Posts Tagged
Industry Trends
Pricing conversations have never been more difficult—many leaders find themselves trapped in a “pricing power paradox”: the urgent need to raise prices to stay profitable, met by a wall of customer skepticism and eroding trust. As “greedflation”—price increases that outpace real cost drivers—becomes a growing concern for procurement teams, manufacturers risk turning long-term partners into…
The manufacturing landscape has reached a tipping point where volatility is the new baseline. For decades, the Just-in-Time (JIT) model prioritized lean efficiency, but today’s “supply chain surprises” have turned lean inventories into production liabilities. This podcast explores the critical shift toward a “Just-in-Case” (JIC) mindset, where strategic buffers act as essential insurance against downtime…
Volatility is no longer a temporary disruption that manufacturers can plan around—it has become the norm. Tariff uncertainty, shifting trade policies, supply chain surprises, and ongoing geopolitical tensions continue to reshape global supply chains with little warning. Natural disasters, another pandemic, and other major disruptions can emerge at any time. What once felt like isolated…
Motorcycles give riders a sense of freedom and power, as well as the satisfaction that they look cool while cruising down the highway. But as bike OEMs continue to engineer new models with advanced performance and eye-catching appearance, there’s another priority impacting their design decisions today – environmental sustainability. One iconic motorcycle manufacturer in the…
No plastic pellet, flake, or powder left behind. That’s the goal of Operation Clean Sweep. One of New Berlin Plastics’ resin distributors, M. Holland, is totally committed to it and encourages members of its supply chain to do the same. Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) was launched in 1991 to help every plastic resin handling operation…
Higher inflation. Continuing labor challenges. Scattered material and component shortages. These and other challenges will affect some industries a lot in 2023, and others not as much. 2023 may be another challenging year, depending on what industry you’re in. The New Berlin Plastics leadership team has built resiliency and agility into the company’s DNA and…
A variety of events during the last several years have transformed the workplace. The pandemic. The great resignation. Labor shortages. Supply chain issues. Knowledge management, which was once a less important concern, has now become critical. Companies that can capture, utilize, and improve upon their collective knowledge to improve their processes, training, and products have…
Is New Berlin Plastics a safe place to put your injection molding work? Of course! But don’t take our word for it. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Our Z-score of 5, recently calculated as part of a risk assessment for a major OEM customer, indicates that NBP is exceptionally financially stable. This popular formula…
The global pandemic. Manufacturing shutdowns. The Texas superstorm. A sudden demand spike. Labor shortages. Shipping and transportation bottlenecks. The emergence of new COVID variants. The war in Ukraine. Lately, manufacturers have faced one disruption after another. When will things return to normal? Perhaps never, offers New Berlin Plastics Vice President of Sales Joseph Mechery. “It’s…
Disruptions from the pandemic, weather events, labor shortages, and warring nations have created a perfect storm of supply chain volatility for OEMs. But despite these challenges, New Berlin Plastics has continued to live its company value: “Find a way.” In recent months, prices have steadily risen and inventory has been low or non-existent for many…
