It has been six months since the premier of the International Plastics Design Competition (IPDC) at NPE2009. In the relative quiet since the awards were celebrated and the last exhibits found their way home, I was recently reminded again of the excitement and pride we all felt to learn of so many critical problems being solved through innovation with plastics materials. 

Last week, as  I continued to read through news of the earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti, I thought of one plastic product in particular: the WaterBrick, which won two IPDC Awards last June — in the Sustainability Part/Component and Industrial/Military categories. Two plastics industry companies — FPM Tooling & Automation (designer and moldmaker) and ACM Plastic Products(molder) — were key to producing this life-saving resource. 

The WaterBrick is an industrial container made of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) that is recyclable and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for water storage. It can be air-dropped into disaster zones to provide 3.4 gallons of clean water per container to people in need.  The use of HDPE renders the WaterBrick less costly than comparable steel containers, and careful design enables the containers to withstand the impact of a fall to the ground from a plane.  Once the water inside is used, the WaterBrick can be refilled with dirt or sand and utilized as a building block for construction of shelters in lieu of expensive concrete blocks (which is the case in Mkuze, South Africa.) 

It occurred to me that if these WaterBricks were not being sent to Haiti, then someone should find a way to get them there.  I was thrilled to discover that WaterBrick International had indeed formed a partnership with GlobalGiving to raise funds to get as many WaterBricks as possible into Haiti.  I encourage everyone  to donate – as little as $10 provides one person with a week’s supply of clean water!  (Currently, WaterBricks are not being used for shelter purposes in Haiti.)

It is gratifying to work directly with people and companies whose products transform lives and help overcome challenges of this magnitude — and we in the plastics industry get to do it a lot.  Let this example be a reminder for us to continue encouraging innovation and supporting one another’s efforts to make the world a safer, healthier place for all.

Have you heard the news?  After being held in Chicago since 1971, NPE is moving to Orlando in 2012. Of course, as a regular reader of this blog you already knew that.  Are you someone who doesn’t adjust well to change or who just wishes you knew more about the Orange County Convention Center prior to NPE2012? Well, three concurrent SPI events taking place the third week of March will provide you with an opportunity to get a sneak peek at the new NPE venue: the Spring 2010 National Board Meeting, the Thermoforming Committee Conference and the Equipment Council Annual Business Conference. All are being held at Rosen Shingle Creek – mere minutes from the Convention Center.  (Members attending the Equipment or Thermoformers meetings may attend any portion of the National Board Meeting for no additional charge.)

Attendees of these meetings will have multiple opportunities to learn more about the Orange County Convention Center, the vendors who will be assisting you during NPE2012, and the hotels and restaurants of the surrounding area. 

Looking in detail at the Equipment Council Annual Business Conference, being held March 16-18, there will be an impressive lineup of guest speakers; an SPI Advocacy Update from President Bill Carteaux and Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Public Policy Jon Kurrle; and plenty of scheduled tours/events at the Orange County Convention Center.  Register for it today!

And if you are not yet excited enough, one creative SPI staffer (wisely remaining anonymous) has penned “Orlando,” sung to the tune of Swedish pop group ABBA’s biggest selling single “Fernando.”  So, cue up this video of “Fernando,” and sing along with our NPE-inspired lyrics below:

Can you hear the hum, Orlando?
We remember mere months ago the anticipation of this
In humid August, Orlando
You were wooing us with promises of cheap Pepsi
We could hear the distant rumble
Of the arrival of tons and tons of plastics machinery

The anticipation is growing, Orlando
Every day we get closer to 2012
We are so excited, Orlando
Our show will continue to grow and thrive
And we’re not ashamed to say
The thought of so many exhibitors makes us want to buy!

There will be something on the floor that day
Another molded part give-away, Orlando
Rows and rows of machines
Some extruding, Orlando
Though we never thought the show would move,
There’s no regret
If we had to do the same again,
We would, my friend, Orlando

Now the deal is sealed, Orlando
Get ready for Expo Gene.
Can you hear the hum Orlando?
Are you ready to help us continue to go green?
We can see it in your support
How proud you are to have us through 2015.

There will be something on the floor that day
Another molded part give-away, Orlando
Rows and rows of machines
Some extruding, Orlando
Though we never thought the show would move,
There’s no regret
If we had to do the same again,
We would, my friend, Orlando

According to the National Association of Manufacturers‘ National Center for the American Workforce, there is a “broadening skills gap….taking an increasingly negative toll on America’s ability to compete in the global economy” and the challenge will be more severe as Baby Boomers in the manufacturing sector retire with no skilled employees to replace them. In fact, more than 80 percent of U.S. manufacturers report an overall shortage of qualified employees and 46 percent of small and medium manufacturers report that finding qualified employees is one of the most serious problems facing their company.

In an attempt to illuminate plastics careers to the next generation of students, a new episode of Degrees That Work, an award-winning documentary television series co-produced by Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn College) and WVIA-TV, is devoted to our industry. With past episodes devoted to nanotechnology, welding and fabrication and advanced manufacturing, the series was developed to build awareness of careers that may not be familiar to the public but offer ample opportunities.

With an extensive amount of footage shot at NPE2009 last June, the episode follows a group of high school students who are enrolled in a technical education class as they design and create the plastic body for a remote-controlled car to be raced against other high schools at an annual Plastics Experience event at Penn College.  The program also features interviews with national plastics industry experts as well as a visit to K’NEX Brands, a large injection molder that produces popular construction toy kits among other products.

There are only five accredited plastics engineering programs in the country. Two of those – Penn College and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College – are in Pennsylvania.  Get more information about plastics and polymer technology majors at Penn College.  

In addition to Penn College professors of plastics and polymer engineering, other  experts interviewed in the documentary include SPI President Bill Carteaux; Dana Gier, Julie McKenna and Erica Ocampo of Dow Chemical Co.; Dennis Gros of Gros Executive Recruiters; Robert Grace of Plastics News; Greg Koski of plastics.com; Michael Araten of K’NEX Brands and Tim Womer of Xaloy Inc.

You can watch the 28-minute program right here (see above)!  It will actually premiere at 7:00 p.m. (EST) on February 1st on public television stations serving northcentral and northeastern Pennsylvania, and will air several more times on those stations in February. The program will also air on select other public television stations — find your station here and request the program. Educators are invited to download the episode for classroom use. 

This would be an excellent resource for an outreach activity in your company’s community.  Ask Andrea O’Neill, WVIA’s director of education, about free DVDs and  lesson planning guides.

You’ve heard the rumors. You’ve read the industry papers and blogs. The grapevine is full of discussion that NPE is looking to change its 40-year tradition of being held in Chicago. Today, I want to say that…it’s ALL true!

NPE—The International Plastics Showcase—has a new home! I am pleased to announce that NPE, the triennial plastics industry expo and conference, will be moving to Orlando for 2012 and 2015. NPE2012 will be held at the Orange County Convention Center from April 1-5, and NPE2015 from March 22-26. As many of you know, this is big news! Founded by SPI in 1946, NPE had taken place at Chicago’s McCormick Place since 1971.

The move to Orlando was a decision made by the industry, for the industry. The SPI leadership, steered by the NPE Operations and Executive Committees, conducted a thorough review and analysis of the two contending host venues—Chicago and Orlando. In particular, NPE2012 Chairman John Effmann of ENTEK Manufacturing and Vice Chairman Jim Murphy of Davis Standard Corporation along with SPI Board Chairman Jim Buonomo of Nypro and Vice Chairman Chris Keller of The Conair Group deserve a pat on the back for the many hours they have spent personally reviewing the numbers and meeting with representatives from the two host venues. They have taken every aspect of the show into consideration along with the final proposals from the contenting host venues and presented their recommendation to the SPI Executive Board for final action. Here’s the bottom line: Orlando and the Orange County Convention Center will offer both exhibitors and attendees significant cost-savings that will continue the economic stimulus measures SPI enacted for NPE2009.

The NPE Operations Committee recommended Orlando after doing a systematic comparison of all possible venues. What we learned is that holding NPE2012 in Orlando would provide big reductions in the chief expenses incurred by exhibitors and attendees. These reductions could save the two groups an average of: 48% for booth utilities; 19% for on-site hauling (“drayage”) and rigging services for exhibitors; 23% on lodging; and 11% on overall travel. The savings on travel from the U.S. Midwest—a key plastics manufacturing region at whose heart is Chicago—would be even greater: 19%.  Finally, Orlando demonstrated a greater range in pricing than Chicago for hotels and restaurants, and lower costs for ground transportation expenses like cabs to and from the airport and convention center parking.

All in all, by moving the show to Orlando, SPI can save the plastics industry up to $20-million — which will play a substantial role in SPI’s mission to stimulate the plastics industry’s economic recovery.

And it’s not all about cost.  Orlando also was the clear winner with customer service. At the end of the day, Team Orlando led by the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Orange County Convention Center won the bid because of  its community effort, professionalism, dedication to service, partnership mindset–we’re not just a customer—and innovative spirit. Orlando truly made the discernible difference with a customer-service-centric attitude that will play a major role in enhancing the overall experience for everyone involved in the 2012 trade show.

I am also really excited about three other NPE innovations that will come with the change of venue:

• The switch to early April from the traditional late-June dates will allow far more time for exhibitors to follow up on inquiries and leads generated before summer vacations.
• Instead of the traditional Monday opening day, NPE2012 will start on Sunday, with educational programs and other special events; the trade show will be open from Monday through Thursday, eliminating the sparsely attended final half-day of previous shows.
• SPI will address the longstanding wish of attendees and exhibitors that exhibits be grouped by product category.

Over the next several weeks I will blog again to share more information about the industry-wide benefits and opportunities of NPE’s new home — Orlando!

Last weekend my wife and I flew to California to meet my sister in-law’s fiancé for the first time. Unfortunately my soon-to-be brother in-law and I got off on the wrong foot.  Mike seemed to be the type of guy who saw public policy issues concerning the environment in only black or white terms. Put it this way: If plastic was the only available choice of bag, Mike would rather walk miles with a heavy and cumbersome load of grocery items in his arms. I recognized that Mike and I would not see eye-to-eye on a number of issues. But could we at least find some common ground?          

 Upon learning that I worked on behalf of the plastics industry, Mike questioned how I could live with myself.  Instead of debating, I played nice and brushed off his accusations with humor and other means of deflection. While I managed to diffuse the situation for a time, I realized that this issue would return before I left for home. Sure enough, during dinner one night, Mike informed the family that he recently purchased a hybrid vehicle (a Toyota Prius specifically) and has managed to achieve a  fuel economy of more than 50 miles to the gallon. So he said while I was “killing the environment,” he was doing his best to help “Mother Earth.”  Everyone turned to me for a response. 

For my wife’s sake, I once again attempted to avoid the conflict that was brewing. But it was proving difficult.  So I began discussing the energy saving attributes of plastics. I cited the plastic window kits that insulate houses during the winter. I noted the amount of fuel that is saved by using plastic in a car—noting that every pound of plastic in a car replaces up to three pounds of other materials, which can increase a car’s fuel economy by 6%.  I also mentioned that the material of choice for windmill rotor blades is carbon filament-reinforced plastic (CFRP) and glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP).  I also underscored the need for municipalities to improve recycling efforts, and innovative plastics projects and programs involving waste-to-energy.  I even told him all the ways our trade show, NPE2009, showcased how plastics contribute to a sustainable world.

Maybe it was my convincing argument, or the not so gentle nudge by my sister in-law, but the heated debate soon ended with Mike nodding and saying “I never thought of that.”

When I returned to D.C., I came across another really interesting article that discussed efforts to reduce vehicle weight further via plastic engines. I e-mailed it to Mike with a simple message: “Imagine the possibilities with plastics.” Surprisingly, Mike called me from his honeymoon to apologize for his abrasive behavior, and thanked me for opening his eyes to the ways  plastics contribute to sustainability. 

Although I don’t think Mike will be asking for plastic bags at the grocery store anytime soon, I do believe he is a little less rigid in his atitude toward polymeric materials.