Then & now.Last month, we pulled out the stops for our 50th Anniversary issue, in which we reviewed the 50 most important technical developments of the last half-century. This month, we look at what a difference four or five decades have made to a handful of custom processing companies. The first of the four "Then & Now" profiles in this issue is one that stirs old memories for me. Back in 1973, as a 23-year-old assistant editor at PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY, I profiled an up-and-coming custom molder mold·er v. mold·ered, mold·er·ing, mold·ers v.intr. To crumble to dust; disintegrate. v.tr. To cause to crumble. See Synonyms at decay. called Nylon nylon, synthetic thermoplastic material characterized by strength, elasticity, resistance to abrasion and chemicals, low moisture absorbency, and capacity to be permanently set by heat. After 10 years of research E. I. Products. (That's me at right interviewing then-sales manager Barry Potter.) The company consisted of one plant in a converted old mill in Clinton, Mass. Today, that company is the global mega-molder known as Nypro. It rode the waves of globalization globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation , upstream and downstream integration, and industry consolidation to become nearly a $1-billion enterprise. The winds of change have blown similarly for magazine publishing. At PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY, we have formed ventures with overseas partners, adopted radically new technologies (desktop publishing desktop publishing, system for producing printed materials that consists of a personal computer or computer workstation, a high-resolution printer (usually a laser printer), and a computer program that allows the user to select from a variety of type fonts and sizes, and the internet), and had our own taste of the merger/acquisitions binge. When it started back in 1955, PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY was part of a small, family-owned publishing company. That company was sold decades later to venture capitalists Venture Capitalist An investor who provides capital to either start-up ventures or support small companies who wish to expand but do not have access to public funding. Notes: Venture capitalists usually expect higher returns for the additional risks taken. and then bought out by a huge European conglomerate conglomerate, in business conglomerate, corporation whose asset growth, often very rapid, comes largely through the acquisition of, or merger with, other firms whose products are largely unrelated to each other or to that of the parent company. . That may sound like a familiar story to some of you. But it didn't end there for us: Fifty years after we started, we are back in the hands of a small, family-owned publisher. For us, this environment is nurturing and has spurred terrific growth. When your company reaches its 50th birthday--if it hasn't already--I hope it finds the right degree of bigness or smallness to thrive. |
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