MAPP Association News

Manufacturers Association of Plastics Processors

A Letter from Mike Walter, MAPP Board President

Maximizing Your MAPP ROI

This issue of Plastics Business includes a summary of the results of MAPP's Economic Survey. Did your organization participate? If so, odds are your business is doing well and you're optimistic about 2014, finding business conditions to be good or excellent. If your organization didn't participate, is your business outlook more pessimistic, finding business conditions to only be acceptable or worse?

What's setting the successful, optimistic processors apart? There's business out there for the taking, so why isn't the survey reflecting universal optimism? I would bet the successful businesses have developed a culture with active participants that strive for success, aggressively seeking out and capitalizing on business opportunities, while the "marginal" businesses are on standby, waiting to be courted with opportunities – and they're probably getting by with this strategy.

The same can be said about the value received from MAPP membership. Prior to joining the association, you may have received a "sales pitch" from Executive Director Troy Nix demonstrating how MAPP vendor discounts easily can offset the cost of membership dues. That's true! The vendor discounts do offset the dues, making the decision to join the association a no-brainer. Even if you are content to observe from the sidelines, watching MAPP do its thing, you will see a positive ROI.

Nevertheless, MAPP members who successfully leverage their association to receive a high ROI aren't just watching and waiting; they're active participants who embrace the concept of members helping members. They're sharing best practices with other members, learning about business conditions and opportunities, helping to get members out of a jam and receiving the same in return when the need arises. These members recognize that you get out of your membership what you put into it.

MAPP originally was founded by a group of processors that understood the concept of strength in numbers. They realized that their chance of individual successes would be enhanced if they worked together to solve problems. While MAPP has grown and changed considerably over the years, this foundation of partnership remains in place. It is what drives the success of MAPP and is what sets us apart from other associations. MAPP isn't just another association – this is your association.

So, what are you doing to maximize the ROI of your association?

MAPP Shipping Program Company Celebrates its 25th Anniversary

PartnerShip, the company that manages the MAPP shipping program, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. PartnerShip was founded by the non-profit National Association of College Stores (NACS) in 1989 to help college stores with all of their small package and LTL freight shipping needs. Twenty-five years later, it now is a leading shipping solutions provider to small- and medium-sized businesses across North America. Today, PartnerShip helps over 17,000 businesses across over 120 industries and trade groups manage their small package, LTL freight, tradeshow and specialized shipping.

If your company does any amount of shipping – big or small – be sure to take advantage of this MAPP member benefit and the broad set of services, the significant discounts and the logistical expertise that PartnerShip brings through the MAPP shipping program.

For more information or to enroll, visit www.PartnerShip.com/12MAPP. This program is free, with no obligations and no minimum shipping requirements. Call PartnerShip directly at 800.599.2902 with questions or email [email protected].

Upcoming Member Webinars

MAPP and Stout Risius Ross Advisors will be presenting a webinar on the merger and acquisition (M&A) and financing markets, as well as facilitating a discussion of the key factors that drive value in middle market plastics processors on Feb. 27, 2014, at 11 a.m. EST.

The presentation will focus on current M&A trends across all sectors of the plastics industry; recent representative M&A transactions; valuation levels in the M&A market (by end-user industry segments); overall financing conditions for plastics processors in the middle-market; and the factors that drive the value of a plastics processor, such that one company may command a higher value relative to another.

As the economy and industry conditions continue to improve, it is important for all participants, whether buyers, sellers or long-term operators, to be current on M&A and financing conditions, as well as relative valuation levels among plastics processors.

This 60-minute webinar is free for members. Register online at www.mappinc.com for this or any of the upcoming webinars. The calendar is updated frequently, so check back often!

Also, make sure to register for the MeltFlipper and Scientific Runner Design webinar presented by Beaumont Technologies on Feb. 21, 2014, at 11 a.m. EST.

Save the Date for the 2014 Benchmarking Conference

Mark your calendars for the 2014 Benchmarking Conference taking place at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, IN, Oct. 16-17, 2014. Jack Daly is back by popular demand as the keynote speaker! This year's conference focus will be Leadership. Stay tuned to the MAPP website and your inbox for more details as they emerge. The MAPP staff is looking forward to another record-breaking year!

In addition, videos from the 2013 Benchmarking Conference now are available. To order, call the MAPP office at 317.913.2440.

Annual Wage and Salary Survey

The MAPP office will launch the annual Wage and Salary Survey in the 2nd quarter of 2014. This popular report features comprehensive analysis of well over 50 different job classifications from plastics manufacturing companies that serve a variety of end-use markets. These job classifications represent well over 16,500 hourly and salaried employees. Last year's report was completed by more than 200 participants located in 30 states across the US. It is one of the very few reports of its kind, completely devoted to the polymer manufacturing industry, and it has grown by 20 percent in company participation in just two years. Look for the launch date announcement in the spring.