Sales & Marketing

The next big boom area for plastics in the medical market could be regenerative medicine, the production of human organs in a laboratory.

Several years ago, MRPC made a strategic business decision to allow a large portion of business from a long-time customer to go to an offshore molder. The customer began looking for ways to reduce manufacturing costs of their product, and was lured by the low costs associated with an Asian supplier. When they retooled and moved to the job to China, MRPC thought the work was gone for good.

Spectrum Plastics Group (SPG) is bringing on line more than 13,000 square feet of new clean room space in a doubling of its capacity for the healthcare market.

It seems that major announcements are made almost weekly of a company's or organization's increased commitment to the medical plastics field. Most recently, BASF announced new investments in its Tarrytown, NY R&D center, new grades, and new production capability. 

Small wonder.

The market for specialized devices used for neurosurgical and neurovascular treatments will grow to $240 million by 2016, according to Millennium Research Group (MRG) of Toronto.

The growth will be driven largely by an aging population in the United States that will suffer an increasing incidence of conditions such as stroke, cerebral aneurysms and intracranial atherosclerosis disease.

Growth will be hindered mostly by the development and clinical use of competing innovative technologies that benefit patients without the use of these specific devices.

Bisphenol A (BPA) continues to develop as a major public relations problem for the plastics industry. Yesterday's release of a new study about pediatric issues with BPA seemed to create an almost out-of-control publicity streak.

A recent study (Plastics Today; June 27, 2011) indicates processors are happy with an 8% return on sales (gross profit margin) because the historical average is 5% to 7%. If you're happy with 8% and you expect the market to give you that, then there's no reason to change your approach with respect to profit margins. You are content with the status quo and comfortable with the future. Read no more.

Susan Oderwald will step down as the Society of Plastics Engineers' (SPE) executive director at the end of 2011, ending a 10-year run with the association that she joined as deputy executive director in 2001.

From a less-than-five-minute segment on a cable TV show to a 5.5-million view YouTube video, Z Corp.'s YouTube tale shows how influential the site can be. Z Corp. became a internet sensation after a video the National Geographic filmed during a visit to to the company for its "Known Universe" program hit YouTube.

In the first of a four-part series, PlasticsToday's contributing writer and marketing guru, Clare Goldsberry, looks at how and where the plastics industry is investing social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and what if any returns they're getting back.