From the Editor: June 2020 ENews

Hello, everyone. I hope life is beginning to look like normal for you. Here at our offices, we successfully produced Issue 2 of Plastics Business while working from home, with the help of some terrific industry suppliers who assisted with producing relevant content for manufacturers while in the midst of a pandemic. Dan Regovich with AJ Augur and Andy Routsis with Routsis Training contributed articles about how the time is now to recruit and train employees. Bryan Whitaker with iD Additives suggested changes to make in the tool room that can impact your businesses long term. Laurie Harbour with Harbour Results wrote about preparing your business for the “new normal” by driving improvements and leveraging technology.

The goal of this most recent issue was to provide you with business planning advice to prepare you to move forward quickly and confidently. As we start work on Issue 3, which will come out late this summer, we’re shifting our focus back to the processors, so that you can hear from your fellow industry members to find out how they quickly changed their entire business model to respond to the challenges of COVID-19.

In the meantime, this email provides a few more resources. First, our friends at PolySource provide an update on developments in medical resins. Tom Wood of ES Plastics addresses those salespeople who aren’t sure how to move forward when their typical travel schedules have been halted. And, be sure to check the Quick Reads in this email – many of you have asked about using ultraviolet disinfection technology to reduce the danger of COVID-19 spread in your facilities, and the International Ultraviolet Association has launched a section on its website to help answer some of your questions.

As we get back to normal, if those of us at Plastics Business can do anything for you, let us know. If there’s information you’re looking for or a supplier connection you want to make, we are happy to help. Stay safe and be well.