Bekum America Corp.

Martin Stark had been in the industry with machinery companies since the late 1960s. He was named to the Plastics Hall of Fame in 2018.

Bekum exhibited the Concept 808 show machine at K 2019 with a three-layer application for 1 liter HDPE bottles made with post-consumer material in 16 cavities.

The average age of workers on the floor at Bekum America Corp.'s manufacturing facility has gone down. The German maker of extrusion blow molding machinery credits the workforce age drop — from 55 in 2014 to 42 today — to its apprenticeship program, a four-year, 8,000-hour structured training strategy launched in 1994.

Bekum America Corp. introduced an electric version of an extrusion blow molder built with a focus on speed and price for the consumer packaging industry at NPE2018.

Martin Stark is a team builder who pushed a German-style apprenticeship at Bekum America Corp. nearly 25 years ago. Given the headline-grabbing skilled worker shortage, Stark can't understand why the United States can't seem to get it together.

By slashing corporate tax rates and giving an immediate 100 percent depreciation for capital investments, the big federal tax reform package should boost plastics equipment in this NPE year, but it's still too early to gauge the full impact, according to machinery officials and some processors.

Leaders from the plastics machinery, materials, recycling, packaging and trade association will join the Plastics Hall of Fame at an awards dinner at NPE2018. The Plastics Academy announced the 10 new members Jan. 4, and will induct them May 6 at NPE in Orlando, Fla.

Blow machinery executives report stable business for 2016 — but nothing spectacular.

A small blow molding machine built in 1958 by Gottfried Mehnert put Bekum Maschinenfabriken GmbH on the path to success in its founding year. Numerous patents and developments followed, changing the industry and solidifying the Berlin-based company's position as a pioneer in extrusion blow molding technology. Now the distinguished inventor's youngest son, 34-year-old Michael Mehnert, is getting ready to make his mark on the company that has grown to 300 employees and almost 100 million euros of annual sales.