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For SPI Members Only — January 27, 2006 In This Edition
SPI NEWS DuPont's Austin elected chair of SPI. . . J.E. (Jane) Austin, global business director for DuPont Performance Elastomers, steps up this month as SPI Chairman of the Board for 2006, becoming the first woman to head the Society of the Plastic Industry in its 70-year history. "Jane is an outstanding, highly successful business leader and we feel very fortunate to have her at the helm of our industry organization at this critical time," said Bill Carteaux, SPI president and CEO. "Jane knows the industry, she knows the issues facing us, she knows the marketplace, and she knows what our members expect of SPI. She is exactly the right person at the right time." Jane Austin has been active in the SPI leadership for more than seven years, including several years as a board member, treasurer and member of the finance committee. She has also served on the Material Suppliers Council. SPI chairmen serve for one year, but are eligible to serve for a second term. New government affairs, communication staff join SPI. . . Last week SPI officially announced the addition of three new staffers. Chris Brown will be SPI's new senior director of federal affairs and Jane Adams joins us to direct state government affairs initiatives. Both are registered federal lobbyists. Because SPI's priority legislative and public policy issues filter from SPI's business units and regions, the Government Relations team will now report directly to COO Catherine Randazzo. In addition, SPI welcomes Barry Eisenberg who joins the team as the director of communications and marketing replacing Paula Weis, who relocated with her family to Memphis, Tenn. Call for Entries for SPI Safety Statistics and Awards Program. . . SPI's Occupational Health and Environmental Issues Committee is now accepting entries for its annual Safety Statistics and Awards Program. The benchmarking data generated by the program reflects safety rates by process, such as extrusion, thermoforming and injection molding, or by general category, such as processor, material supplier and machinery/auxiliary equipment, and is made available only to those SPI members who participate in the program. The data is also sorted by types of plants, to allow for comparison within a given sector of the industry and with the industry as a whole. Companies with excellent safety records are recognized in four awards categories: Distinguished Safety Award, Achievement Safety Award, Merit Safety Award and Special Recognition Award. More information is available on the SPI Web site or by contacting Susan Howe at (202) 974-5223 or showe@socplas.org. ENERGY & POLICY Carteaux urges congressional action to save jobs. . . In an op-ed column in the Sunday edition of the Midland (Michigan) Daily News (Jan. 15), SPI President Bill Carteaux notes: "Each and every day, we are losing thousands of production jobs as plants are being closed down and skilled workers laid off. In order to remain competitive, many of our largest American companies are already building new plants overseas rather than here. In my own field, plastics. . . we have lost more than 200,000 jobs over the past five years and many companies have been driven out of business, mostly because the cost of natural gas in this country has soared 700 percent during this comparatively short period. Many of our basic industries, from agriculture and aluminum to chemicals, rubber and steel – even health care – have been similarly impacted. . . .The U.S. government cannot force other countries to increase their workers' wages and benefits, but it can do something about natural gas, whose price is artificially high because of various regulations that have prevented us from developing the vast reserves of natural gas in this country and off our coasts. Congress can vote to lift these barriers. That simple action would be enough to cause prices to plunge, as energy markets base prices on the outlook for future supply." Carteaux's entire op-ed can be accessed online. "Fly-In" to influence lawmakers on key manufacturing issues. . . SPI is participating in two separate "fly-in" events on Capitol Hill to prompt congressional action on critical issues of concern to the plastics industry. As the 2006 mid-term elections near, we need you and your colleagues to participate in these top-level discussions with key lawmakers. To schedule your congressional visits on the dates noted below, contact Natha Freiburg at nfreibur@socplas.org. February 7–8, 2006: Sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers, this fly-in will bring U.S. manufacturers together with lawmakers to discuss energy and a host of other critical challenges facing the plastics industry, including the economy, innovation and the skills gap. For more information, click here. To register, contact SPI's Natha Freiburg at nfreibur@socplas.org or 202-974-5216. February 15–16, 2006: Sponsored by the Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA), this fly-in spotlights the serious impact sky-rocketing natural gas prices are having on the "other" consumers – the industrial sector – and the need to increase supply. To register, contact Natha Freiburg at nfreibur@socplas.org or 202-974-5216. MANUFACTURING & ECONOMY SPI releases two new industry data reports . . . The SPI recently announced the release of two new reports in the Plastics Data Source portfolio that use 2004 data to provide a comprehensive overview of the U.S. plastics industry. Size & Impact of the Plastics Industry on the U.S. Economy is an analysis of the U.S. plastics industry that includes both state and county data on the number of companies, shipment volume, number of employees, new capital expenditures, and more for each plastics sector. Global Business Trends, Partners, Hot Products is an international business study that examines U.S. trade data by plastics industry sector. The data indicate that U.S. plastics manufacturing remains a large and dynamic industry despite current challenges, including high energy prices, which have put it at competitive disadvantage. From 2002 to 2004, the data shows a 20 percent increase in the cost of materials for the industry which coincides with the spike in energy prices. Despite the challenges, the reports uncover bright spots, including a 6.7 percent demand in growth in 2004, and an increase in the overall value of shipments and an increase in exports. The reports also find that American-produced goods still hold significant market share over imports, when measured on an industry-wide basis. The reports are free to SPI members and can be ordered online at www.plasticsdatasource.org. Fed reports growth in U.S. industrial production. . . The Federal Reserve announced that overall U.S. industrial production rose a solid 0.6 percent in December, with 0.2 percent attributed solely to manufacturing production and the rest to mining and utilities. "While this is a marginally better performance than what we expect from the overall economy once final 2005 data are announced, it's nonetheless a noticeable deceleration from the 5.2 percent manufacturing growth in 2004," commented NAM Chief Economist David Huether, who attributed some of the slow pace to "the devastating toll Katrina took on chemical and petroleum production." U.S still lags on economic freedom. . . The Heritage Foundation's "2006 Index of Economic Freedom" ranks the United States ninth, behind Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland and the United Kingdom, and notes that the country's high personal and corporate taxes are major reasons why U.S. competitiveness is dwindling. It also blames "protectionist" trade policies, massive government spending and expansion, and Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulations. (Click to view the report.) INTERNATIONAL NEWS Recycled plastic bags find fashionable use. . . Some of London's most fashionable boutiques are featuring handbags made from plastic bags rescued from trash heaps in New Delhi, reports the United Kingdom newspaper the Independent (Jan. 10). The publication reports on a cottage industry growing among India's "rag-pickers," who make their living scavenging scraps in wealthy neighborhoods. The paper reports that the non-profit environmental and development project is the brainchild of an Indian couple, Shalabh and Anita Ahuja, who run their own non-governmental organization. The couple teaches the scavengers how to collect the scraps, carefully stitch different colors together to create a pattern, then mold them into single sheets of thick, durable plastic. The sheets are then stitched into well-made, colorfully-designed handbags and sent to shops in the U.S., England, Spain and elsewhere. Non-recyclable plastic finds second life as diesel. . . In another example of India finding unique solutions to re-use plastics, the Indian newspaper The Statesman (Jan. 19) reports on firms in North Bengal extracting light diesel oil from non-biodegradable plastic waste. Vijay Merchant of the Plastindia Foundation, the Indian plastics trade group, states,"While plastic carry bags are recyclable, laminated pouches are not, and going by current trends, almost every conceivable article comes in laminated plastic wraps of one form or another. This is where the new technology comes handy." (http://www.plastindia.org) CALENDAR Industry groups team to produce largest ever plastics parts conference . . . The Alliance of Plastics Processors, a business unit of SPI announced that three other industry groups are partners in the 2006 Plastics Parts Innovation Conference and New Product Design Competition scheduled for April 2–4 in Columbus, Ohio. "With the support of these key partners – the SPI Midwest Region, Mid-America Plastic Partners and PolymerOhio – the 2006 conference and design competition are shaping up to be the biggest and best ever," said Allen Weidman, SPI executive director. The plastic parts conference, formerly the structural plastics conference, annually draws over 200 international representatives of OEMs, designers, material suppliers, manufacturing and tooling engineers, product development managers, mold makers, and others. Networking activities will include company exhibits, company-sponsored hospitality events and the grand finale awards ceremony. The industry-renowned new product design competition is open to products manufactured from standard injection molding, co-injection, low-pressure structural foam, reaction injection molding, blow molding, thermoforming, rotational molding and other progressive plastic processes from multiple markets. First-place awards go to companies entering the most innovative commercial products in each market category. Follow this link to register. Midwest business & technology conference to focus on value. . . SPI's Midwest Region will hold "Building Value Strategies: Best Practices for Distinguishing, Adding and Retaining Value," a business and technology (BAT) mini-conference on April 27, 2006, at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. The mini-conference is sponsored by Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP, Plante & Moran PLLC and P&M Corporate Finance LLC. SPI President Bill Carteaux will deliver the keynote address on "Protecting the Industry." The program will include sessions on industry performance in turbulent times; intellectual property and practices; information systems; unique and innovative technology; strategic and transactional considerations; entrance, exit and succession strategies; and valuation and positioning considerations. It will also include panel discussions featuring the CEOs of Titan Plastics, Solar Corp, KAM Plastics, and other industry leaders discussing their perspectives on building and retaining value. The conference will close with the presentation of the SPI Midwest Region's Founders Award, to recognize exceptional individual service to the SPI Midwest Region. Contact Peggy Schulte for a confidential nomination form. Email pschulte@socplas.org or ph: (773) 380-0808. Machinery, Molders and Moldmakers conference to examine global competition, impact of mid-year elections. . . Whether providing an economic outlook for 2006, sharing strategies for competing successfully in the global marketplace, or delivering an analysis of the impact of resin pricing.the Machinery, Molders and Moldmakers 2006 spring conference will equip participants with ideas to bring back to their companies and put into practice. Convening May 7–10 at the Naples Grande Resort and Club in Naples, Fla., the conference will also feature a presentation by Jim Buonomo, NYPRO, on "New Trends & Winning Strategies for Successful Exhibiting." Political pundit Stuart Rothenberg will share his take on the mid-year elections' effects on the manufacturing industry. Rothenberg is editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report, a columnist for Roll Call, and a frequent contributor to network and cable television news programs. Follow this link for more information or to register. For mail list changes, additions or deletions, please e-mail comm@socplas.org and include "SPI Link" in the subject line. Please remember to include your e-mail address in the body of the e-mail message. © Copyright 2006. The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. · 1667 K St., NW, #1000 · Washington, DC 20006. All rights reserved. |
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