Kickstart: Spinning off a medical giant

There's a major new player in the medical equipment field, but one that's very, very familiar.

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. was spun off from the conglomerate GE (which has spun off much of its previous operations, including resins) to begin trading on Nasdaq Jan. 4 under the ticker symbol GEHC. The Chicago-based company remotely rang the bell to start trading, with corporate leaders and employees gathered at its manufacturing facility in Waukesha, Wis.

While GE HealthCare isn't a plastics processor, it is a major customer for molders with massive thermoformed parts used for MRI and CT machines along with other imaging equipment and a range of patient monitoring and care products.

GE began the process of separating out the health care business in late 2021.

The company needs the freedom to "invest and innovate" and can best accomplish that by "going it alone," GE HealthCare said in a news release.

"We are on the verge of true industry transformation as digital innovation reshapes how providers and patients experience our products and services," said President and CEO Peter Arduini in the release.

The "new" company launches with 51,000 employees in 160 countries.

If you can look past supply chain shortages, bad weather and a possible recession this year, there's a "renaissance for North American manufacturing" in the near future.

That's the take from Dwight Morgan, executive vice president of corporate development at M. Holland Co., who says in a new blog posted on the company's website that the long-term future is bright thanks to investments supported by the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — signed in August — and other recent legislation such as the Chips & Science Act and bipartisan infrastructure act.

"Targeted investments are creating a very favorable environment for new manufacturing," Morgan said. "The IRA is accelerating trends that were already underway related to energy and the electrification of the globe as we move away from fossil fuels and deal with dangerous emissions."

Current recession concerns may slow investments for the coming year, but Morgan says M. Holland already is seeing growth for its automotive, electrical and electronics, and wire and cable markets.

Morgan isn't alone in his views. Consider that automakers and suppliers announced $11 billion worth of new manufacturing plans in the first two months after IRA was signed.

Home electronics company Belkin wants to make it just a little greener to charge your gadgets by using post-consumer recycled plastics and plastics-free packaging.

The company — part of global giant Foxconn — said "several" of its most popular wireless chargers, power banks, wall chargers and car chargers will use 73-75 percent post-consumer recycled plastics starting in 2023. It said in a Jan. 4 news release that the move will save an estimated 7,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.

"Belkin made a deliberate and methodical decision to transition product materials to PCR," it said in the release. "It utilizes plastic that is destined for landfill, giving it new life, while taking meaningful steps to support the circular economy by reducing dependence on virgin plastics."