In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we will examine how thermoforming popularity compares by industry and why that matters. New to thermoforming? Thermoforming involves heating a plastic sheet to a pliable temperature and shaping it to a mold using air or vacuum pressure (or a combination of both). It is then cooled, removed from the mold, and trimmed. Secondary operations can then be performed. Learn more about thermoforming here.
In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we’ll ask some questions about the 2019-2020 Annual Report data on changes in process popularity, with a special eye on injection molding.
Did you know: This is the sixth year that we’ve collected data on Process Popularity in the Plastics Industry.
Looking back on previous years as a comparison, this year’s data demonstrates a marked change in the popularity of injection molding. Over the last four years, respondents have indicated a growing interest in injection molding (59% in 2015, growing to 73% last year), while this year it took a 38% year-over-year dip to plunge to only 45%. Time will tell if this is just a statistical anomaly or if this represents an ongoing trend.
(more…)
In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we’ll examine the issue of recyclability as it relates to the plastics industry, while also considering overall trends in the industry in terms of production.
In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we’ll dive deeper into the data in the 2019-2020 Annual Survey and look at overseas plastics manufacturing and quality. As we covered in our Plastics Industry Pulse: Offshore Manufacturing, overseas plastics manufacturing tends to be underutilized by most industries. As a review, the survey data showed that overseas plastics is utilized less than half the time and tends to be a bit unpopular. Further, of those industries who have utilized overseas plastics, a majority of respondents said they either have already reversed course and re-shored operations domestically or they planned to do so in the future.
Plastics Industry Pulse: Offshore Plastics Trends examines the data that might explain just why offshoring plastics manufacturing is trending so negatively. It picks up where Offshore Manufacturing left off in describing the vast array of industry data sources surveyed.
In short, as more specialized industries grow in their need for high-quality plastics with exceptional aesthetic value, the offshore plastics trend will likely continue to trend toward negative values.
As we mentioned in our previous post we have been researching, processing, and interpreting data from over 200 manufacturing professionals on the use of heavy-gauge plastics manufacturing.
Did you know: This is the sixth year that Ray Products has been conducting this important industry research.
In this Plastics Industry Pulse, we’ll uncover the data in the 2019–2020 annual survey that deals with overseas plastic manufacturing. As offshore manufacturing grows in a number of other industries, you may be wondering about its impact on plastics manufacturing.