Team 1 Plastics, a plastic injection molding company for the transportation industry, is dedicated to becoming a recognized leader in the supply of high quality, cost effective, injection molded plastic components.  Earlier this year, the company’s President and Co-owner Craig Carrel attended two major plastics and injection molding industry events: the 2022 Plastics News Executive Forum in Naples, Florida and the Injection Molding & Design Expo in Detroit, Michigan.  It was at these events that Carrel served on three separate discussion panels; tackling subjects such as labor issues, the industry’s skills shortage, preparing for the future, and what makes a successful molding operation.

2022 PLASTICS NEWS EXECUTIVE FORUM

Pictured left to right: Steve Bieszczat, Craig Carrel, Alexander Fung, Jodi Hammock, and Diane Pisciotti. Photo courtesy of Frank Esposito via LinkedIn.

“The Plastics News Executive Forum is the destination for industry leaders to gather, converse and learn in a warm, relaxing atmosphere.”  Held on March 21-23, this year’s event was held in-person in Naples, Florida.  Supporting the needs of busy plastics professionals, the conference examined the plastics industry post-COVID and addressed areas such as “successful management, workforce development and culture, economic and material trends, and creating an organization poised to meet coming challenges.”  During this year’s conference, Team 1 Plastics President and Co-Owner Craig Carrel joined the labor issues panel alongside Alexander Fung of Conventus Polymers LLC, Jodi Hammock of iMFLUX, Inc., Diane Pisciotti of Currier Plastics, and Steve Bieszczat of Dassault Systèmes.  Additionally, it was at this conference that Team 1 Plastics was recognized for their eighth Best Places to Work Award.  Carrel was notified that his company received their highest ranking thus far, as #4 processor: receiving a plaque for this prestigious award.

INJECTION MOLDING & DESIGN EXPO

Pictured left to right: Don Loepp, Patricia Miller, Gary Hulecki, and Craig Carrel.  Photo courtesy of Don Loepp via LinkedIn.

Held on May 25-26 in Detroit, Michigan, the Injection Molding & Design Expo was “focused on the design and production of injection molded parts.”  Covering a myriad of industry topics, the expo was split into three areas of focus, also referred to as “Theaters”: Molding the Future, Designing the Future, and Training & Development.  Each Theater provided a variety of “technical presentations, keynote talks, training seminars, and panel discussions.”  Team 1’s Craig Carrel stayed within the “Molding the Future Theater.”  On Day 1, Carrel tackled the question “What makes a successful molding operation?”  For this panel, he was joined by Don Loepp of Plastics News, Patricia Miller of Matrix 4 Factory, and Gary Hulecki of MTD Micro Molding.  On Day 2, Carrel addressed the topic of “How do we tackle the industry’s skills shortage and prepare for the future?”  Don Loepp of Plastics News joined Carrel on this panel as well, along with Jason Travitz of American Injection Molding Institute, Jeff Ignatowski of Champion Plastics, and Christina Jester of Westfall Technik.