Macomb, Mich. — PTI Engineered Plastics celebrated its 40th anniversary in March 2024 and also picked up a shiny new trophy for its display case in Macomb: Plastics News' 2023 Processor of the Year award.
For owner and CEO Mark Rathbone, it was validation of a dream he had back in 1984, when he started what was then called Proto-Tech Industries, a mold maker that focused on functional prototypes and injection molded samples.
"We started out as a small company, and I had worked at a lot of places. I've been in the plastics business for 50-some years, and I always wanted to have a place where everybody was tight," said Rathbone, who started his career as a mold maker.
Rathbone said he wanted a flat corporate structure where "everybody's kind of on the same plane … where we have people on the floor that are part of corporate decisions and what we're doing. Our employees have been here a long time, and employees are very important to growth."
Rathbone uses the word "passionate" to describe PTI employees.
"They come to work with passion. And when people are happy and passionate about what they do, it just shows on the floor," he said.
PTI specializes in low-volume complex parts and has in-house toolmaking and design expertise. It serves a diverse customer base, including medical, automotive, defense/aerospace, and commercial/consumer products companies.
PTI was named the Processor of the Year winner on March 13 at the Plastics News Executive Forum in Clearwater Beach, Fla.
The company won high marks in all the Processor of the Year criteria: financial performance, quality, customer relations, employee relations, environmental performance, industry and public service, and technological innovation.
This marked the third year that PTI was a Processor of the Year finalist. In 2019, PTI won the PN Excellence Award for Customer Relations, and in 2021, it won the PN Excellence Award for Industry and Public Service.