ICYMI--MMT Chats: What's Happening to Our Industry? Time to Take a Stand for Plastics

For this MMT Chat, I catch up with Bob Schiavone, the Global Marketing Director for R&D/Leverage in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. And although R&D /Leverage is an impressive mold manufacturer, he is here today to talk about his passion—plastics!

I’ve known Bob for a long time. He and I have had several conversations over the years about the war on plastics, which has only fueled his passion for standing up for this industry. Plus, as a seasoned marketing professional, he is very active on LinkedIn about the topic—posting, sharing and commenting on all things plastic.

Here is just a peek at 3 questions during this quick 15-minute MMT Chat:

1. What is going on in our industry? What do you see as the biggest threat to the plastics industry as a whole? (4:10)

Perception and communication. We have a perception issue. Plastics has a horrible image. We need to connect the consumer with the industry.  We need the misinformation campaign to cease. Recycling is broken in the U.S. 

I am sure some plastic regulations need to happen; I am sure we need to review certain plastics and maybe make some changes to what we produce, but a broad-brush approach that the whole world's litter issue is a plastics issue is wrong.

2. What advice do you have for mold manufacturers facing this issue? (9:51)

Don’t be a commodity, stop selling on just price and get involved, speak up, speak out.

3. What are the types of things do you see R&D/Leverage doing to help face the challenges? (12:40)

We have always tried to stay ahead of the curve. We offer several tool types and a plethora of support services. For example, we are involved as early as possible in the packaging design discussion. We work with converters and brand owners upfront and it helps elevate us to more than just a toolmaker.

For the full quick chat, watch above, and for more MMT Chats, click here

 

This episode is brought to you by ISCAR with New Ideas for Machining Intelligently.