Bringing it in-house

As we move inexorably into the final month of quarter 1 of 2023, there has been time to reflect on 2022 and how things really look post-pandemic. Whilst most of us hoped ’22 would be a rebound year, in reality I’m sure our real hopes were that we wouldn’t see a combination of price rises and uncertainty hit the market so hard there would be a significant slowdown.

The recent PMMDA statistics survey showed signs, both good and bad, that there had indeed been an impact, but that if anything, it had been a share shift rather than a complete swing up or down. Whilst capital plant and ancillary pricing increases have skewed the value figures, the unit numbers appear to be stable, and changes in contributors further complicated the picture. However, on reflection, and taking into account comments from several of the contributors, the consensus is that there is a clear move towards bringing products “in-house” to control costs, quality and supply, and that whilst this is in its embryonic stage, the hope is that this will be the start of a resurgence in SME type moulders, which has to be a good thing for the industry long term. A clearer picture, however, is emerging from the market sector activity information, and what is very clear is that Ireland continues to be dominated by medical manufacturing, but interestingly, in the UK, contract moulding, consumer goods, and construction account for almost 50% of the unit sales. Sadly, one thing which has not increased is the sale of automation and robots, and we still lag behind Germany and France in terms of automation uptake.

Clearly, energy costs and supply chain issues continue to be a major source of concern for many, but offsetting this is a definite sense of optimism and enthusiasm. As mentioned in last month’s column, 2023 is an Interplas year, and the good news for the whole industry is that this year’s event has seen very strong support, with a high uptake of exhibition spaces booked by both suppliers and producers alike – a strong representation at the show from the production side of the market can only be a good sign, and I for one am encouraged by this.

As we move further into 2023, our hope I’m sure is to see a stabilising and reduction of energy costs, allowing the sector to grow and continue to contribute to the economy as a whole.

David Raine Chairman, PMMDA