Notes
from the Road…4
(RotoWorld Magazine, July-August 2008 Volume IV, Issue 4)
Eastern Machinations
Where are the next innovations in machines likely to come
from?
Europe
,
North America
? With the handful of suppliers in these regions, innovation will continue at a
pace determined by the market for relatively expensive machines and
sophisticated molders. However, another much larger group is focused on an even
larger market – there are over 25 Indian companies supplying machines (and
often pulverizers, molds and materials at the same time) servicing not only the
South East Asian market but also the Middle East and increasingly Europe. While
not all are sophisticated or have particularly innovative designs, this mass of
interest in solving real world problems will undoubtedly generate new ideas of
interest to us all. There are reportedly as many suppliers in
China
but language has limited their exposure to the western world….so far. An
interesting space to watch…
ARM
International – A
Phoenix
Rising?
ARM
International announced major changes in structure and approach last month. The
board has finally realized that the organization has not been performing well
and has made some positive moves to help it recover both financially and
practically. However, two things were not mentioned, (1) Reducing overheads by
taking the management group out of expensive Chicago and perhaps having it
managed by people who know something about and are interested in the industry
(this is the case with every other rotomolding group around the world except the
US) (2) dropping the name ‘International’;
ARM
has always represented the rotomolding community and has always had
international membership – stay focused on what you know best and build on it.
I hope that the changes make a difference but I think it will only work if you
have advocates pushing for it everyday and administrators do not necessarily
make good advocates.
A Middle Eastern Scene
The
Middle East
continues to attract supplier interest as local molders grow and states offer
investment incentives for industrial operations. While new material facilities
are anticipated there in the next year or so (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar,
etc.), the local molders are already trading in material from South America,
India, Korea, Thailand, North America and Europe. It is a market with a low-cost
focus and traditional difficulties due to local politics and infrastructure
issues but one which continues to grow. The construction boom drives much of the
local interest but some molders with longer term vision are working on new
products and several possible new operations by major international companies
are in the works. Their interest is driven by reduced shipping costs and the
attraction of being close to potential new low cost material sources. With the
massive movement of shipping containers through the region, there is a lot of
opportunity to convert raw materials locally and ship finished goods onwards at
attractive rates.
Consultants Suck
Consultants are reportedly the enemy of business owners,
they know nothing, cause confusion and are parasites. If a consultant calls on
you, run a mile (and before you do, make sure the clock has not started
ticking). These are among the top ten reasons why people don’t like
consultants:
- They’re
overpaid (but you don’t know how much my wife’s shoes cost)
- They
talk too much (yep!)
- They
don’t listen enough
- They
steal your ideas (and sell them on the internet)
- They
steal your people (and sell them on the internet)
- They
don’t know diddly-squat about your business (do you?)
- They
dress too well (sticks and stones…)
- Roto-what?
(let’s all learn together)
- They
don’t know the difference between a molding machine and a washer-dryer
- They
take small ideas, turn them into big reports and even bigger invoices
But don’t believe everything you read….remember you are
not paying for hourly labor but many years of condensed experience. Also, most
consultants live or die by their reputation so they will not steal your ideas or
people and, if you pick the right one, they should know the process and they may
even know a thing or two that you haven’t heard of or seen yet…
An Australian Life
One year on and it seems as though there is still life in
the tank market in
Australia
. Like something rising from the dust in a Mad Max movie, rumors are afoot that
molders are actually selling tanks again and that there are some survivors of
the bloodbath of 2007…they’re a tough bunch those Aussies.
Material Choices
New materials for rotomolding are interesting and will
always receive a warm welcome in my book. However, they are typically expensive,
difficult to mold and initially have limited application which makes them tough
to justify in the eyes of most suppliers. In reviewing the materials available
today and those being used in the 1960s, it appears that little has actually
changed with the exception of advances in polyethylene (how many molders are
working with
ABS
, acetal, acrylic, polybutylene or polystyrene nowadays?). Given that the modern
rotomolding process was invented by polyethylene, we shall have to wait until
the new materials invent their own process (which is actually a great
opportunity for potential collaboration between the major rotomolding
associations around the world). In the meantime, those molders who stop worrying
about lost opportunities due to a small palette of materials and pursue the many
that are still available for polyethylene will continue to thrive.
