M I C H I G A N
B O R N ,
G L O B A L
I M PA C T
F I F T Y Y E A R S O F I N N O VAT I O N AT P L A S T I PA K
M I C H I G A N G L O B A L F I F T Y
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I M P A C T
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company is Midwestern humble, starting with a small manufacturing space of 2,000 square feet. Over the years, 2,000 became 60,000 square feet and then expansion to other sites, other states, and other countries.
When Plastipak launched operations in the 1960s, its competitors were virtually already household names—behemoths such as Monsanto and Continental Can. But the Young family flew under the radar, rapidly building a name not only for service, but for innovation and fast turnaround.
Through it all, Bill Young asked of his employees only that they possess character, ingenuity, and a great work ethic. In years past, more than one engineer would discover Young elbow deep into a piece of machinery long after it was dark outside. The message was clear: this is the commitment it
Today, as one of the dominant
takes to be the best.
companies in the field, with farreaching domestic and global operations, its CEO, William C. Young, and his loyal staff refuse to sit still. The company relentlessly pursues new technologies on behalf of its customers (who are
The story of Plastipak is as much about those traits as it is about Bill Young and the fastgrowing enterprise that has never abandoned the Michigan soil where it was born.
also household names), and leads the industry in sustainability initiatives.
Michigan Born, Global Impact— Fifty Years of Innovation at Plastipak is, by any definition, a story of great success. The
Plastipak Holdings, Inc. Global Business and Technology Center 41605 Ann Arbor Road Plymouth, Michigan 48170 734-455-3600 www.plastipak.com
M I C H I G A N
B O R N ,
The front lobby at Plastipak’s Global Business and Technology Center in Plymouth, Michigan, proudly displays the flags of the countries where Plastipak operates.
G L O B A L
I M PA C T
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M I C H I G A N G L O B A L F I F T Y
B O R N ,
I M P A C T
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I N N O V A T I O N A T
P L A S T I P A K
Copyright Š 2017 Plastipak Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Plastipak Holdings, Inc.
Plastipak Holdings, Inc. Global Business & Technology Center 41605 Ann Arbor Road Plymouth, Michigan 48170 734-455-3600 www.plastipak.com PRESIDENT & CEO
William C. Young
BOOK DEVELOPMENT
Bookhouse Group, Inc. Editor Rob Levin Authors Donna Brooks and Martha Hohmann New Photography Thomas England Proofreading and Indexing Robert Saigh Cover and Book Design Rick Korab Project Management Renee Peyton
Book Development
Book h ou se Grou p , Inc. www.bookhouse.net IV
Plastipak uses advanced software to simulate bottle performance. This design engineer is running a finite element analysis (FEA) to predict the highest load the bottle can withstand. V
VI
CONT E NT S
FOREWORD IX
CHAPTER ONE
Building the Foundation 1
CHAPTER TWO
Necessity is the Mother of Invention 19
CHAPTER THREE
Taking Midwestern Ingenuity to the World 41
INDEX 51
VII
Silos at Clean Tech’s recycling facility in Dundee, Michigan, store post consumer recycled (PCR) resin. Clean Tech recycles both PET and HDPE bottles.
VIII
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First and foremost, I want to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all associates who have contributed to Plastipak’s tremendous success over the past fifty years. I am deeply thankful for your continued commitment to safety, quality, and service. Without your support, Plastipak would not be where it is today. I also want to thank our customers, suppliers, and other business partners. Because we are all part of an ever-changing, multifaceted environment, we all depend on one another. Plastipak’s fiftieth anniversary is a significant milestone that brings me a great sense of pride and accomplishment. As I reflect back on the last fifty years, I am truly amazed what this organization has accomplished. Plastipak, Clean Tech, and Whiteline are industry leaders that deliver value to our customers and communities every day. Though Plastipak’s rich history is certainly a reason to celebrate, we must remember the importance of focusing on and planning for the future. Our continued drive and passion will keep Plastipak on a successful path despite the many challenges, seen and unforeseen, that are waiting for us. Plastipak’s future will also be dependent on our unrelenting commitment to innovation. At the heart of Plastipak are technologies and capabilities, such as Direct Object Printing (DOP), ThermoShape, EPET, PCR Resin, DiamondClear, PET Aerosol, and the list goes on. Even more exciting are Plastipak’s future innovations under development. Even though these innovations have not been made public, rest assured they will transform our markets and industries well beyond the current landscape! As we look forward to another fifty successful years at Plastipak, it is imperative we continue to make “Consumers First, Always!” This is not just a slogan. It is a mindset and an integral part of Plastipak’s culture. I hope you enjoy this book and the story of Plastipak!
William C. Young President & CEO
IX
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Downstream equipment at Plastipak’s site in Jackson Center, Ohio. This area of the site produces HDPE bottles using Plastipak’s extrusion GEM wheels. XI
William C. Young, President and CEO of Plastipak Holdings. XII
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Building the Foundation “It’s a great story, this place. I can’t think of anything I’d have rather done. Everyone just wanted to be successful.” —Gerry Cornell, Former Vice President of Procurement
Y
ou can’t tell the Plastipak story without talking about the Plastipak culture, a culture developed by a core
group who came together to create something special and revolutionary. The hallmarks of that culture are integrity, respect, loyalty, relationship, and a hard work, can-do attitude. The results speak for themselves. Plastipak is an industryleading multibillion-dollar corporation with fifty years of innovation and patented technology in the annals of its history. The leadership of William “Bill” C. Young, Plastipak President and CEO, and the Midwestern ethics of the team he assembled beginning in 1967 have led the company to growth throughout North America, South America, and Europe. Those early years were the bedrock upon which a veritable plastics empire was built. In meeting the needs of Absopure Water Company, owned by Young’s parents, William P. and Mary Young, Plastipak Packaging was born. Young was a man 1
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
This five-gallon glass water jug was for many years the standard size for home and office water delivery. Made from thick, sturdy glass, these bottles had to withstand not only the rigors of filling and transporting, but also numerous washings and sterilizations for reuse. 2
CHAPTER ONE BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
“We started against the monsters. In those days, our competitors were not like they are today. Our competitors were made up of Owens Illinois, Monsanto, Phillips 66, and Continental Can. These were all giants in the plastics business. They had 80 to 90 percent of the business.” —William C. Young President & Chief Executive Officer
Absopure provided bottled water in the Midwest, but the bottles were cumbersome fifty-pound glass containers, which often froze or broke in transit. An alternative was needed, but Those lucky enough to have worked with William P. Young remember him as a mechanically gifted and exceptionally resourceful man who could stay up all night to rebuild a bottle washer transmission as easily as he could wear a suit and meet with potential customers.
with a vision and the gritty determination to bring it to fruition. The late 1960s was a period when the
plastics were in their infancy and early plastic bottles were unsuitable for clean, fresh-tasting water. It took the machine-making ingenuity of William P. Young and the innovative ideas of his son, Bill, to design a solution to meet the company’s needs. Plastipak was that solution. “We started off as a water company, and we evolved all the way through glass milk cartons,”
plastics industry was beginning to find its footing.
says Bill Young. “Then we went into plastic, and the
Bottles and containers were being produced for
plastic back in the sixties was terrible; it smelled.”
non-food grade items, but the industry at that
Where there was a need, the Young family
time did not have much success with bottles for
mindset meant they would find a way to produce
potable water or other beverages.
a plastic bottle that would meet their water continued on page 6
3
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
4
CHAPTER ONE BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
5
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
continued from page 3
bottling needs and overcome the disadvantages of early plastics. To do so would require the proper machinery and assembling a team of thinkers and doers to make the seemingly impossible happen. And one by one, the Youngs pulled together a team up to the challenge, and the challenge was monumental. “We started against the monsters. In those days, our competitors were not like they are today. Our competitors were made up of Owens Illinois, Monsanto, Phillips 66, and Continental Can,” explains Young. “These were all giants in the plastics business. They had 80 to 90 percent of the business.” Building a Company One Machine at a Time With the purchase of a couple of blow molding machines in a small farming community, Jackson Center, Ohio, Plastipak’s first manufacturing plant rose from the cornfields in 1967, supplying plastic gallon and half-gallon containers for the dairy and water industries. “It was a family type of thing when we were starting out,” says Bill Slat, a member of the Plastipak board and former Vice President of Operations. “Bill talked to me every day. I would be in Jackson Center, and he would talk to me every day and say, ‘How did things go? What are the problems? What are the issues?’ And as a result, I moved up in the company. That is what I would do. I would be here until 9:30 at night listening to people. It was a good culture.” 6
CHAPTER ONE BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
Plastipak’s extrusion GEM wheels are designed to produce high quality HDPE bottles in a wide variety of shapes and finishes.
7
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
Preforms are heated as they travel through an oven before being blown into bottles. 8
CHAPTER ONE BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
One facility and a couple of machines were only the beginning for Plastipak. The Youngs invested in the Redford Dairy near Detroit, and outfitted it to produce more bottles. It wasn’t long before the facility became the Westland site. “Redford was our second plant,” Slat recalls. “It was an old dairy that had burned down. There was a hole in the roof of our production area. There were a couple of Uniloy machines in there. Bill always bought used machines. We couldn’t afford a lot. Cash was king. We eventually began building our own machinery, which we still do.” But in those early days, Plastipak seized upon every opportunity to obtain machinery to outfit its growing operation. One of those opportunities presented itself in a most unlikely place: the Bronx, New York. Dennis Nuesmeyer, Dick Darr, Craig Larson, Tom Busard, Slat, and Young went up to clean out a plant they had purchased, planning to ship the machinery to its plants in the Midwest. The experience, though difficult and harrowing, bonded the team around a common goal. “We were inside a compound,” says Nuesmeyer, former site manager. “It was a meatpacking district.” He recalls that with armed guards standing by, the team disassembled the machines and loaded the parts on trucks for the trip. “We were threatened,” he says, but that didn’t dissuade the group from their task, adding that Young did his share of the heavy labor. “He (Young) went over in a corner, changed his clothes, and jumped in.” continued on page 12
9
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
Willia m P.
a nd
Ma ry You ng :
A Le g a cy of Inte g rity a nd Hu m ility
soft drink plant and how Big Bill rummaged around in his garage for parts and spent
Years have passed since William P. Young and
three days and nights working on the equip-
his wife, Mary, have walked the halls of Plasti-
ment. “He never went home until we got that
pak, but the mark they made on the company
filler going,” says Angott.
lives on. Their son, Bill Young, acknowledges that the source for his business acumen, entre-
operations, personally signing or approving
preneurial spirit, and his customer-first mentality
each and every check for many years. She had
came from his first business partners, meaning
a reputation as a woman who could chastise
his parents.
you on the one hand but reach out in care on
Described by all who had the opportunity to
the other. “She sat at a desk in the old office and
work with him, Big Bill, as he was fondly known,
someone would walk by her and think they got
was nothing short of a genius. He was a man
by her. But by the time they were ten feet down
who knew machinery and could craft powerful
the hall, she would say, ‘Hey you come back
machines out of parts stored in his garage.
here,’” says Young. “She knew them all. She
Though he had left school after eighth
created bonds.”
grade, he put his intuitiveness to work. After
Michael Plotzke, Chief Financial Officer,
working for Detroit bottling equipment man-
worked closely with Mary Young when she was
ufacturer George J. Meyers and Company,
the Treasurer of Plastipak. “She was quite a
Big Bill hit his stride and went out on his own,
character. She once accused me of being too
forming the William P. Young Company in
damn efficient,” he laughs. “She was hard on
1956. He also sold turn-key bottling opera-
me but what I realized many years later is that it
tions to local businesses.
was because she cared about others and want-
“One of dad’s finest qualities was that he inspired people,” says Young who, at age twenty-one, joined his parents in the business in 1967.
10
Mary Young was in charge of the day-to-day
ed them to succeed.” Plotzke adds that the Young families were excellent examples of integrity and humility. “He (Young) and his dad are like the Thom-
Larry Angott, a member of the Plastipak
as Edison of the packaging industry. Their
board of directors and President of CF Burger
focus has always been technology driven.
Creamery, considers Big Bill his first mentor
What I’ve learned most these past thirty-two
in the business world, who was always will-
years from Bill and his parents is that working
ing to step in when needed. Angott recalls
hard and being humble is the best approach
a bottle filler breaking down at his family’s
to getting things done.”
CHAPTER ONE BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
Although they would come to run a multibillion-dollar business, Mary and William P. Young never showed it. Throughout their lives the couple remained generous, hard-working, and down-to-earth, qualities that earned them not only success but also admiration and trust.
11
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
continued from page 9
Young did not allow any opportunity to pass him by. He recalls how in those early days the company expanded rapidly to meet customer demand. “We started in a garage, literally, a 2,000-squarefoot garage,” he says. “Then we moved to a 6,000-square-foot building in Jackson Center. We expanded that quickly into four, five, or six machines. We expanded that into 20,000 square feet. Then we expanded into 40,000 square feet more.” Assembling the Team Expansion came fast and furious at Plastipak, and Bill Young put together a team of people who had the character, ingenuity, and work ethic to tackle any project. His leadership and standards kept the team pushing forward to success, and he inspired hard work and innovative thinking. Each day presented new challenges, but the team never shied away from them. Nuesmeyer, who was lured away by Young from the construction company he worked for as the Jackson Center plant was being constructed, feels lucky to have been among the groundbreaking team at Plastipak. “I don’t think you’d find a better core group. I think we brought on board a lot of great people. Everyone knew how to work and how to learn,” he says. Dick Darr, Vice President, Global Packaging Development, joined Young in 1971. A significant number of the patents lining the walls at Plastipak headquarters bear his and Slat’s names. “In the early years, Bill just had the right core group of
12
CHAPTER ONE BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
Clean Tech utilizes the latest recycling technologies to produce the highest quality post consumer recycled (PCR) PET and HDPE resin available.
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MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
The Angott/You ng Bond Throu gh the De ca d e s There is no truer example of friendship, respect, and loyalty than can be found than in the bond between Bill Young and Larry Angott. Their lifelong friendship and business relationship, though, is not the beginning of the Young and Angott connection. It was a connection forged by their fathers. In the early 1940s, Sam Angott, owner of Farm Maid Dairy, hired William Young and his William P. Young Company, to install bottling equipment at his dairy processing plant. Later, Young also helped develop the production lines for the Angott’s soft drink business. In turn, the Angotts became Plastipak’s first major customer in 1967 when the company
was named the sole supplier of its dairy plastic bottles and packaging crates. That account with the Angotts propelled Plastipak Packaging Inc. toward eventually becoming a multibillion-dollar company with holdings throughout the world. Larry Angott, eighty-four and President of CF Burger Creamery, is a member of Plastipak’s board of directors and says their business relationship was built on respect and trust. Business was always handled with a handshake and never a contract. “When we wanted to accomplish something in our own company, we’d go to Plastipak,” he says. When another of the Angott’s companies, Farmer Jack, merged with Nesbitt Orange, bottles were purchased from the Youngs rather than having them made in-house. “We were friends so we didn’t put in blow molding machines.” The Youngs credit the Angotts for getting Plastipak off the ground, and the Angotts return the sentiment with their own business interests. “What he’s done is the thing you dream about,” Angott says, vowing to continue serving Plastipak and his friend for as long as he is able. “As long as I can still drive and think, I will be here.”
“When we wanted to accomplish something in our own company, we’d go to Plastipak.” —Larry Angott President of CF Burger Creamery
14
CHAPTER ONE BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
people,” says Darr. “We were all in our twenties, a young group of guys running things.” The team at Plastipak knew what was expected of them, and they made sure to deliver for one simple reason: They had profound admiration for Bill Young and the company he envisioned. “I have the utmost respect for him and what he’s done,” said Craig Larson, who worked in manufacturing services for thirty-seven years. “Without him, none of this would have been possible. He set the standard for work ethic.” Indeed, Young leads by example and has never been afraid to get his hands dirty. Neusmeyer recalls the day that a truck was stuck in an icy loading dock. “All at once we heard a splash. We look over, and Bill Young jumps off the dock into about six to eight inches of icy water in his wingtips and runs up behind the truck and starts pushing,” he says. “So what do you think the rest of us do? And you know, the trailer moved and it got out. Bill Young is not afraid of work at all. That goes from day one until today.” Frank Pollock, Chief Commercial Officer and President of International, agrees. “Bill is a great leader and people want to follow a leader,” he says. “He’s very, very passionate about the business. He just won’t give up on anything.” “He keeps everybody challenged,” says Pradeep Modi, Chief Accounting Officer, who has been part of the core since 1984. “He keeps everybody focused on the next job. I think all of us in turn treated this as our own business.” Plastipak takes precise measurements to validate tooling that meets all specifications.15
Plastipak utilizes many different
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT YEARSand OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK pieces of equipment toFIFTY measure
test bottles to ensure they meet the highest quality standards.
16
CHAPTER ONE BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
Young has always inspired that sense of ownership in each of his team members and that culture has made Plastipak Packaging an unrivaled industry leader. Tom Busard, chief procurement and product supply officer, explains, “It was a culture of collaboration, camaraderie, and respect. We had a real deep interest in questioning how we can do things better.”
“It is a culture of collaboration, camaraderie, and respect. We have a real deep interest in questioning how we can do things better.” —Tom Busard Chief Procurement and Product Supply Officer
Tom Busard, Chief Procurement and Product Supply Officer—Plastipak, and President of Clean Tech.
17
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Plastipak has been granted over 1,500 patents, many of which are on display at the Global Business and Technology Center in Plymouth, Michigan.
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Necessity is the Mother of Invention “We started as the new guy. We started out as little old Plastipak versus these giants such as Continental Can and Owens Illinois. We started out following. We started up trying to catch up to people. So, Bill knows it’s better to pave the road and roll down it than to stand behind it and get all the dust.” —Bill Slat, Board Member and Former Vice President of Operations
T
he early days of the plastics industry had some big players working to lock up the burgeoning market.
But a little company right outside of Detroit was about to burst onto the scene, almost undetected, and snap up some of the biggest prizes in the plastics market. “We had the ability to be very lean and very aggressive,” remembers Bob Jedreski, a forty-five-year veteran of the company and now a Regional Site Manager and Global Process Team Manager. “The big guys were becoming fat cats 19
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
and lost sight of the market. Bill was able to slide in there and work hard, make relationships and grow the market, and then ultimately start to develop technology. I think Bill had the advantage over the big guys for really knowing the market.” The big guys didn’t know what they were dealing with when it came to Plastipak and its ragtag group of farmers, mechanics, engineers, and construction workers. Bill Slat says, “We had a different culture. A lot of people who worked for us were farmers. They knew if we were going to succeed, it was going to be on their backs.” And the hard-working farmers from the Midwest were ready, willing, and able to step into any challenge. Of the guys at the Jackson Center plant, Tom Busard says, “People down there don’t have any concept of how something is not going to get done. Because plastics were so new, there was no one there to tell us that we did something wrong.” The first machines for Plastipak were in Jackson Center. Will Vetter, former Jackson Center Plant Manager, says Young had every intention of moving the machinery to Detroit, but then came the realization that Jackson Center is a prime central location to ship bottles hundreds of miles each way and reach 40 percent of the population. “That’s why we stayed here . . . it was a good location. He came here by chance, but he didn’t stay here by chance.” Plus, Procter & Gamble was in Lima, Ohio, and Plastipak wanted to get its business, Vetter 20
CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
As a global leader in blow molding, Plastipak produces PET containers using both single-stage and two-stage platforms with a full range of narrow neck and wide mouth options.
21
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
Cle a n Te ch : The First
where,” recalls Busard. “It was started up as
Glob a l Re cy cling Op e ra tion
part of a challenge from Procter & Gamble.
Plastipak’s commitment to sustainability has
We were meeting a customer challenge and a
made it a leader in plastics recycling for
need.”
nearly three decades. Plastipak founded its recycling affiliate, Clean Tech, in 1989 with
produced the first commercial bottle made
its first location in Dundee, Michigan. The
from 100 percent recycled two-liter soft drink
operation has expanded with multiple recy-
bottles. Subsequently, Plastipak won a DuPont
cling sites in Europe.
Packaging Award which recognizes innovative
“We started recycling in 1989 because Procter & Gamble challenged us,” says Tom Busard, Plastipak’s Chief Procurement and Product
technology that provides for the reuse of plastic food packaging. Clean Tech recycles over 600 million
Supply Officer. “Procter & Gamble decided to
pounds of plastic containers annually into
put recycled materials in Spic and Span and
premium quality recycled material. This global
Pine-Sol bottles. My project was to try to find this
operation keeps more than 20 billion plastic
material from somewhere.”
bottles out of landfills each year.
Finding recycled materials turned out to
“We were really the industry leaders in
be a challenge however. “We couldn’t find
bringing forth the story of recycling,” says
anybody to supply the recycled material to us
Craig Larson. “I think we did more to promote
no matter what we paid, from anywhere, for
recycling than any other company.”
ongoing production. It just didn’t exist,” explains Busard. So, for a few late nights, Busard, Bill Young, and Bill Slat met to come up with a solution to this problem. “When we went into the [Procter & Gamble] lobby there that morning, we decided to tell them we would start our own recycling operation because we couldn’t find the material any22
The result was a successful operation that
CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
adds. Young did secure its business and got the contract to provide bottles for 100 percent of Procter & Gamble’s soaps. “We were a bunch of crude people compared to their sophisticated systems,” says Vetter. But Procter & Gamble knew it could count on Plastipak to get the job done. “They used to say, ‘Just have the farm boys go uptown,’” he recalls. The farm boys always stepped up to the plate. All the company veterans credit Bill Slat for being the glue that held the group together through the long days, longer nights, and seemingly insurmountable challenges. “We called ourselves the misfits,” says Busard. “We had a real deep interest in how we could do things better. You never felt like you were the only one trying to solve something.” Young remembers those early days and credits his team with making Plastipak a success and for the growth, which came rather organically. “We didn’t have any vision at all of Procter & Gamble and Pepsi. We got the land and the next thing we know we were committed to build a 74,000-square-foot building. We expanded the business from there. We had Detroit covered and we went to buy a machine in Cleveland, and we ended up buying the whole building. We ended up in a triangle right away. We had Detroit. We had Jackson Center coming up, and we had Cleveland.” Earning the trust and partnership of Procter & Gamble was a turning point for Plastipak, as Young 23
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
A full production blow molding system is used at Plastipak’s Global Packaging Development Center in Medina, Ohio, to test, trial, and prove out new bottles.
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CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
and his crew worked tirelessly to step up and meet its every need. “Procter & Gamble came on in 1984,” says Slat. “They had a detergent bottle with a transition top on it. It was a pour spout. Nobody could put it on. Owens couldn’t put it on. Continental couldn’t put it on. Little old Plastipak figured out how to put it on with a couple of systems. By then, our business with Procter & Gamble was growing by leaps and bounds. In turn, they were driving us to higher and higher quality standards. Our focus was giving the customers what they wanted, which was a different twist. So, we did strange things we didn’t know we couldn’t do. That was the work ethic in Jackson Center. It was a great team that said, ‘Hey, we can do anything.’” Dennis Nuesmeyer agrees and says that taking on projects they had never done before became no problem. “We knew if we got into it, we could figure it out. Customers couldn’t believe we could do what we did. We looked at ourselves as obstacle busters.” The sense that Plastipak could do anything not only led to contracts with Procter & Gamble, but also with Kraft, Pepsi, and other giants in the food, beverage, and household products industries. Today, Plastipak manufactures more than 40 billion bottles and plastic packaging units per year, beyond the wildest dreams and expectations of those who were there in the beginning. “In the scheme of things, we were not even an also-ran, so they [Procter & Gamble] really had 25
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
to take a chance on us, which is a testament to Bill Young going in there and just not giving up,” says Busard. A significant reason Procter & Gamble and others took a chance on Plastipak and have remained loyal customers is the relationships Bill Young forged with them, from the top down. “He believes in relationships—to bankers, vendors, customers,” says Pradeep Modi. “It’s not always about the bottom line.” Frank Pollock adds that in the twenty-two years he has been with the company, he has seen the strength of the relationships forged by Young. “There’s nobody you want to take more than Bill to see the customers.” It was these relationships as well as technological innovations, which grew the base into a multibillion-dollar company. “Our customers have demanded more from us, which in turn made us a better company,” says Jim Steinke, former Quality Manager and now a consultant with the William P. Young Company. Those demands included unique packaging, in-mold labeling, recycled materials, barrier technologies, and more with the customers constantly upping the ante on future needs. Plastipak, through Young’s leadership, has spent fifty years rising to the occasion and meeting challenges with a fierce tenacity. Gerry Plastipak’s wide range of R&D capabilities include 5-axis milling to cut unit cavity blow molds.
Cornell has participated in that process since 1971 and knows first-hand how each company milestone was reached. “Mr. Young was the
26
Resin is delivered by railcar and is securely stored in silos before being used to produce bottles and containers.
CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
27
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
Plastipak’s resin producing facility in Verbania, Italy, supplies multiple Plastipak sites in Europe. The site in Verbania is located on Lago Maggiore and includes cogeneration operations that produce electricity to run the plant.
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CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
master of setting up a challenge,” he says. “You start digging and you realize you are on the track of something different and better.” Figuring out the issues and developing the processes for new technologies often fell to two men, Slat and Dick Darr. “I’ve been more the practical engineer,” says Darr. “I don’t have an engineering degree, just hands-on experience. Bill didn’t care about the degree you had but the results you could get.” Darr knows more about blow molding systems than just about anyone, and he leads the development division of the company because of his innate ability to figure out the mechanical requirements of any system. “It’s just an irresistible urge for me,” he says. Beginning as a small machine shop making in-house molds in the 1970s, the development area is always changing and it requires people with great technical skill and ability. After forty-five years, Darr is still in front, getting his hands on the machinery and developing new processes. “It’s a natural instinct to me,” he says. The innovative minds of Slat and Darr have led to 179 patents for which they are the named co-inventors, and Plastipak has been awarded more than 1,500 patents during these first fifty years. Darr explains that when he and Slat developed in-mold labeling in 1977, they patented seven different methods, one that was preferred and six other ways to accomplish the same result. They patented every way so their competitors couldn’t duplicate the process. 29
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
Plastipak’s full range of injection molding capabilities produce high quality PET preforms in all parts of the world.
30
CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
That type of innovative thinking has made Plastipak a leader in technology, virtually shutting out the competition. One of its most significant technological innovations is its proprietary wheel technology, which allows great flexibility in manufacturing a variety of container shapes and sizes through quick change molds. Just a few of the notable innovation milestones are in the following: • Entered polyethylene terephthalate (PET) market with one-stage equipment, 1978 • Entered the two-stage manufacturing process for PET, 1983 • Implemented the transition cap on detergent bottles, 1985 • Developed systems to apply in-mold labels to front and/or backs of bottles, 1985 • Manufactured the first multi-layer high-density polyethylene (HDPE) detergent container • Founded Clean Tech in 1989 and produced the first PET container with 100 percent PET post-consumer recycled (PCR) resin, 1990 • Awarded ISO certification, 1991 • Developed patented design for one-piece beverage containers, 1992 • Began production of the highest speed polyethylene (Plastipak GEM Wheel), 1993 31
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
• Developed ThermoShape technology, offering a sustainable solution for hot-fill packaging • Developed Direct Object Printing (DOP), eliminating label substrates and maximizing customization options such as variable printing. • Utilized EcoPreform manufacturing, producing bottles consisting of 75 percent recycled PET and 25 percent bio-based resin Marc Pedmo, Research and Development Manager in Medina, Ohio, says the leadership and innovative spirit at Plastipak have inspired him. “Dick Darr is my boss, but I’ll see him out on a machine trying to making it work,” he says. “You generally don’t see a vice president out there turning a wrench. Their leadership filters down. That impacts everyone. “We don’t back down from a challenge as a company, and as we expand, more and more challenges keep coming in. The employees and the company working together is what got us here,” he says. Recognizing and meeting these challenges is part of the culture at Plastipak. “If we fail, Bill is going to be doing it falling forward because there is no retreat in that man. He is a driving force,” says Slat. “He has the drive and the entrepreneurial spirit that very few people have. You couldn’t argue with anything he said.”
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CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
Plastipak recognizes the innovative accomplishments of associates at its annual President’s Innovation Awards Ceremony.
33
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
The Beatrice Foods Era, 1972–1982 While selling a company to a large corporation often means the end of the seller’s involvement in the company, that was not the case for Plastipak and Absopure Water Company. In 1972, the Youngs were approached by Beatrice Foods, a food and beverage industry giant, who made an offer for both companies. “In ’72 we sold to Beatrice Foods, both the water business and the packaging business,” says Young, who agreed to the sale with the caveat that he remain on board as regional manager of both divisions. Young made sure to keep his core group intact, positioning himself to continue to drive growth from the inside. “At that time, we were doing $5 million in business. It was making money.” What may have seemed to others as the end of the Plastipak story was really only the beginning as growth and innovations continued. Plastipak produced its first PET bottles for Pepsi during that time. By 1982, however, Beatrice Foods was in a slump and had begun selling off its divisions. Fearing that Plastipak would get lost in the shuffle, Bill Young bought back his family’s two companies. “In ’82 we had the opportunity to buy it back,” says Young. “And we made a heck of a good deal. And when we bought it back, we were doing $50 million.” Plastipak managed to increase its profit Bottles are sorted on one of Clean Tech’s recycling lines. Clean Tech’s global recycling operations prevent billions of bottles from going to landfills every year.
34
margins tenfold during the Beatrice Foods years, and its managers learned a lot about operating
Many leaders in the consumer packaged goods industry use the recycled material produced by Clean Tech in their CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION packages. Clean Tech is the first global recycling operation.
35
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
a major corporation during that time as well. Young says, “We managed to grow the business with their support and help. But most importantly, our management team learned a lot. We learned how big corporations operate. And through the eighties and into the nineties, we grew the business each year about ten percent.” Whiteline Express Ltd. and Clean Tech Young and the leadership at Plastipak knew they needed to ride the growth right into the future, and they did just that with two significant developments in the company’s history. First was the development of Whiteline Express Ltd., Plastipak’s trucking company founded in 1983, giving them a strategic advantage in transportation and logistics. In the early days, Absopure Water Company utilized 350 horse-drawn wagons for delivery of its products. Today, Plastipak has a fleet of more than 300 trucks and 1,000 trailers offering nationwide service. A second revolutionary company development was the organization of Clean Tech, Plastipak’s premier recycling facility. Clean Tech was founded in 1988 as an environmentally aware initiative and in response to customers demanding more recycled material in their packaging. After an exhaustive search worldwide for quality, clean recycled resin and coming up with nothing, Busard and his team developed the processes that gave rise to one of the top five plastic recyclers in the United States today. Clean Tech produces both polyethylene 36
CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
Whiteline Express is a truckload carrier that provides value added services for its affiliated companies including Plastipak Packaging and Clean Tech.
37
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
“In those days, you could get business by relationships. They could see that you were working hard. Bill Young always focused on what the customer needed. Sometimes, it wasn’t conducive to our bottom line, but it was a relationship and the business building that he had ingrained in us to focus on what the customers needed. And I think that put us apart from our competition.” —Bill Slat, Board Member and Former Vice President of Operations
terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) for a bottle-to-bottle approach to recycling, meaning the high-quality resins they produce can be easily converted into new packaging. In the long run, Plastipak and its affiliates realized a significant amount of success going back to putting together the right group of people and building relationships with the customers. “In those days, you could get business by relationships. They could see that you were working hard,” says Slat. “Bill Young always focused on what the customer needed. Sometimes, it wasn’t conducive to our bottom line, but it was a relationship and the business building that he had ingrained in us to focus on what the customers needed. And I think that put us apart from our competition.” 38
CHAPTER TWO NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
39
The front entrance at Plastipak’s Global Business and Technology Center in Plymouth, Michigan, welcomes customers, suppliers, business partners, and associates from around the world.
40
M I C H I G A N B O R N , G L O B A L I M PA C T F I F T Y Y E A R S O F I N N O VAT I O N AT P L A S T I PA K C
h
a
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t
e
r
T
h
r
e
e
Taking Midwestern Ingenuity to the World “Bill Young’s legacy will be a technologydriven company with individuals who are living and breathing packaging development and driving sustainability.” —Michael Plotzke, Chief Financial Officer
P
lastipak Packaging had made a name for itself by the 1990s and the technological innovations set it apart from its competitors. All the while, the
company was continuing to grow, first nationally, and then internationally. In 1996, Plastipak established a plant in Brazil, its first plant outside of the United States, with its leadership taking the reins to firmly establish Plastipak as a global company. Pradeep Modi says that though the company’s growth used to be organic in nature, the decision to move into a global marketplace was strategic. “He [Young] wants to continue to grow,” he says, and notes that Plastipak is in the process of knitting together a global family of partners to further the
41
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
Developments such as PET Aerosol demonstrate Plastipak’s commitment to innovation, which is one of the key reasons for the company’s continued success.
42
CHAPTER THREE TAKING MIDWESTERN INGENUITY TO THE WORLD
company’s vision, which is to be one of the world’s leading packaging companies. Philadelphia-based Constar International was a significant addition to the Plastipak holdings when Plastipak acquired it in 2014. The acquisition opened doors to new locations throughout the United States and gave Plastipak access to the barrier technology Constar had developed. This technology was important to Plastipak because it has many different uses and maintains its integrity over a long period of time. Plastipak also expanded the company’s presence with plants throughout Europe: Slovakia and Czech Republic (2003), Luxembourg (2005), Italy (2008), and Romania (2010). By far, the largest and most significant acquisition for Plastipak, however, was APPE in 2015, which extended the footprint into northern Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom. The APPE acquisition added nine new manufacturing sites to Plastipak’s operations in Europe, and sites in Morocco and Turkey opened doors to new geographical locations. “We have a huge opportunity for growth in Europe,” says Pollock. “We’ve got some expansion into Asia right now as well.” Pollock says this most recent purchase is a game changer for Plastipak and will firmly establish its presence in the global arena. “We are confident that this transaction will enable us to better serve our existing and future customers,” he says. continued on page 46
43
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
The Philosop hy of
a nd
Phila nthrop y
Bill You ng
that is unanimous on that, you can move mountains,” he explains. “The whole situation about attitude and why it’s such a magic word is that
Bill Young has moved mountains during his
people get up in the morning and feel like they
career as President and CEO of Plastipak.
want to go forward and be good, or they are so
Starting a company from the ground up in a
negative that they can’t accomplish anything, or
fledgling industry and growing it into a multibil-
they get up and they start off the day in neutral.
lion-dollar company takes gumption, and as he
And if they are in neutral, then they are also go-
says, a good attitude.
ing to be behind. If you are going to be success-
“The magic word is attitude. Attitude is how
ful, you can’t be in neutral either.”
people feel in the morning and at night. If they
This philosophy of positivity emanates
have a can-do attitude and if you have a team
throughout Plastipak. “If you make the deter-
Plastipak proudly sponsors Detroit Regional Dollars for Scholars, a locally-run volunteer-driven scholarship organization dedicated to helping local students achieve the dream of higher education.
44
CHAPTER THREE TAKING MIDWESTERN INGENUITY TO THE WORLD
mination positive is better than negative to get something out of people or suppliers or any group, you have to be positive,” says Young. “People will always be attracted to someone who’s positive. Anyone who is negative will chase people away.” Michael Plotzke says that Young “brings the best out of everyone around him. He sees everything. You don’t think he does, but he does. Frank Pollock agrees. “He really believes in relationships, and the customer is our friend. If something goes wrong in that relationship, it’s
Mr. Young and family supporting Type 1 Diabetes research at a JDRF One Walk.
like a friend has hurt him,” says Pollock. “He
nile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Detroit
just takes it that seriously. He’s very sincere with
Cristo Rey High School, and The Other School
people; it’s not put on. He has a wonderful way
in Romania. Plastipak also provides nearly
with customers.”
two thousand plastic containers that serve as
It can be said that Young’s philosophy is one
luminaries for the Medina Candlelight Walk, a
of philanthropy as well. He is known for giving
three-day event kicking off the holiday season
back to the community through charitable orga-
in Medina, Ohio. Additionally, Plastipak associ-
nizations such as Dollars for Scholars, a college
ates volunteer time and expertise to local chari-
scholarship program, and the PIME Missionar-
ties. For example, on the last Saturday of each
ies, an alliance of Catholic Priests and brothers
month, a group of Plastipak associates volun-
who serve in some of the poorest countries in the
teer at the Brazilian Juvenile Shelter, “Caso do
world. The Young Family Foundation, through
Menor,” to celebrate children’s birthdays.
the Associate’s Sons and Daughters Scholarship
Plotzke says Young’s philanthropy has
Program, also has given more than $1 million in
inspired him. “He’s been elevated to a national
scholarships to assist associates’ children pursu-
position with Dollars for Scholars, which pro-
ing post-secondary education.
vides scholarships for underprivileged kids. He
Young’s philanthropic spirit filters throughout
doesn’t do anything half-baked. He doesn’t do
Plastipak as well. The company provides sup-
things for show. That’s not Bill,” says Plotzke.
port through financial and packaging product
“He’s about being productive and giving back
donations to local charities, including the Juve-
to society.” 45
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
continued from page 43
Constar and APPE added another 1,600 employees to a 5,000-employee company, with forty-seven production sites on five continents and in nineteen countries. “How vast and how much the company has grown in fifty years is unbelievable. Mr. Young must go to bed at night and dream about stuff,” says Jim Steinke, with a laugh. “He wakes up in the morning and has all these ideas. The beauty of it is we are large enough to make it happen. His world is growing and growing.” Plastipak’s continued vision for growth includes the new Capability Center, another of Young’s dreams, designed with the customer in mind. “The customer really wants to do business with you for what you can do for them tomorrow, not today,” he says. “They are here today because of yesterday. But that’s what we really strive for.” The Capability Center is located at the Global Business and Technology Center in Plymouth, Michigan, and features modules demonstrating new technologies, including Direct Object Printing (DOP). The Capability Center also has a tasting room, design center, a twenty-fourperson auditorium, and a conference center. All in all, the Capability Center showcases the best of Plastipak for prospective customers. Vision systems integrated with Plastipak’s production lines check for critical measurements and attributes.
Through this corporate journey, Young’s employees remain committed to keeping the company at the forefront of the industry and ensuring its success through the next fifty years.
46
CHAPTER THREE TAKING MIDWESTERN INGENUITY TO THE WORLD
Recycling operations in Luxembourg produce food-grade PCR PET. Clean Tech is the first global recycling operation.
47
MICHIGAN BORN, GLOBAL IMPACT FIFTY YEARS OF INNOVATION AT PLASTIPAK
“How we measure success is when your dreams outnumber your fears,” says Young. “We had a lot of dreams and still do. We have more dreams now than ever.” Indeed, Plastipak, this family-owned company built with used machinery in a Midwestern cornfield, will assume its place in history as one of the giants in the global packaging industry. As Will Vetter so aptly notes, “This is a story for the ages.”
“How we measure success is when your dreams outnumber your fears,” says Young. “We had a lot of dreams and still do. We have more dreams now than ever.” —William C. Young President & Chief Executive Officer
Plastipak’s production site in Urlati, Romania, after construction was completed.
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CHAPTER THREE TAKING MIDWESTERN INGENUITY TO THE WORLD
Groundbreaking ceremony for Plastipak’s site in Urlati, Romania.
49
IN REMEMBRANCE
Bruce O. Van Dyke 1942 – 2016 We mourn the passing of our dear friend. He will be missed by many at Plastipak as well as his many other friends in the beverage industry.
I A Absopure Water Company bottled water, provision, 3 bottles, delivery (history), 36 Young ownership, 1, 3 Angott, Larry, 14 Young, relationship, 14 APPE, 43 employees, addition, 46 Associate’s Sons and Daughters Scholarship, scholarship donations, 45 B Beatrice Foods (1972-1982), 34, 36 Bio-based resin, usage, 32 Blow molding, equipment photo, 20–21 system, usage (photo), 24–25 Blow molding systems, knowledge, 29 Bottles, Clean Tech sorting (photo), 34 Brazilian Juvenile Shelter, volunteer, 45 Busard, Tom, 9, 36, 171 photo, 17 C Capability Center, Global Business and Technology Center location, 46 Caso do Menor, 45 Catholic Priests, alliance, 45 CF Burger Creamery, 10, 14 Clean Tech bottle sorting (photo), 34 Dundee location, 22 founding, 31 global recycling operation, 22 recycling centers (map), 22 Whiteline Express Ltd., relationship, 36, 38 Clean Tech (photo), 12–13 Constar International employees, addition, 46 Plastipak addition, 43 Continental Can, competitor, 6, 25 Cornell, Gerry, 26 quote, 1 Czech Republic, Plastipak expansion, 43
N
D
E
X
D Darr, Dick, 9, 12 innovation, 29 Detergent bottles, transition cap (implementation), 31 Detroit Cristo Rey High School, donations, 45 Detroit Regional Dollars for Scholars, Plastipak sponsorship (photo), 44 Direct Object Printing (DOP) development, 32 technology, demonstration, 46 Dollars for Scholars, 45 DuPont Packaging Award, 22 E EcoPreform manufacturing, usage, 32 Edison, Thomas, 10 Extrusion GEM wheels (photo), 6–7 F Farmer Jack, Nesbitt Orange merger, 14 Farm Maid Dairy, 14 Five-axis milling (photo), 26 G George J. Meyers and Company, 10 Glass water jug (photo), 2 Global Business and Technology Center, 46 Global Business and Technology Center, front entrance (photo), 40–41 Global Packaging Development, 12 Center (photo), 24–25 Global recycling operation (Clean Tech), 22 photos, 34, 35 Groundbreaking ceremony (Urlati) (photo), 48–49 H High-density polyethylene (HDPE) multi-layer container, manufacturing, 31 production, 36, 38 Hot-fill packaging, ThermoShape technology (usage), 32
I Injection molding capabilities (photo), 30 In-mold labels, application, 31 Innovative thinking, 31 ISO certification, 31 J Jackson Center (Ohio), manufacturing plant, 6, 23 construction, 12 machines, usage, 20 work ethic, 25 JDRF One Walk (photo), 45 Jedreski, Bob, 19 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, donations, 45 K Kraft, 25 L Label substrates, elimination, 32 Larson, Craig, 9, 15 recycling perspective, 22 Leadership, impact, 32 Luxembourg Plastipak expansion, 43 recycling operations (photo), 47 M Medina Candlelight Walk, 45 Midwestern ethics, 1 Modi, Pradeep, 15, 26, 41 Monsanto, competitor, 6 Multi-layer high-density polyethylene (HDPE), manufacturing, 31 N Nesbitt Orange, Farmer Jack merger, 14 Non-food grade items, bottles/containers (production), 3 Nuesmeyer, Dennis, 9, 15 job, change, 12 O One-piece beverage containers, patented design (development), 31 One-stage equipment, usage, 31 Other School, The (donations), 45 Owens Illinois, competitor, 6, 25
51
I
P Pedmo, Marc, 32 Pepsi, 23, 25 PET bottles, Plastipak production, 34 Phillips 66, competitor, 6 PIME Missionaries (alliance), 45 Pine-Sol bottles, recycled materials (usage), 22 Plastic containers, supply, 6 Plastipak building, 6, 9 contracts, increase, 25 Detroit Regional Dollars for Scholars sponsorship (photo), 44 equipment, usage (photo), 16–17 facility, opening (article), 5 five-axis milling (photo), 26 foundation, building, 1 Global Business and Technology Center, front entrance (photo), 40–41 global establishment, 41 groundbreaking ceremony (Urlati) (photo), 48–49 ingenuity, 41 Innovation Awards Ceremony (photo), 32–33 inventions, 19 map, 38–39 measurements, example (photo), 15 necessity, impact, 19 patents, display, 18–19 PET preforms, injection molding capabilities (photo), 30 presence, expansion, 43 production site (Urlati) (photo), 48 profit margins, increase, 34, 36 sites, expansion, 43 team assembly, 12, 15–16 expectations, 15 vision systems (photo), 46 warehouse construction, photo, 4 Plastipak Packaging impact, 41 plan, exterior view (article), 4 Plotzke, Michael, 45
52
N
D
E
X
quote, 41 Young, interaction, 10 Pollock, Frank, 15 relationships, strengthening, 26 Polyethylene production, initiation, 31 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Aerosol, demonstration (photo), 42–43 bottles, Plastipak production, 34 containers (photo), 20–21 market entry, one-stage equipment (usage), 31 post-consumer recycled (PCR) resin, usage, 31 preforms, injection molding capabilities (photo), 30 production, 36, 38 two-stage manufacturing process, entry, 31 Positivity, philosophy, 44–45 Post-consumer recycled (PCR) PET recycling operations (photo), 47 Post-consumer recycled (PCR) resin, usage, 31 Preforms, heating (photo), 8–9 Procter & Gamble (Lima, Ohio), 20–21, 25 bottles, provision, 23 challenge, 22 Plastipak, impact, 26 R Recycled material, usage (photo), 35 Recycling operations (Luxembourg) (photo), 47 Redford Dairy, Young investment, 9 Resin railcar delivery (photo), 27 Verbania producing facility (photo), 28–29 Romania, Plastipak expansion, 43 S Single-stage platforms (photo), 20–21 Slat, Bill, 9, 12, 19 engineering/innovation, 29 importance, 23 quote, 38
Slovakia, Plastipak expansion, 43 Spic and Span bottles, recycled materials (usage), 22 Steinke, Jim, 26, 46
T Technological innovations, 26 ThermoShape technology, development, 32 Transition cap, implementation, 31 Two-stage manufacturing process, entry, 31 Two-stage platforms (photo), 20–21 U Uniloy machines, usage, 9 Unit cavity blow molds (cutting), 5-axis milling (usage), 26 V Van Dyke, Bruce O. (photo), 50 Verbania producing facility (photo), 28–29 Vetter, Will, 20, 23, 48 Vision systems, integration (photo), 46 W Whiteline Express Ltd. Clean Tech, relationship, 36, 38 trucks (photo), 36–37 William P. Young Company, 14 formation, 10 Steinke consultantship, 26 Y Young Family Foundation, scholarship donations, 45 Young, Mary daily operations, control, 10 Plotzke interaction, 10 Young, William C. (Bill), 9 Angott, relationship, 14 hiring, 14 philosophy/philanthropy, 44–45 quote/photo, 3 Type 1 Diabetes JDRF One Walk (photo), 45 Young, William P./Mary, 1 integrity/humility, 10 photo, 11