Let me ask you this: When you''re at a cocktail party and someone asks you what you do for a living, what do you say? Do you tell the inquisitor that you work for a plastics processing company? Or do you tell them that you make parts and products for the automotive, medical, packaging, or electronics industries?
The answer probably depends on the markets you''re in and how deeply involved you are in them. And in any case, it''s a near certainty that your business is heavily influenced by the major OEMs in the markets your company serves. It is, of course, a natural consequence of every customer-supplier relationship.
Next question is this: Which OEMs are the most influential to the plastics processing industry? If you had to pick the 50 most important OEMs to the plastics industry, who would they be? Of course, the problem with such a question is that if you ask it of 20 people, you''re likely to get 20 different lists.
Still, you have to start somewhere, so the editors of MPW put their heads together and created the MPW 50, a list of what we reckon are 50 of the most influential and notable OEMs in business today. The MPW 50 debuts this month. Our article this month features basic info on each OEM, and a more in-depth report on a few of the more notable among them.
From here on out, you can look forward to quarterly reports on the MPW 50. We''ll keep you up to speed with major changes, announcements, and initiatives at each company, keeping a our eyes open particularly for the kind of news that might have a direct impact on the plastics processing industry. This might range from news, for example, about supply chain management changes at Toyota, to an announcement at Dell regarding plastics use on a new line of laptops. In the end, the goal is to help you keep tabs on your customers.
Secondarily, we also want to know if we''ve overlooked a particularly influential OEM. Is there a firm you think should have made the list and didn''t? Alternatively, is there a firm on the list that you think shouldn''t be there? The MPW 50 will become a staple of our reportage and we want it to reflect, as much as possible, the plastics world you live and work in.
So, tell me what you think. You can send me an e-mail at [email protected]. Or, call me at +1 719-647-9772. I look forward to hearing from you.
Jeff Sloan, Editor-in-Chief
