High Performance Plastics

April/May 2009

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Economy Trends
Plastics Watch
Technology Corner
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People and Places

June/July 2009

Plaskolite Inc. management receives Vendor of the Year award from Curbell Plastics Inc.

Curbell Plastics Inc. is proud to name Plaskolite Inc. as this year’s “vendor of the year.” Every year, Curbell Plastics chooses the vendor with whom they have shared the greatest overall compatibility throughout the year. Curbell’s vendors are rated by the sales team and given a score based on specific criteria including effective communication with Curbell, competitive pricing, overall product quality and field support. Over the past few years, Curbell and Plaskolite have worked diligently in keeping their relationship strong thus providing the opportunity for continued growth by both companies. “This year, Plaskolite exemplified the strategic relationship by effectively working with our business in meeting the customer’s needs,” said Donald Harvey, director of operations. “There was a substantial effort on their part to enhance their performance in-line with our customers’ expectations.” Plaskolite’s efforts earned them the coveted “vendor of the year” title.

Thermoplastic Processes Inc. has announced the addition of Chad Wolfe as director of sales and marketing. He will assume responsibility for all sales, new product development and marketing activities for the company. Wolfe has held positions of successively growing responsibility in sales, marketing and product management at Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, TYCO Plastics & Adhesives and Ingersoll Rand Corp. “Chad’s extensive background in sales and marketing, combined with his engineering education, makes him the right individual to drive both TPI’s continued drive toward excellence in customer support and to also implement our new product development plans,” said Richard Garthwaite, president and chief executive officer.

Eastman Chemical Co. has chosen four companies — PolyOne Corp., Ashland Distribution, Amco Plastic Materials Inc. and CCC Plastics — to distribute its Tritan™ copolyester in the United States and Canada. Through the distributors, Tritan will be more easily accessible and offer new application opportunities for diverse customers in various industries. Eastman Tritan, a new-generation copolyester, delivers the advantages of traditional copolyesters, such as clarity and toughness, as well as high-heat and chemical resistance, improved design flexibility and ease of processing. “By working with these respected distributors, which are able to offer a wide array of products and services to a variety of customers, we hope that Tritan can help provide additional material solutions in new industries,” said Ricky Owens, sales manager, distribution and inside sales, Eastman Chemical Co.

Norplex-Micarta opens Micarta Composite Material (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd. in China.

Norplex-Micarta, a leading manufacturer of high-performance thermoset composites, has named Kevin Brainard as sales representative for the Upper Midwest region of the United States. He will direct the company’s sales efforts in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota from the company’s headquarters in Postville, IA, USA. This appointment represents an expansion of his responsibilities at Norplex-Micarta. Brainard will continue as manager of the customer service department, where he collaborates with other members of the sales team to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction. Norplex-Micarta also announced the opening of Micarta Composite Material (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd. Located in the Eastern section of Songjiang Industrial Park in Shanghai, China, MTC will supply the company’s vast product line to the rapidly growing Asia market. In addition to providing better support for its China customer base, MTC gives Norplex-Micarta greater flexibility in serving customers throughout Asia. This includes the ability to import products and place them in inventory at strategic locations throughout China to satisfy customers’ short-term requirements. Spearheading MTC operations will be Dustin Davis, general manager and legal representative. Assisting Davis will be Sally Zhou, operations and supply chain manager; Evanse Yang, sales engineer; and Doris Liu, inside sales coordinator.

Harrington Industrial Plastics has announced the opening of two new branch locations this year. The newest locations are in Milwaukee, WI, and Grand Rapids, MI, USA. Harrington has grown from a regional distributorship to the largest distributor of industrial plastic piping systems in the United States over the last 50 years. Harrington Industrial Plastics began with the purpose of servicing customers that handle corrosive liquids and has expanded its offerings to include products for customers with high-purity needs and products to help protect the environment. The new Harrington facilities offer fully stocked warehouses with local delivery and highly knowledgeable employees. As with all of Harrington facilities, the two new locations will bring technically oriented sales teams to the local areas along with the knowledge and strength of 39 locations nationwide. The new Milwaukee facility is located at W134 N4949 Campbell Drive, Memomone Falls, WI 53051 USA. The Grand Rapids facility is located at 4540-D East Paris Avenue, Grand Rapids, MI 49512 USA.

Dru Hayward, LVP plant manager; Michael Humza, LVP quality manager; John Bingman, lead auditor, Integrated Management Systems Group; and Kurt Imdorf, LVP supply chain manager.

Lehigh Valley Plastics Inc., a full-service manufacturer and supplier of plastic components, recently announced that Integrated Management Systems Group has certified LVP to the ISO 9001:2000 quality system standard. The certification was awarded in recognition of LVP’s compliance with and dedication to the maintenance of quality process standards and effective quality management systems in the manufacture and precision machining of engineered base plastic components and fabrications. “Achieving ISO 9001: 2000 certification is a tremendous honor and, we think, the validation of our long-held commitment to delivering the highest degree of quality and service to our customers,” said Michael Humza, quality manager at LVP. “We are exceptionally proud of all our employees for achieving this goal — it was truly a team effort.”

Cereplast Inc., a leading developer of proprietary bio-based, sustainable plastics, which announced its new strategic plan, will leverage its proprietary product development capabilities and marketing strengths. In addition, Cereplast will enter into manufacturing supply agreements with large plastics compounders that will dramatically reduce the cost to produce plastic resins and provide sufficient capacity to service substantial new contracts with major customers such as Georgia-Pacific and Dorel. “Recent events have allowed us to revise our strategic plan,” said Frederic Scheer, chairman and CEO of Cereplast. “To accelerate our growth, Cereplast will focus its efforts on the product development and marketing core strengths that have propelled us into a leadership position in proprietary bio-plastics.” The company is exploring ways to reduce its in-house manufacturing capacity and its manufacturing-related workforce. Cereplast currently has production facilities at its headquarters in Hawthorne, CA, USA, and a yet-to-be-opened facility in Seymour, IN, USA.

New consolidation center in Glasgow, KY, USA, offers easy access to Alcan Composites’ most popular graphic display boards.

Meeting the needs of graphic display customers has never been more important to the business operations of Alcan Composites USA than it is in today’s economy; and, that is why the company is pleased to announce the June 8, 2009, opening of its brand-new consolidation center in Glasgow, KY, USA. The Alcan Composites Consolidation Center will make it easier and more cost-effective for distributors to order and stock their shelves with the company’s most popular graphic display boards — enabling them to more quickly fulfill product orders from graphic display designers and fabricators. Distributor orders within the same geographic region will be combined at the Alcan Composites Consolidation Center for shipment on the same truck, allowing individual distributors to cost-effectively place product orders for only five skids of material (or one-third of the truck) instead of full truckloads, according to Joseph N. Masters, marketing manager, graphic display, Alcan Composites USA. Individual orders may consist of a mix of the company’s most popular products to fill five skids. The Alcan Composites Consolidation Center consists of a 65,000-square-foot metal profile building with six truck bays that is situated on its own 1.5-acre plot near the company’s Glasgow manufacturing facility.

Filipe de J. Garcia Trevino, business development regional manager (TUV); José Galván Garza, CEO and managing director (TUV); Robert Gaiser, operations manager (Polymer Products); Gerardo Palacios, plant manager (Saint-Gobain Saltillo); and Lomberto Monsivais, quality manager (Saint-Gobain Saltillo).

The Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Saltillo manufacturing facility, in the state of Coahuila in northeastern Mexico, has achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification from the International Organization for Standardization. ISO 9001:2000 certification verifies that a facility has established and implemented a quality management system. The plant, which is part of Performance Plastics’ Polymer Products business, manufactures bearings, fabrics and high- performance polymer products. Upon opening the facility 10 months ago, company and plant management decided almost immediately to pursue certification. It took five months from that point to when the recommendation for certification was received last October. All 135 employees worked to complete the many steps required to meet the relevant ISO standards (the plant has since added approximately 40 more employees).

Bayer MaterialScience LLC recently announced that effective August 1, 2009, Ashland will no longer be a distributor of BMS’ polycarbonate products. The decision was mutual, according to both companies. Ashland will remain an authorized distributor for BMS’ Texin® and the Desmopan® family of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) resins. “As a leading global supplier of polycarbonate resins, BMS offers many channels to market, assuring our customers have access to our broad portfolio of polycarbonate resins and blends,” said Sam Stewart, vice president, North America, Business Unit Polycarbonates, sales and marketing, BMS. According to Stewart, BMS’ polycarbonate products are available through its authorized national distributors, which include PolyOne Corp. and M. Holland Co.; as well as through regional distributors such as Amco Plastic Materials Inc. and Christler Chemicals & Plastics Inc.

Joey Benadretti

SYSPRO, a leading, worldwide provider of Enterprise Resource Planning software, announced that Joey Benadretti, SYSPRO USA president, has been recognized by Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine on the publication’s annual list of Provider Pros to Know. The announcement was made in the February/March 2009 issue of the magazine. The Provider Pros to Know is a compilation of key individuals from a software firm or service provider, consultancy, or analyst or research firm who have personally helped clients during the current economic downturn by assisting them in managing risk in the supply chain, providing competitive advantage and/or delivering value to the bottom line. SYSPRO offers software technology for small and mid-size manufacturing and distributors aimed at helping them to compete with the larger companies in their respective industries. The company recently announced a series of six Power Bundles designed to streamline business processes and drive operational efforts that reduce costs and boost profits. Benadretti also took leadership in 2008 to differentiate SYSPRO as a provider of enterprise technology solutions that are both pragmatic, yet visionary. Benadretti calls this unique SYSPRO vision “PragmaVision™.” SYSPRO was also recently named “Software Company of the Year” by the Technology Council of Southern California.

Michael W. Hill

Michael W. Hill has joined Productive Strategies Inc. as a senior consultant based in Indianapolis, IN, USA. Productive Strategies is a management and marketing consulting firm with corporate offices in Northfield, IL, USA. A lifelong Indianapolis resident, Hill served for 18 years as a senior executive at Meyer Plastics Inc., where he was vice president of sales and marketing. During his tenure, the company experienced significant growth and added several new distribution locations. Hill also served on the Board of Directors for IAPD and is a past president of the association. “We’re extremely pleased to welcome Mike to Productive Strategies,” said Philip S. Krone, president. “His sales and marketing experience ranges from in-the-field selling to corporate office marketing and strategic planning. We know he will be a great resource for our clients. Indianapolis has a dynamic business climate.” A talented sales coach and mentor of sales professionals, Hill is the author of Measuring to Manage, a business book about how to use measurable data to gain maximum employee productivity. He has personally conducted more than 500 employee evaluations during his career. “Productive Strategies is an outstanding consulting firm with a tremendous track record of measurable service to its clients,” Hill said. “I look forward to making the most of the firm’s resources and expertise to serve Indiana’s growth-minded companies. The firm believes, as I do, that our outstanding business climate will bring growth despite the economy.”