Kickstart: Teaming up plus podcasting, working from home

A week or so ago, I got a call from a molder in the Southwest in search of a partner that could help it make and distribute face shields. This molder had plenty of capacity to make headbands but was having problems sourcing a supplier of sheet.

We shared some contact names, but I know there are similar stories all over: Molders with expertise in one area eager to join what auto industry watchers call the "Arsenal of Health" but without the in-house capacity or contact list to make a complete product.

What you're seeing in response are new kinds of joint ventures growing globally with companies cooperating on a project. At the same time, trade groups such as the Plastics Industry Association or the Manufacturers Association for Plastics Processors are providing a forum to connect different parts of the supply chain.

Steve Toloken has one story from Ohio that involved toolmakers, molders, materials suppliers and assembly companies to make face shields. They had to work together, Matt Hlavin, CEO of injection molder Thogus Products Co., said, because of the size of the project and growing potential for shortage of materials.

"Really, the biggest challenge right now that everybody is seeing was being able to secure the material for the face shield," he said.

Hlavin said his group managed by getting polycarbonate directly from a Saudi Basic Industries Corp. plant in Mount Vernon, Ind., where Sabic both makes pellets and extrudes the sheet needed for the shields.

Have you been following Publisher Brennan Lafferty's new version of "What Keeps You Up At Night?"

This is a new take on the series of print articles in which he (and Editor Don Loepp) would visit processors to hear directly from top company executives about the biggest issues they were facing.

First off, no one is visiting any companies right now (Don probably did one of the last in-person interviews in mid-March when he visited the new Millennium Plastics LLC) and second, there's pretty much just one issue facing everyone.

In this new take on the series, Brennan is now an at-home podcaster, speaking to CEOs, HR managers and other industry leaders about how they're facing COVID-19. The latest of these weekly podcasts was with Geoff Foster, the founder of Core Technology Molding.

You can find all of the podcasts at plasticsnews.com/audio.

This is kind of a lo-fi approach, since we don't have the ability to go into a studio. It uses a pre-formatted system, so there's the occasional lapse in audio between segments, but don't let a pause or two put you off. Besides, it's a chance to hear his kids, sons Zeke and Andrew, and daughter Grace, as they provide the voices for promotional ads and handle the behind-the-scenes editing.

Back on March 13, the staff at Plastics News headed out of the office on a Friday with a plan in place to have everyone work from home at least one day during the next week as a trial run, just in case the coronavirus would one day force the office to close.

Of course, things changed quickly. Almost the entire Crain Communications staff in Detroit — not just PN but also our sister publications — has been out of the office since then. So our home offices may not have been quite as put together as we'd hoped.

Of course, we weren't alone in the sudden change. I recently asked folks to share photos their makeshift home offices, just to make clear that everyone is finding creative ways to work.

Maybe you've found a way to create a standing workstation in your game room.

Or you had to make space at the table since two (or more) of you are now working from home.

And perhaps that corner is getting just a bit crowded.

Want to share your view? You can drop a photo to me at [email protected]. Or if you've got some tips for staying sane while working at home, you can send those along to me, and I can share them.