Kickstart: Recognizing those who can MAKE things better

Women fill a lot of key roles in manufacturing and science, but not nearly enough, the Manufacturing Institute says. And in honoring 130 women — many of them from the plastics industry — the trade group hopes to prompt more women to enter the field.

The 2023 Women MAKE Awards — previously called the STEP Ahead awards — notes that women are key to solving major issues facing science, technology, engineering and production, the institute says.

"Women today account for less than one-third of manufacturers (29 percent) despite representing about half of all workers (47 percent)," the group says. "Women represent one of the largest pools of untapped talent for manufacturers. Thus, closing manufacturing's gender gap is key to closing the skills gap, too. Moreover, research shows that gender diversity benefits a manufacturing firm by improving its ability to innovate and grow."

Honorees in 2023 come from a range of corporations working in the plastics industry, including Dow, BASF, Eastman, Covestro, Whirlpool, Oldcastle, Phoenix Packaging, Toyota and General Motors. They will be honored at an April 30 event.

You can find the full list of honorees here.

A strong workforce isn't something that just happens. Companies have to create an atmosphere where employees feel their work is appreciated and they have room to advance.

They also must react to the unexpected, as some of the 2023 Best Places to Work in the plastics industry honorees said during a panel discussion at the Plastics News Executive Forum.

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived three years ago, companies were forced to look at how to operate with social distancing and remote offices, PN's Jim Johnson writes.

"I think what the pandemic brought us was more focus as an organization. We can better define the types of relationships we want to create. The kind of growth we want to focus on. Where we want to spend our time," Grant John, CEO of resin distributor Polysource, said.

Changes made during the pandemic also prompted a new focus on work-life balance.

"It made you appreciate your time spent with our family, your time away from work to do the things you really want to do. Because no one knew what was going to happen next, how this was going to impact us," said Gary Hulecki, CEO of MTD Micro Molding.

Polysource topped the Best Places to Work list for suppliers while MTD came out on top among processors for 2023.

Sumitomo (SHI) Demag is getting bigger in China, in multiple senses of the word.

The machinery manufacturer had a groundbreaking in January in Ningbo for a plant that will add 50 jobs, double production capacity and allow it to make injection molding presses with up to 1,500 tons of clamping pressure, up from the 1,000 tons it can produce there now.

"Being able to extend our product portfolio up to 1,500 tons means we can drastically reduce delivery times for customers in China and Asia," CEO Pietro Scattarreggia said in a news release.

The expansion comes as KraussMaffei Group announced it will cut "several hundred" jobs to cut costs. KM stressed that the job reductions will not happen in production or assembly positions.