Craig Carrel, President Team 1 Plastics, recently interviewed Laurie Harbour, President and CEO of Harbour Results on the state of the automotive industry. Laurie has over 20 years experience working with automotive companies and is regularly quoted in local and national publications as an experienced auto and operational analyst. She recently was the President of the Society of Automotive Analysts.
Team 1 has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with Laurie and Harbour Results and she has played a critical role in the development of our strategic plan. We were pleased to spend some time with Laurie and discuss the current state of the automotive industry, lessons learned from the recession and Japan earthquake along with challenges and opportunites for growth in this globally competitive industry.
We would appreciate your feedback on whether you thought this information was useful, suggestions for improvement, new questions, and other topic areas. Please go to this feedback form to provide your feedback and a chance to win a $50 VISA gift card.
UPDATE-January 3, 2012: We had 26 views of our feedback page and 4 people submitted their feedback for the $50 VISA gift card. Doug Stratton was the lucky winner. We appreciate everyone viewing these video interviews and your response and feedback has exceeded our expectations. We are already planning a video interview on Activity Based Costing/Pricing for late January and another plastic industry update from another plastic expert in February. Stay tuned!
For additional information on
Team 1 Plastics – contact us or call Craig Carrel at (517) 629-2178 ext. 11
Harbour Results - website or call Laurie Harbour at (248) 629-9331
Watch the interview to hear Laurie’s perspective on the current state of the automotive industry.
Can the Plastics Industry Continue to Grow or Is Trouble Ahead? An Interview with Laurie Harbour, President and CEO of Harbour Results on the State of the Plastics Industry
Craig Carrel, President Team 1 Plastics, recently interviewed Laurie Harbour, President and CEO of Harbour Results on the state of the plastics industry. Laurie has over 20 years experience working with manufacturing companies, including plastic manufacturers. She currently is on the board of directors of the Manufacturers Association for Plastics Processors (MAPP).
Team 1 has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with Laurie and Harbour Results and she has played a critical role in the development of our strategic plan. We were pleased to spend some time with Laurie and discuss the current state of the plastics industry along with the challenges, threats and opportunites for growth in plastics.
We would appreciate your feedback on whether you thought this information was useful, suggestions for improvement, new questions, and other topic areas. Please go to this feedback form to provide your feedback and a chance to win a $25 VISA gift card.
UPDATE-December 12, 2011: We had 23 views of our feedback page but no one submitted their feedback so we were unable to give away our $25 VISA gift card. We will roll this amount over to our next blog interview on the current state of the automotive industry coming soon.
For additional information on
Team 1 Plastics – contact us or call Craig Carrel at (517) 629-2178 ext. 11
Harbour Results - website or call Laurie Harbour at (248) 629-9331
Watch the interview to hear Laurie’s perspective on the current state of the plastics industry.
I came across a great blog posting from E&T Plastics recently. Titled “How Plastics Companies Are Using Social Media” it focused on how plastics companies utilize social media. They looked at several plastic companies who are using social media to build brand awareness, as well as engage in open communication with their current and prospective customers. Some of the challenges include a lack of participation from target markets, getting through to the right people and keeping the communications interesting. It was great to see a blog post that was dedicated to the plastics industry social media efforts.
Here at Team 1, we have been dabbling in social media for about two years. We would agree that one of the difficulties is the limited outlets and participation in our target markets. Our biggest challenge has been to find enough time to monitor and participate in social media being a small business. It is also tough to find the time to develop informative blog posts. We believe that this is the best social media tool for plastic companies based upon the technical nature of our products.
We are excited about the potential of social media to add value to our current and future customers. Many plastic companies do not see this value and we believe they are ignoring this new media at the own peril. It does take a commitement and resources to participate and it is constantly evolving but we believe it is the wave of the future.
Unfortunately, as is normal with New Year’s resolutions, we have done a terrible job in living up to being a better blogger. We apologize for the lack of recent blog posts and it is frustrating because we have a lot to say but not enough time to say it.
It has been a weird first half of the year because we had a fantastic first quarter but the second quarter has been negatively impacted by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March. Our production team has been slow since April and does not look to be picking up until August but everyone else has been extremely busy with current and new customers’ projects that will launch later this year and in 2012.
We will try to improve but unlike earlier this year we are not going to make promises that we might not be able to keep. We continue to increase our presence in the online community and we would love for you to check us out!
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-1-Plastics
Check out our Tweets: http://twitter.com/#!/Team1Plastics
And, as always, check out our most recent news on our website!
I realize I maybe a little late with a New Year's resolution but better late than never.
I resolve to become a better blogger in 2011. In particular, I want to get back to regularly blogging about plastic and automotive topics. My goal is to blog weekly if possible but at least once a month.
I started out strong last year with the launch of our new website and blog but by the 4th quarter I stopped blogging. It is my fault and I just got pulled away from blogging by the day to day business and I did not make it a priority. In addition, I need to reach out within Team 1 for help with blog posts and also outside of Team 1 for guest blog posts.
P.S. I also have resolved to get in better shape this year and want to run a 1/2 marathon with my daugther, Meredith. Now this is a real BHAG but I really want to accomplish both in 2011.
Picture Credit: Sally M
A great resource for me as I was starting to investigate and implement our social media strategy was
Dianna Brodine, managing editor of
Peterson Publications. I have known Dianna through her work with the
Manufacturers Association of Plastics Processors (MAPP) organization and in particular their magazine,
Plastics Business. She authored a
feature article on Team 1 and edited a 2
nd article on our
activity based costing model.
She and I exchanged emails and phone calls earlier this year concerning the need for manufacturers to become more involved in social media. I believed that we had several years before it would really affect us but she convinced me that the time is now and potential customers are using social media to find new suppliers. She played a key role in our decision to start blogging and she also started a blog, SocialMFG that focuses on the manufacturing community and introducing them to some of the social media tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, etc.
We have both observed that most manufacturers are reluctant to become involved in social media and believe that since they have a website, usually one that has not been updated since its launch, then new customers will find them. As part of our efforts to educate the plastics manufacturing community we are going to be joint facilitators of a break out session devoted to social media at the upcoming MAPP annual benchmarking conference in Indianapolis on October 21, 2010.
On the evening of July 25th 2010 the largest oil spill in the history of the Midwest happened in Marshall Township, Michigan. The spill occurred from a cracked seam 5 feet in length in a 41 years old pipeline. This spill dumped over 800,000 gallons of crude oil into Talmadge Creek and then into the Kalamazoo River. The spill has affected many people’s lives in the community and will change the environment along the stretch of the river for many years to come.
Although it is Enbridge Energy’s responsibility to bear the cost of the cleanup, many local businesses including Team 1 Plastics and hundreds of residents donated items to assist with clean up of wildlife affected by the spill. Team 1 Plastics logistics manager, Dave Sanford, has been following this from the first day of the spill and donated items and volunteered when ever possible. “I volunteered early on with Circle D Wildlife Refuge in attempts to rescue animals affected by the spill,” said Sanford. “I’ve received my certificate from Emergency Management Institute on Hazardous Materials and completed a 4 hour safety awareness training for oil spill workers which is required before helping with any type of clean up.” He was also interviewed and featured in a feature by CNN on the oil spill.
Team 1 Plastics is happy to support the efforts of it’s team members like Dave Sanford and it reinforces our efforts to be a “Positive Community Member”. In particular, the statements We will support and encourage our team members’ volunteer activities. In addition, Team 1 will focus its financial contributions to the local community. Members of our families or communities will never hear: “It is not our problem;” instead, they will hear: “We will work together to make a positive difference.”
Do you have examples how companies or people are making a difference in their communities?
Picture Credit: mic stolz
Just after posting our last blog below concerning the “The Dirty Truth About Plug-In Hybrids” I read an Automotive News report by Lindsay Chappell from the 2010 Management Briefing Seminars entitled “Gasoline Engines Will Remain Dominant, Execs Say”. It helped to reinforce my argument at the end of our blog on plug-in hybrids that it will be awhile before these gain any significant market share. The Automotive News article states that conventional gasoline engines will dominant the market for the next 20 years. Though electric vehicles, hybrids and other alternative powertrain technologies are getting a lot of exposure and buzz lately it is just cold hard reality that gasoline engines will dominant for the next few decades. Thus it will be critical for the automobile companies to improve the performance and mileage of gasoline engines. I agree with Barb Samardzich, Ford Motor Co.’s vice president of global powertrain engineering, that designing and improving gasoline engines “will be a great career going forward.” It might not be as glamorous as the new powertrain technologies but it is just as critical for us to improve these conventional gasoline engines so we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil sources.
Do you agree?
Picture Credit: bigfootmedia
I read an interesting article in the July 2010 Scientific American magazine written by Michael Moyer entitled “The Dirty Truth About Plug-In Hybrids”. The focus was on a Department of Energy study that looked at the environmental consequences of electric vehicles would have if you consider the emissions of the power plants that supply their energy. The researchers split the continental U.S. into 13 regions and examined their mix of coal, natural gas, nuclear and renewable power sources within each region. They assumed nuclear and renewable energy sources where “always on” sources and they get used up quickly for routine tasks. Thus, the researchers concluded that power for the electric fleets would come primarily from coal and natural gas. If you live in a region that uses mostly natural gas electric vehicles will reduce carbon emissions. In regions powered by coal electric vehicles will lead to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.
I found it interesting that the study only considered the comparison of electric vehicles to hybrid vehicles. They did not include gasoline powered vehicles which are the predominate vehicle on U.S. roads and will continue to be for many years. I am assuming you would see a positive difference on carbon emissions from electric in comparison to gasoline vehicles.
They also only focused on carbon emissions which is only part of the story. If you consider the significant benefits from the reduction of our dependence on foreign oil sources than electric vehicles have additional benefits.
The main problem with the significant acceptance of electric vehicles in the near future will be their cost. Paying $41,000 for a Chevrolet Volt which is not a large vehicle in comparison to an equivalent size gasoline vehicle with high fuel efficiency translates to a payback in decades. It will take automobile companies finding more efficient battery systems and gaining cost advantages as volumes grow before the average consumer will be interested.
Do you plan on purchasing an electric vehicle?
Picture Credit: cliff1066™
It was interesting to read a plastics industry survey completed by Plante & Moran titled “The New Normal” that was issued in March 2010. It’s focus was on four areas: sales growth and recovery, human capital, continued cost reductions, and credit management in a “new normal” business environment. There results showed that this recession has forced companies to carve out as much excess as possible to contain costs while remaining viable as on ongoing entity. The most successful plastics companies will retain the lessons of the recession and have an opportunity to enjoy greater profitability at reduced volumes.
I then read the article “The New Normal- Suppliers who survived are lean enough to thrive in an 11-million market” written by James B. Treece in the July 5th edition of Automotive News. The theme of this article was very similar to the Plante & Moran survey. The auto parts suppliers who emerged from the recession are able to be profitable at much lower volumes. Profits are possible at North American auto volumes of 11 to 12 million units annually.
Team 1 Plastics has experienced the same trend as outlined in both of these items. We had to make some very difficult decisions in the fall of 2008 and early 2009 to remain viable during the depths of the recession. Because we entered this recession in solid financial shape and we reacted quickly we were able to make a small profit in 2008 and 2009. In addition, we were able to manage through volume reductions as high as 60% with no additional credit and on our own cash flow. As we look to a “new normal” we can remain profitable and build on our financial strength at these reduced volumes.
Do you agree or disagree that we are in a “new normal” for business?