Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Plastics News China
  • Rubber & Plastics News
logo-pn-color
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • End Markets
    • FYI Charts
    • LSR World
    • Multimedia
    • NPE2021
    • K Show
    • Special Reports
    • Top materials of injection molders
      Recycled PET use by product category
      US PET, flexible packaging desintations
      Global fluropolymers additives market: CAGR
    • NPE exhibitors question handling of deposits for canceled trade show
      Exhibitors back NPE cancellation: ‘We couldn't take that risk'
      NPE2021 canceled as in-person event
      NPE reviews its options as pandemic prompts exhibitor to exit
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • What Keeps You Up At Night
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Videos
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • CEO Issue
    • Best Places to Work
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • Heavy Metal
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Getting back on the road
      How long will it take for EVs to replace internal combustion engines?
      Watching, and hoping, for progress in 2021
      COVID-19 stories dominate 2020 headlines
    • Kickstart: 'Have an adventure in life'
      Kickstart: More toys for your collection
      Kickstart: Microchips, masks and US manufacturing
      Kickstart: Bringing plastics, sustainability to the construction site
    • Heavy Metal: Coronavirus edition, plus the work of working from home
      Don't put off succession planning
      What's a good gift for your cobot? Batteries?
      Here's some big ideas to mull over the holidays
    • Plaskolite wins 3M supplier award
      Green feet: Braskem partners with Dansko on bio-based clogs
      Curbell donates plastic sheet for prosthetics project in Ecuador
      Covestro volunteers build ramp for Ohio veteran
    • There was no choice but canceling NPE still a big deal
      The business case for producer responsibility
      Think divided government stalls plastics legislation? Think again
      ACC, NAM eye economic priorities in Biden presidency
    • Thermoformers: Would you believe a 12 percent gain?
      Just how big is thermoforming in North America?
      Changing names for compounders embracing corporate branding
      Diversity the key to outperforming the market
    • Thermoformers: Would you believe a 12 percent gain?
      The benefits of getting social
      Rising Stars shine bright future on industry
      Getting back on the road
    • Perspective: Plastics manufacturers — a surprising contribution to sustainability
      Plastics industry business owners: Listen to your future workforce
      Perspective: ‘Fake news' of a different sort?
      Perspective: Making products in the USA is good for the planet
    • Mailbag: Additional fees for electric vehicles ‘unfortunate'
      Mailbag: Where's the plastics industry's response to critics?
      Mailbag: Manufacturers struggling to follow COVID-19 safety rules
      Modernizing recycling infrastructure will benefit businesses as well as the environment
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
    • Maintenance can ensure efficient blender operation
      Dosing: Perfect for adding color
      Blending vs dosing: What you need to know
      Going low or high: Comparing volume
    • Colors and custom compounds
      In the laboratory: Compounding solutions
      Recycling content: Resins going ‘green’
      Compounding: Glass and other fillers
    • Dryer maintenance: Don’t err with air
      Dryers: Options for a shop’s process
      Dryer installation: Going central?
      Resins: Hygroscopic or non-hygroscopic
    • Electric injection molding presses: Efficiency is key
      Hydraulic injection molding machines
      Proper maintenance can prevent downtime
      Hybrid injection molding machines
    • Purging Hot runners: Open or closed methods
      Purging extrusion machinery
      Purging extrusion blow molding machines
      Purging: Chemical, abrasive and non-abrasive
    • Controls, special applications boost production, profitability
      Robot maintenance key for smooth operation
      High-speed robots: A rapid way to increase efficiency
      Robots: Every shape and size
    • Maintenance: Key for efficiency
      Shredders: Plastic in pieces
      Safety first for size reduction
      Granulators: The right fit
    • Structural foam molding: Flexibility for processors
      Video: Structural foam molding
    • Mold inventory: How many molds does a shop have?
      Molds: Innovation
      Mold changeover: Saving time and money
      How molds work
    • Labor: Apprenticeships may provide answer
      College training, programs
      Internships: Solving the skills gap in-house
      Lean Six Sigma: Transforming business operation
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Ask the Expert
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • 2020 Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Polymer Points Live - February 2021
      Polymer Points Live - January 2021
      Polymer Points Live - December 2020
      Polymer Points Live - October 2020
    • Plastics in Healthcare 2020
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Plastics in Healthcare
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Data Store
  • Directory
  • More+
    • Classifieds
    • Digital Edition
    • Newsletters
    • Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Sponsored By Ensign Equipment
      Filling Systems Customized for Any Process or Budget Need
      KraussMaffei
      Sponsored By KraussMaffei
      KraussMaffei Retools in US with investment from Parent Ownership
      Sponsored By Mitsubishi
      Innovative new technology from Mitsubishi Engineering-Plastics Corporation helps reduce emission footprints
      Canon Virginia, Inc.
      Sponsored Content By Canon Virginia, Inc.
      Canon Virginia Inc. brings collaboration to the table
    • KraussMaffei
      Sponsored By KraussMaffei
      KraussMaffei Retools in US with investment from Parent Ownership
    • Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Tailored maintenance for injection molding machines and robots
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Improve maintenance efficiency with e-connect.monitor
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Maximum precision for lowest shot weights
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Even more cost effectiveness for small precision parts
    • Shell
      Sponsored By Shell
      Food and Beverage Trends Impacting the Polymer Industry
      Sponsored By Conexiom
      Use Sales Order Automation to free up time for CSRs to focus on customers, not manual entry
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
February 11, 2020 10:05 AM

VistaTek seeing growth, in part thanks to bioplastics

Don Loepp
Plastics News Editor
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Stillwater, Minn. — Danny Mishek didn't get into bioplastics on purpose. He heard that plant-based resins were hard to process, and he wondered if his company could solve some of the problems.

    It started eight years ago, when Mishek was president of the Society of Plastics Engineers' upper Midwest section.

    "At that time, there were all these conversations about these new biomaterials, plant-based materials. And everyone was talking about how bad they were. They're too brittle; they had no heat deflection. They sucked."

    That intrigued Mishek, so he bought a 50-pound bag of polylactic acid resin.

    "I sampled it in some of our molds, and we experimented with it. And yeah, there were some flaws with it. But in the back of my mind, I knew we could design around some of the flaws of the material," Mishek said.

    The effort was successful, and now bioplastics are a growth driver at Vista Technologies LLC, a Stillwater-based custom injection molder.

    The company has two proprietary lines of products made from plant-based plastics: caterware and horticultural products. VistaTek, as the company is known, now has a unit called SelfEco that designs and manufactures plant-based plastics products.

    VistaTek's first bioplastic product was a flower pot. The company quickly earned a reputation as a pioneer in bioplastic injection molding.

    "PLA was mostly used in film and thermoformed products. I had suppliers of biomaterials calling me, asking questions about the parameters for injection molding their materials," Mishek said. "So I thought this is going to be special because nobody else is really doing it.

    "Most of my competitors aren't interested in something like this. It's a different philosophy. They hear a material is more expensive and takes longer to process, and they aren't interested. But I was like, 'Well, why does it take longer to process? Why is it more expensive?' So we found ways to make it benefit us," he said.

    Bioplastics now account for just over 5 percent of VistaTek's sales. Mishek declined to provide figures, but he said the company posted a 40 percent sales increase in 2019. VistaTek has 32 employees on two shifts.

    To keep up with demand, VistaTek added a new Engel injection press last year, and it is adding another in 2020.

    "We put our future in Engel's hands. I have been really happy with their service and [the lead time for buying new equipment]," Mishek said. "It's been really solid."

    Mishek's parents, Jim and Lorinda Mishek, started the company in 1996, when he as a junior in college. At the time, VistaTek was a rapid prototyping specialist with one small stereolithography machine. It was located in a 7,000-square-foot building in nearby Vadnais Heights, Minn., north of St. Paul.

    Danny joined the company in 1998.

    "I was kind of born into manufacturing. Both of my grandparents were in manufacturing, and my parents. So without knowing it, I was destined to make things and to be a voice for U.S. manufacturing," he said.

    VistaTek added tool building capabilities, then injection molding with a variety of used machines. The company still makes about 10-15 percent of its tooling in-house, Mishek said.

    After a few years, the company moved from Vadnais Heights into a larger facility in White Bear Lake, Minn. In 2013, it bought its current space, a 50,000-square-foot factory that formerly housed injection molder UFE Inc.

    Now VistaTek is ready to grow again, and the company is getting bids to expand the existing plant, Mishek said.

    While it still leans on its expertise in tooling and product development, today VistaTek is a custom and proprietary injection molder, which Mishek views as more steady work.

    "It took us about five years to rebrand ourselves and let people know we're no longer really your prototype guys," he said. Key markets include telecommunications, medical devices, agricultural and foodservice.

    "We're looking to go deeper with our best customers. We know their buyers, know their engineers," Mishek said. "We're not a giant U.S. manufacturer with hundreds of presses, only running [jobs for] millions of parts. But we have the ability to grow into that space with our current customers."

    Plastics News photo by Don Loepp
    A conventional part compared to the green bioplastic part, which features an overmolded magnifier, a living hinge and a variety of hard-to-mold fine features.

    2019 also saw a partial change in ownership. Brothers Charlie and Harrison Andrews bought a stake in the company, which they now share with Mishek. Charlie is now director of operations, and he's charged with continuous improvement projects. Harrison handles sales and marketing.

    "They are helping to push me where I want to go," Mishek said.

    Mishek has a bachelor's degree in marketing and public relations from Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He's an active blogger and has used social media and Kickstart to help launch the company's bioplastics molding business.

    Last year, SelfEco had garden pots in 66 Walmart stores, although Mishek said the relationship with the megaretailer "wasn't the best fit." Thanks to changing consumer attitudes, he thinks business is poised to grow rapidly.

    "We've been working with the one of the largest growers in North America and Canada, and I think 2021 is going to be an amazing year for our garden line," he said. "We have been doing direct product development regarding what we have patented and what the end customer wants, and we're looking at running between 30 million to 100 million garden pots for these customers, if everything lines up. These are opportunities that we didn't have one or two years ago," Mishek said.

    Now that VistaTek has a reputation as a green materials innovator, Mishek said he hears from all kinds of people who are developing sustainable materials.

    "People ship us material with manure in it, soy flour, distillers' grains, egg shells, bird feathers. I mean, whoa, my gosh," Mishek said. "We're getting work using recycled materials, from people collecting yogurt cups, people that are claiming materials before they're ocean bound, and they're sending us jobs because they like our philosophy of being a green manufacturer."

    He thinks younger consumers are more likely to be interested in biomaterials, including compostable products. "I just think that the future is pretty bright," Mishek said.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    logo-pn-color
    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber & Plastics News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Plastics News China
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • What Keeps You Up At Night
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
        • Polymer Points Live
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • FYI Charts
        • Current FYI
      • LSR World
      • Multimedia
        • Videos
        • Galleries
        • Podcasts
      • NPE2021
      • K Show
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Best Places to Work
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • Heavy Metal
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Plastics in Healthcare
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Ask the Expert
      • Polymer Points Live
      • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • 2020 Caps & Closures Library
      • Plastics in Healthcare Library
      • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Data Store
    • Directory
    • More+
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified
      • Digital Edition
      • Newsletters
      • Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Processor of the Year submissions