along with some DVDs and BluRay discs, but probably spend more time dusting them than using them.

But still, the impact of actually buying and holding a physical object retains its strong appeal. I can remember the first CD I purchased (by Peter Gabriel in the mid-1980s). Through working with musicians as a volunteer at a music venue, I know how much buying an actual CD or vinyl album benefits them financially, especially compared with the pennies they get from streaming services.

So I'll probably still occasionally buy and listen to discs, but even as a fan of those items, I can certainly understand Sony's decision.

Plastics News is upgrading its way of collecting and storing data used in our regular rankings of processors to make it easier for companies to submit its information, easier for us to update it in our systems and easier for subscribers to access news and data.

That's the information used for special reports, The Book at the end of each year and our background when we need information on a company for news stories.

Hollee Keller, Plastics News' editorial research coordinator, has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes for the past year to make this change to a web-based data collection system work as smoothly as possible.

"We've just added another way for companies to submit their data to us. Growing our listings has been a large priority for our team," she said. "When we write about a company, they get added to our large database of plastic-related firms. This way we can reach out to ask for production and operations data, as we update each list throughout the year."

Previously, forms went out in the mail and companies could either mail or fax them back. Hollee also follows up via email, which will continue.

The emailed survey forms will come from a domain listed as e.crainalerts.com and may end up in a spam folder. But don't panic, paper surveys still will be mailed out (just check your spam folder if you see a paper survey but hadn't noticed an electronic option).

Look for the invitation to respond in your inbox and keep an eye out for our familiar survey forms in the regular mail. Questions? Contact [email protected].

WeatherTech is returning to the Super Bowl.

The brand from auto accessories thermoformer and injection molder MacNeil Automotive Products of Bolingbrook, Ill., has purchased a 30-second ad in the first half of the NFL's championship game, according to our sister publication Advertising Age. No details of this year's ad have been released yet.

The ad will emphasize WeatherTech's "made-in-America" messaging along with spotlighting some of the new products MacNeil has brought to market, such as pet items and cellphone holders.

This will mark the ninth consecutive year WeatherTech has made a Super Bowl appearance. The 2021 ad, celebrating the fact that MacNeil products have always been made in the U.S., using North American-made machines, can be seen here, if you missed it.