The upward swing of commodity resin pricing continued in February, with higher prices reported for three materials. North American polypropylene resins prices saw the biggest hike, jumping an average of 8 cents per pound. That increase reflected a 7-cent increase in prices for polymer-grade propylene (PGP) feedstock, with PP makers gaining 1 cent in margin improvement as well. PP prices had jumped up 11 cents in January, matching a similar…
“Visibility” of processes and production is the key value of MES. MPDV’s Hydra X system is modular, allowing a user to “start simple” with one or two machines, just tracking uptime/downtime and cycle time and adding machines and functionality later on. (Photo: MPDV USA Inc.) When I was five years old, I eagerly awaited the next broadcast of the “Superman” TV series. Among the Man of Steel’s arsenal of superpowers,…
Advances in robotics and automation are coming at an opportune moment. The plastics industry, and manufacturing in general, continue to wrestle with a labor shortage. A well-known study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute predicts that as many as 2.1 million jobs in manufacturing could go unfilled by 2030. With unemployment at its lowest level in more than 50 years, it seems unlikely that the prediction will shift much in the…
Besana, Italy-based machine builder Magic MP SpA has a fully operational sales and service center in Whitmore Lake, Mich., for its U.S. headquarters called Magic North America.
Norwood Medical, a provider of outsourced medical manufacturing services, broke ground March 14 on the construction of the 11th building at its Dayton, OH, headquarters. When completed in 2024, the new 72,000-square-foot facility will increase Norwood’s current 650,000-square-foot footprint in Dayton by 11%. Built on an undeveloped parcel of land, the plant will be dedicated to the production of components for minimally invasive and robotic surgical devices. The expansion will enable…
A new report from the White House calls for rapid advancements over the next 20 years in bio-based plastics as part of a bigger government biotech strategy.
Material recovery facilities (MRFs) sit at a critical juncture in the plastic material value chain. As stakeholders strive for greater material circularity, better data acquisition and feedback could reveal low-hanging fruit at the recovery stage. Suppliers of automated and even AI-enhanced recovery systems seek to enable collaboration across the value chain, by bringing state of the art technology to MRF operations. Better Data for MRF Operators Operations at MRFs have…
In a joint news release March 17, Ineos and the unions said that they “are happy to announce that, after over a year of good faith negotiations, the parties have tentatively agreed to a three-year collective bargaining agreement.”
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles in the business world have recently become enmeshed in the culture wars waged by some conservative groups and pundits, who often characterize ESG as “woke capitalism.” That hasn’t stopped the mainstreaming of the movement here and abroad. While in the United States ESG is largely the province of individual corporations and businesses responding to the concerns of stakeholders, legislators increasingly are entering the fray.…
Fresh off being named a finalist for Processor of the Year, Redline Plastics LLC has made an acquisition to boost its rotational molding capacity.