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Ten years down—many more to comeTen years down—many more to come

September 1, 2003

4 Min Read
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imm_10th_anniv_logo50x50tra.gifDo you remember where you were 10 years ago this month? It was September 1993 and the U.S. was just emerging from a recession, marking the dawn of an unprecedented eight-year economic boom that this country had never before enjoyed. President Clinton was in the White House, Schindler’s List won the Academy Award for best picture, and the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack was steadily climbing to the top of the music charts.

The injection molding industry was set to embark on a period of robust, stimulating, and exciting growth. And in September 1993 IMM was born into the plastics publications market. Its launch was a first: a superniche publication in a trade publishing market that is niche-y by definition.

You hold in your hands the 108th issue of IMM, and to celebrate our first 10 years, all this year we’ve revisited molders and moldmakers whose doorways we first darkened in the magazine’s early days. We’ve found out how much has changed for them and how much has stayed the same. Most importantly, we hope this series has shed some light on how the injection molding industry has matured and developed in the last decade, and where it might be 10 years from now. There is much to be learned from our history.

The anniversary celebration culminates in this issue with a series of stories that conclude our look back on the last 10 years in injection molding. m On p. 104, senior editor Carl Kirkland revisits Saturn’s molding operations in Spring Hill, TN. Saturn was originally featured in the August 1994 issue of IMM. m On p. 52, in Market Snapshot, contributing editor Clare Goldsberry evaluates a decade of market growth, and in some cases, decline. m On p. 48, in the Molders Economic Index, MEI author Agostino von Hassell looks back at the macro economic forces that have shaped the injection molding industry over the last 10 years. m Sprinkled throughout this issue you’ll find smaller retrospectives from our cast of well-known and well-respected contributors, as well as comments from one moldmaker. Look for thoughts from Glenn Beall on pp. 35 and 62, Mike Sepe on p. 68, Bob Hatch on p. 101, and M&M Tool on p. 76. m Finally, on p. 146, Parting Shots, you can get a rare glimpse of some of the editors and writers whose names you know so well: Clare Goldsberry, Carl Kirkland, Michelle Maniscalco, and Robert Neilley. For the last decade they, with your help, have made IMM what it is today.

Next month begins IMM’s next decade, and we’re hopeful that it will be as exciting as the first one. The injection molding industry is in the midst of much uncertainty and doubt right now, but one thing we’ve learned in our 10 years is that this is an innovative, persistent, optimistic, and creative community. We look forward now to what our 20th anniversary will bring—Jeff Sloan

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