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
Benchmarking
New Tax Law Rewards Manufacturers for Going Green
By Teri Samples, partner and CPA, Wipfli The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) gave a boost to the manufacturing industry. Specifically, the new law rewards plastics processors for various investment initiatives to either incentivize or reward taxpayers who engage in a variety of clean energy practices. Many times, these investments make good business sense, with shorter than … [Read more...] about New Tax Law Rewards Manufacturers for Going Green
Plastics Processors Indicate Slower Than Expected Q4 2022, Temper Expectations for 2023
By Andrew Carlsgaard, business relations manager/analytics director, MAPP Over the past year, there has been a significant fluctuation in the global economy in the prices of goods, services, and labor across all sectors due to the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, supply chain issues, labor shortages, oil prices, war and government intervention only have … [Read more...] about Plastics Processors Indicate Slower Than Expected Q4 2022, Temper Expectations for 2023
North American Outlook: Inflation Is the Focus
By Chris Kuehl, managing director, Armada Corporate Intelligence There has been a great deal of mood shifting as 2023 gets underway. At this juncture, it is as easy to find a pessimist predicting a deep and long recession as it is finding an optimist asserting the downturn will be mild. Why the variability? The easy answer is that some very significant motivators for the … [Read more...] about North American Outlook: Inflation Is the Focus
“Future Proofing” Your Production Workforce – Confidence and Knowledge Are the Keys to Handling Change
By Daniel Stephens, vice president, Routsis Training LLC In production environments, the most important goal is maintaining “productive uptime.” This means that product is being produced at a rate that is profitable, and the customer base is satisfied with its quality level. One of the biggest factors that interrupt productive uptime is change. Examples of change can be new … [Read more...] about “Future Proofing” Your Production Workforce – Confidence and Knowledge Are the Keys to Handling Change