By Liz Stevens, writer, Plastics Business Beacon Engineered Solutions earned the second place award in Labor Solutions at the 2023 MAPP Innovation Award ceremony for its entry describing the company’s 4DX Automation Team which has applied automation technologies that currently save the company 11,000 labor hours annually. Beacon is in Alexandria, Minnesota, offering … [Read more...] about Beacon Engineered Solutions Implements Automation to Ease Labor Crunch
Automation
Improved Methods, Better Parts
By Liz Stevens, writer, Plastics Business Texas Injection Molding, Houston, Texas, provides custom plastic injection molding for OEM manufacturing and consumer goods. Operating 30 injection molding machines, the company serves the business electronics, food and beverage, sports and outdoors, medical and pharmaceutical, energy, and industrial and safety markets. Recently, the … [Read more...] about Improved Methods, Better Parts
Strengthening Plastics Manufacturing Performance via Management by Exception
By Steve Bieszczat, chief marketing officer, DELMIAWorks Running a plastics processing operation – with its constant flow of materials, people, machinery and information – is one of the most demanding management jobs in the world. Without proper supervision and control, the operation can slip into inefficiencies and delays that drive up costs while lowering customer … [Read more...] about Strengthening Plastics Manufacturing Performance via Management by Exception
Plastics Executives Report Encouraging Outlook for Automation
By Andrew Carlsgaard, business relations manager/analytics director, MAPP Based on feedback from 86 processing executives, MAPP’s 2023 Automation Report outlook for automation in the US plastics industry generally is positive, with increasing interest in adopting automation technologies to improve productivity, efficiency and competitiveness. Like many other manufacturing … [Read more...] about Plastics Executives Report Encouraging Outlook for Automation
Walk a Mile in Their Shoes to Lead with Empathy
Summarized by Liz Stevens, writer, Plastics Business Gains in efficiency, quality, throughput and profit can be realized by immersing oneself in the day-to-day activities of one’s team. Jeff Ignatowski, president of Champion Plastics, Auburn Hills, Michigan, walked through a real-world case study during the 2022 MAPP Benchmarking Conference in Indianapolis, sharing steps and … [Read more...] about Walk a Mile in Their Shoes to Lead with Empathy