Plastics News names Processor of the Year finalists, Sustained Excellence winner

PTI Engineered Plastics, Radius Packaging and Redline Plastics LLC are finalists for the 2023 Plastics News Processor of the Year award.

PN also has a 2023 Sustained Excellence award winner: Mack Molding Co. The company is a rarity in the plastics industry, a processor that's more than 100 years old.

All four companies will be recognized at the 2024 Plastics News Executive Forum, March 11-13 in Clearwater Beach, Fla., where the Processor of the Year winner will be revealed. The companies also will be profiled in PN's March 25 issue.

The company that takes home the 2023 Processor of the Year trophy will be the 29th in the history of the award. The 2022 winner was Teel Plastics LLC, a Baraboo, Wis.-based extruder and injection molder that specializes in regulated products that require close-tolerance manufacturing.

Here's a description of each of the 2023 honorees, in alphabetical order:

The Sustained Excellence award is offered exclusively to previous Processor of the Year winners. Mack Molding, in Arlington, Vt., won the 2006 award.

The family-owned company celebrated its 100th birthday during the pandemic year of 2020. Mack initially planned a huge party for March 17 of that year but had to reschedule until October after Vermont officials banned large gatherings.

Nevertheless, Mack stayed open and pumped up its manufacturing to record levels. It ended up having one of its best years ever thanks to the key role it played in producing a wide variety of critically needed products.

2020 also marked another milestone: Third-generation family owner and CEO Don Kendall III handed over the reins of parent company Mack Group to the fourth generation, Will Kendall.

Sustained Excellence winners are judged on three criteria: financial excellence, one extraordinary new development since winning Processor of the Year, and one key person who has remained at the company and plays a key role. Mack easily has all three — in fact, it is highlighting three key people.

Back in 2006, Mack had sales of $277 million and employed 1,850 people. Today it has sales of about $600 million and more than 3,000 employees.

Much of that growth happened under the leadership of three key managers: President Jeff Somple, who has been with Mack for 35 years; Vice President of Sales and Engineering Joan Magrath, who has been with the company for 36 years; and Vice President of Procurement Marc Colety, who retired in late 2023 after 27 years at Mack.

Under their leadership, Mack has reinvented itself, launched a medical products group, established clean room molding and finishing operations, and acquired Synectic Product Development in 2013. That acquisition strengthened Mack's ability to provide product design and development services, completing the company's vertically integrated manufacturing strategy that takes customers' programs from concept to production.

Mack has also continued to be a community partner, establishing an approach to sustainable manufacturing that made the company an Environmental Leader and green business partner in the state of Vermont.

The Kendall family and Mack have also been key supporters of health care, most notably donating $5 million to expand the emergency department and renovate Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

PN will profile Mack Molding on March 25.

Macomb, Mich.-based PTI Engineered Plastics was a finalist for the 2019 Processor of the Year award, then again for the 2021 award. Now it's back with a strong pitch for the 2023 award.

PTI is a custom injection molder serving a diverse customer base, including medical, automotive, defense/aerospace, and commercial/consumer products companies. The company specializes in low-volume complex parts.

PTI has a 160,000-square-foot Industry 4.0 manufacturing facility that will soon include 16,000 square feet of ISO Class 8 clean room and 5,000 square feet of controlled environment space.

In-house tooling is a key differentiator. When Mark Rathbone founded the company in 1984, PTI operated under the name Proto-Tech Industries and focused on functional prototype molds and injection molded samples.

Today its tooling capabilities are highly advanced, and having them under one roof allows the company to work closely with customers from design to molding, all in one location. That capability helped PTI win the PN Excellence Award for Customer Relations in 2019.

Another well-known strength is in serving the community. PTI has participated in Manufacturing Day for 10 years and sponsors numerous projects with local schools including robotics competitions. The company hosts an annual PTI Car Show that started as an employee function for showing off their classic vehicles but has now ballooned into a much-anticipated community event that includes food, music, games and prizes.

In 2021, PTI won the PN Excellence Award for Industry and Public Service.

New Berlin, Wis.-based Radius Packaging was a finalist for 2022 Processor of Year and took home the PN Excellence Award for Industry and Public Service.

Managers say a key part of the company's success comes from following the Radius Way: Act with integrity, strive for excellence, emphasize community, work together and champion positive change. They point out that their mission statement lines up pretty closely with the PN Processor of the Year criteria. So it's no surprise that last year Radius earned high marks for all seven of the PN award criteria: financial performance, quality, customer relations, employee relations, environmental performance, industry and public service, and technological innovation.

The company has a strong share of the rigid packaging market in the Midwest, with design expertise and both blow molding and injection molding capabilities. It has manufacturing in New Berlin and Delavan, Wis.

The company, formerly known as Schoeneck Containers Inc., was founded in 1972 by Bob Schoeneck, sold to Milwaukee-based investment firm Mason Wells in 2020 and rebranded as Radius in 2022.

While it's no longer family-owned, the company has retained its fun, friendly culture where workers are called members instead of employees. Radius offers numerous recognition and training programs and also provides internships and apprenticeships to local students.

Sustainability remains a strength as well, and the company is far along in tracking its carbon footprint and helping customers transition to sustainable materials, including post-consumer resins.

2023 was a big year for the team at Redline Plastics. The Manitowoc, Wis.-based rotational molder and thermoformer started the year with a bang by being named a PN Best Place to Work for the third year in a row.

A few weeks later, Redline was named a finalist for the 2022 PN Processor of the Year award. At the last Executive Forum, Redline took home the PN Excellence Award for Employee Relations.

Then, for the big news: In March, the company added to the Redline family by acquiring a second facility in Hartwell, Ga. Adding the Georgia facility provides key advantages: A strategic location in the Southeast that provides flexibility for customers, supply chain synergy to reduce costs and additional rotomolding capacity.

Company officials say integrating the Georgia team into its existing operations has been a rewarding process that's paying off to customers and employees — although at Redline, workers are called ninjas, not employees.

Redline's self-described "outrageous cultural behaviors" include the phrases Get Amped, Be a Ninja and Don't Be a Jackass, which emphasize honesty and good communication. Redline officials note that their 14 cultural behaviors guide everything they do and closely correspond to the Processor of the Year criteria.

Redline Plastics has been one of the fastest-growing North American rotomolders in recent years, and it is active in the community, winning awards for being a recovery-friendly employer.

Sustainability is also a strength: Redline was one of 10 Wisconsin businesses to receive a 2023 Energy Efficiency Excellence Award from Focus on Energy. The organization honors companies that invest in projects to reduce energy consumption in the state of Wisconsin.