Kickstart: Trying to measure the impact of the UAW strike? It's complicated

The United Auto Workers strike against the Detroit 3 automakers is showing no signs of ending. That means plastics companies supplying auto parts remain in something of a business limbo.

There have been temporary layoffs at supplier plants — including a Flex-N-Gate site in Illinois and an NYX plant in Indiana — and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association said the number of its member companies that have had to lay off workers could grow from 39 percent as of Oct. 13 to 70 percent by the end of the month.

But the total impact can't be measured yet.

"Estimating the effect on plastics … is not straightforward due to the uncertainty of the strike's end date and the extent to which the strike affects the automobile industry's supply chain," the Plastics Industry Association noted in an Oct. 20 blog post. "Industry stakeholders must remain vigilant, adapt as needed and work collaboratively to navigate the ever-changing landscape shaped by labor, production and economic considerations."

The last UAW strike — a 39-day work stoppage against GM — led to a 6.5 percent decrease in the production of cars and car parts. The Industrial Production Index of plastics and rubber products manufacturing saw about a 1 percent drop in plastics and rubber processing, the association noted.

Vinyl and composite siding maker Alside — part of Associated Materials LLC — is out with some predictions for what colors will be the most popular for home exteriors in 2024. The results from the poll of 1,500 U.S. households aren't really that surprising, both in terms of the preferred colors and who makes the final decision.

An off-white or cream color was preferred by 16 percent of respondents, followed by light gray, white and light brown. Essentially, neutral colors were picked by 40 percent of those surveyed.

Off-white and cream was also the most popular in 2022, the first year Alside conducted the poll.

It's not just the color choice that provided a familiar answer. The survey also asked what factors would go into picking the color. Cost (35 percent) and availability (23 percent) led the way but those were followed by "spouse or significant other will pick" for 21 percent. That number can be broken down even further, Alside said in a news release.

"Only 14 percent of women said their spouse or significant other will pick while 29 percent of men said [the spouse's preference] would be how they chose," Alside said.

One of the big questions prior to Fakuma 2023 was how the ongoing economic struggles in Europe would affect participation in the trade show, which took place Oct. 17-21 in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

While it's hard to say at this point how many sales and contacts individual companies received, executives interviewed by Plastics News at the show did say they had "high-quality" visits with customers. (Code for not seeing as many people, but those who came were in a position to spend money.)

Show organizers P.E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG said the number of exhibitors was up 11.2 percent vs. 2021. Those 1,470 company booths was down, however, from the pre-pandemic peak of 1,933 exhibitors in 2018.