More than 40 students from Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kan., visited mold maker and molder R&D/Leverage on Oct. 8. Students from the school's Engineering Academy have been touring the site for 10 years.

K 2019 gives the staff another chance to visit Schweine Janes. Oh, and there will be a big trade show too.

President and CEO Kevin Fogarty said that despite opening the third quarter with "stable market indications," fundamentals including demand in China and broader Asia, and more recently in Europe and North America, "weakened notably" as the quarter progressed.

The most recent edition of Plante & Moran's study tracking data points from 130 North American processors showed that gross profits have declined for two consecutive years.

Materials firm Chroma Color Corp. has just completed an expansion of its plant in Leominster, Mass., but is closing a nearby plant in Clinton.

Speakers at a MAPP event said that molders also need to be willing to scrap their current plan and start again if they want the final product launch to go smoothly.

"Branding with sustainability makes a difference in how customers value your priorities," says Teresa Schelle. "The issue isn't going away, and you don't want your company to be stuck in the past."

Executives from Royer Corp. and Augustine Plastics are looking beyond the typical hiring sources for new employees, and finding strong candidates in unusual places.

Ascend and Polyplastics also will be spotlighting new high-performance materials.

Additives firms showcasing new products include Milliken, Tolsa and Vertellus.

The firm now can make almost 18 million pounds of TPE-based materials per year. New production equipment was installed in July at Polymax's production site in Waukegan, Ill.

The specialty chemicals firm is addressing sustainability and the composition of its work force, which includes a goal of having women fill 50 percent of company positions.

The materials firm will not go forward with some plans that included polypropylene resin and propylene feedstock in the U.S.

The expansion has added new production capabilities for highly concentrated color and additive masterbatch concentrates based on PVC and engineering resins, officials with Doylestown, Pa.-based Penn Color said in a news release.

Grant Sawyer had the work done by a tattoo artist in North Carolina who combined images of Plastic Man and other characters such as Spider-Ham, Captain Caveman, Mr. Fantastic, Blue Falcon, Dynomutt, Rubberduck and Howard the Duck.