Not Your Grandpa’s Plastics Processing Operation

If you’ve been following recent developments in both materials and machinery, perhaps you have come to the same conclusion I have: the North American plastics processing industry will have access to new ways of doing things, and how quickly they embrace them will go a long way toward determining its (your) future.

Yes, this is a conservative industry. It takes a long time for North American processors to adapt to change. That’s not meant to be a criticism, because even with all of the M&A activity over the past 20 or so years this is still an industry with a healthy share of small- to medium-sized companies. And truth be told, many of these types of companies tend to be set in their ways and don’t get excited about change.

Maybe 50 years ago, when robotics began to get a foothold in injection molding, Plastics Hall of Famer and Husky founder Robert Schad advised his customer to “automate or die.” Today, maybe “adapt or die” is more apropos.

All of this came rushing into my mind as I reviewed all of the new technology that will be displayed at this month’s NPE2024, or when I spoke one-on-one with companies bringing this technology to the industry. Time and again I have remarked that technology advances in this business have been more evolutionary than revolutionary. But that’s starting to change. Let me give a few specifics:

• Additive Manufacturing (AM): In plastics, we more commonly refer to this as 3D printing. This is not about prototyping. This is about making fully functional production parts. In our space, this technology is being used to fashion mold components in days that typically would take weeks. Even in extrusion, I know of one processor using AM to fashion sizing tools for profiles. Of course, AM technology can also be used to produce polymer parts in short- to medium-sized runs.
• Sustainable Materials: It’s here now, it’s not going away and there is more to come. If you are not yet making products using either recycled content materials, bioresins and more, most certainly your customers will be asking you to in short order. This is especially the case if your products fall into the single-use category. Brand owners and OEMs are demanding it. And, by the way, products formed using these new materials have to perform to the same levels as those made from traditional materials.
• Smart Machines & Automation: Sensor technology and artificial intelligence are changing what machines of all types can do. The idea is to get knob turning and button pushing out of the process … and that’s a good thing, because processors have fewer and fewer people nowadays to turn knobs and push buttons. So, auxiliary equipment of all types as well as primary processing machines are being engineered to do tasks formerly handled by operators on their own, making for process steps that are more efficient, cost effective and repeatable.

Plastics Technology magazine is part of Gardner Business Media. Gardner was founded in 1928 with the launch of Modern Machine Shop magazine, still the leading publication in metalworking. At the time of its launch, Don C. Gardner, founder of the company that bears his name, said this: “Time passes, conditions change, the world progresses — and those who are found keeping pace with the new order of things are those who are young enough in mind and spirit to recognize the value of the new and to make themselves a part of it.”

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