For many plastic processors, this is a feast and famine-there is a lot of business available, but their hands are constrained by supply chain blockages and frustrating labor shortages.

This is not a scientific investigation, but the few interviews at the MD&M/Plastec East 2021 exhibition in New York’s Javits Center last week produced a consistent impression: The plastics business is booming, but it is also affected by the problems encountered by companies across the country. Troubles-poor supply chains, higher costs of raw materials (and everything else), and severe worker shortages. Despite these obstacles, everyone I spoke to achieved revenue growth in 2020 and look forward to another year of growth in 2021.

John Carpenter, Director of Sales and Estimation at C&J Industries in Midvale, Pennsylvania, summed up today’s paradox: "Business is good...but how many products can we sell?" (Photo: Plastic Technology)

A mold maker said at the exhibition that the mold shop is very busy. But now they have to deal with the tight supply of stainless steel.

A medical molder that uses a large amount of liquid silicone rubber avoids a serious shortage of this material by producing these products in China, which is the main source of LSR raw materials. But the mold maker is still trying to fill its personnel gap every day. "People just don't want to work," said a manager of that company. "Now they have enough government assistance to stay at home."

A conversation with a custom injection molding company gave me a clear picture of the dilemma that was driving down the business prospects that had soared.

John Carpenter is the Director of Sales and Estimates for C&J Industries in Meadville, Pennsylvania. His factory has 58 injection molding machines with weights ranging from 20 tons to 720 tons, serving the medical, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, consumer goods and industrial markets. On the one hand, he said: “After the slowdown caused by COVID, many customers started buying again. Orders went through the roof.”

Sounds great, but: "We have seen 24 weeks of delivery time for some of these materials and force majeure situations. We use 40,000 pounds of one material per week, but now we only allocate 16,000 pounds. And the price has flipped More than a little bit."

But this is not the most pressing problem he thinks of today—not because the supply problem has eased, but because the labor problem has become more serious.

"The number of COVID cases in our area has surged, so some people are forced to stay at home and some are afraid to come to work. Some people who stay at work feel exhausted."

Meadville is a small town with approximately 13,000 inhabitants. Carpenter noted that it has five major manufacturers competing for labor. "The nearest big city is Yili, 45 minutes away...No one here wants to commute in 45 minutes."

Where will C&J Industries go? "Business is good-our forecast is for a 30% growth. But the question is, how many products can we launch?"

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