Kickstart: Who's ready to be done with 2020?

Welcome to the final Kickstart of 2020. I'd love to make some proclamation here declaring that we're leaving behind all that made 2020 so difficult, but we all know that the medical and economic trials aren't over yet. So I'll resist the temptation to put a tidy bow on the year that was.

For the record, the first time Plastics News mentioned the coronavirus was the Jan. 24 Kickstart, when it was a "flu-like illness" that had appeared in Wuhan, China. Automakers and suppliers in the region were curtailing travel and keeping an eye on health guidelines.

"The impact on production may not be clear for weeks to come," I wrote in that first mention of COVID-19.

If you'd rather not wallow too much in what we didn't know, I'd suggest you remind yourself of what the plastics industry actually did manage to accomplish. You can download the Oct. 26 digital edition of PN, which we gave over wholly to coverage of the "Rapid Responders." For a couple of examples, how about Frank Esposito's interview with three Braskem workers who volunteered for a 28-day shift or Sarah Kominek's story on how molders adjusted production to fill new needs, such as Molded Precision Components of Ontario. Its business went from 95 percent automotive in December 2019 to 90 percent medical today.

SiO2 Materials Science has opened a new plant to make vials used to deliver COVID-19 vaccines, less than six months after announcing the expansion in Auburn, Ala.,

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey joined company and local officials for a Dec. 21 ribbon-cutting. SiO2 announced the project on July 1.

SiO2's patented vials combine a plastic container with a microscopic, pure glass coating on the inside.

Robert Abrams, founder and CEO of SiO2, said in a news release from Ivey's office that the company designed special machines, each 130 feet long and armed with sensitive cameras to detect defects or contaminants, to mass produce the vials. The facility will have 10 production lines, each capable of turning out 15 million vials and syringes per year.

"The container that this vaccine is in has to be so pure and perfect that it doesn't have a negative effect on the vaccine," Abrams said. "It's a very complicated product. There is no one else in the world who could make it."

This year a lot of companies found themselves with a new business format. Add New York City furniture maker Plexi-Craft Quality Products to the list.

The Brooklyn company had specialized in fabricating custom acrylic furniture for nearly 60 years. Its $1,500 Z-shaped clear acrylic chair even made it into a photo shoot for TV's Sex and the City. In March, coronavirus shutdowns forced Plexi-Craft to temporarily close.

That quickly changed, though, as some high-end customers of its furniture sought out a local company that could do custom barriers in offices, hotels and even a dental practice.

The New York Times has the story on how Plexi-Craft became a signature supplier of protective equipment.

"Ponce Bank, a small community bank based in the Bronx, also signed on as a customer this year. Many of its clients need cashier access, so all of Ponce's 13 branches stayed open throughout the shutdown," Hillary Chura wrote for the Times. "Within two weeks, Plexi-Craft had made 60 individual desk barriers for the bank. The total cost was $16,000, according to Steve Hamilton, the bank's designer-in-residence.

"We knew we could get some cheap Chinese-manufactured shields that were maybe a little less expensive — not much less — but we wanted to do it locally," Hamilton said.