Management

If cash is king, then the path to the throne is paved in efficiency. The economic crucible of the last two years has taught plastics processors many hard lessons, but perhaps none more important than this: Not knowing where your money is at all times could be the last mistake your company makes.

With the retirement of their father, Barry Shepherd, brothers Todd and Mark Shepherd took over responsibility for daily operations at Shepherd Thermoforming (Brampton, ON). Todd, the company’s president, has worked for the company for 23 of its 25-year history, and shared with us some lessons learned during that time, plus some thoughts for the future.

MPW: Tell us how Shepherd Thermoforming started.

Custom injection molder Dickten Masch Plastics (DMP) has hired Andy Bondhus to work as a plastics engineer at the firm.  Bondhus will work out of the company's processing facility in Iowa, where he will support part design, mold flow, tooling, and tool design for DMP. Bondhus began his career at Lake Tool Inc. as a moldmaker, ran his own company (Plastic Solutions Inc.) for 11 years, and most recently was a tooling and design engineer at Innovative Injection Technologies Inc. (i2tech).

Canadian moldmaker Platinum Tool Technologies Inc. (Oldcastle, ON) is "fighting for its financial life" according to a July 25, Windsor Star report. According to published reports from the Ontario newspaper, the tool shop, which is headed in part by Dan Moynahan, who's also president of the Canadian Assn.

September is the start of the next federal legislative session of the U.S. Congress, an ideal time to tell your senators and representatives what's on your mind. How? SPI, the Plastics Industry Trade Association, will arrange meetings for association members with those they elected on September 15.

The American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) announced that Melissa Millhuff, executive director of the AMBA, resigned her position with this trade organization as of Friday, July 9. Millhuff announced her resignation to the AMBA board of directors, saying that she is relocating to Michigan after becoming engaged, and her husband-to-be is unable to relocate to Chicago due to business commitments.

The United States Business & Industry Council (USBIC) China Import Penetration Survey 2010 just released provides detailed production and China import penetration figures for key U.S. manufacturing industries. The report, compiled by Alan Tonelson, a research fellow at the USBIC, with Paul Moseman, a research assistant, shows that "China's industrial prowess is no longer confined to low-wage, low-tech, labor-intensive industries that have largely disappeared from America's landscape."

New to the staff of Plastics Color Corp. (PCC; Calumet City, IL), a supplier of color concentrates and additive masterbatches, is the company's new director of business development, Timothy Workman. Workman comes to PCC with more than 20 years experience in the plastics and specialty chemical industries. Workman will also be responsible for the company's marketing and communications functions.

As it reaches the quarter-way mark of its two-year span, an ongoing collaborative effort focusing on REACH legislation in Europe has reached some preliminary conclusions. For instance, the project has identified varying levels of awareness of REACH at processors across the EU member states and what the group's members call "a severe lack of specific information" about REACH relating to the plastics industry.

On top of a global credit freeze, which made finding financing for capital equipment nearly impossible, a push for greater sustainability from retailers, brand owners, and consumers forced a reexamination of all packaging, including blowmolded bottles, creating challenges and opportunities for suppliers of blowmolding machinery.