Industry Trends

The medical technology industry is successfully navigating this recession like it has many others, and the supply chain is happy to go along for the ride.

A study by Harbour Results reports that 2020 automotive vendor tooling spend in North America will be $6.4 billion less than originally forecast and 31% below the $9.3 billion total in 2019.

The annual report from the Flexible Packaging Association notes that flexible packaging represents approximately 19% of the $177-billion US packaging industry.

The US plastics industry accounted for an estimated $432 billion in shipments and more than one million jobs in 2019, according to the "2020 Size & Impact Report" from the Plastics Industry Association.

Materials supplier Trinseo and German packaging company Fernholz have collaborated on the development and commercialization of a new grade of post-consumer recycled polystyrene for form-fill-seal formulations.

Mercedes-Benz is using Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 and Dynamic 365 Remote Assist to provide service technicians virtual reality access to all-knowing experts like 'My Cousin Vinny's' pro mechanic.

Plastics processors can quickly add artificial intelligence (AI) software to existing infrastructure, providing tremendous flexibility for production line changes, workforce constraints, new inspection rates, and varying quality requirements.