Notes from the field: The state of plastics processing

I had the good fortune to visit four injection molding companies in the U.S. Midwest last week. I have a full notebook, so there will be plenty of coverage coming from the trip.

But since many readers don't get an opportunity to visit a wide variety of molders in just a few days, I'm sharing my impressions of the state of plastics processing in the summer of 2019.

There's been a lot of talk in the industry about the chances for a recession in 2019 or 2020. Based on what I saw and heard, I don't see one on the horizon.

All the plants were busy. There was some grumbling about some specific projects, but overall, business is good. It's still a good time to own a molding company.

There was no real consensus on this, but I heard a few anecdotes from molders who expect to pick up work that is currently being done in China.

Beltway prognosticators may consider the U.S./China trade war to be temporary, but some OEMs are making changes to their supply chains that may benefit U.S. manufacturing over a longer term.

At the same time, I also heard stories about work that companies recently lost to Chinese competition.

U.S. molders have been on this treadmill the past 30 years, losing some customers to China, then chasing after new customers and applications to replace that lost work. That big picture hasn't changed; no one is handing out work willy-nilly just because there are tariffs on Chinese goods.

I've seen numbers pointing to a global slowdown in plastics machinery sales. I'm not going to argue with the data. But the companies I visited are still adding capacity and modernizing their plants.

They're being careful about spending money, but they like low interest rates and favorable tax laws that make investment easier to swallow. So their checkbooks are still open.

One sector that seems to be booming everywhere is automation. Every plant had a new automated work cell or two, and more on the drawing board.

As an aside, that's too bad for my stories, because photos of people are 100 percent more interesting than photos of robots. (Sorry, C-3PO.)

Companies are investing in automation for two reasons: to reduce costs and to help deal with a shortage of workers. That's also a trend that helps U.S. molders stay globally competitive.

One company president told me his company "tends to take on more challenging projects." And he was absolutely right.

But the other molders I visited seemed to have the same strategy. No one wants to mold anything easy. Everyone wants a niche.

All four companies had impressive technology that allowed them to make difficult-to-mold parts.

The No. 1 issue just about everywhere is the shortage of workers, especially for skilled jobs. One operations manager said his company had to "get creative" to fill open positions. He could have been speaking for the other companies, too.

What does that mean? A variety of things, but interns were almost everywhere. I lucked into a couple of good stories about internship programs — watch for them in our Sept. 2 internship issue — because companies are stepping up efforts to bring in both high school and college students.

These interns are doing a lot more than fetching coffee and doughnuts. They're trusted with important tasks.

Here's a promising development: In some cases, local schools actually helped initiate the internship programs. Teachers, administrators and students understand there are opportunities in manufacturing.

The molders who hire interns hope a few will eventually become full-time workers. But they cited a selfless reason, too: They realize that in order to thrive, the U.S. manufacturing sector as a whole needs an influx of new talent. So even if this summer's intern ends up at another molding plant or OEM in five years, they'll consider the program a success.

It was a delight for me to hear that from more than one company, and unexpected, too.

Loepp is editor of Plastics News and author of the Plastics Blog. Follow him on Twitter @donloepp.