Time Machine

It seems like only yesterday we were looking forward to the year ahead and here we are already at the Year in Review. Where does the time go?

This has been an exciting year for our industry. We have seen improvements and innovations in materials, increases in speed and accuracy in machinery and increased opportunities for incorporating fabricated plastic components in more applications than ever before.

This issue features our second annual Year in Review section which provides a look back at the hundreds of products and dozens of articles from the magazine this past year. The Year in Review is divided into categories covering accessories, machinery, materials, tooling and welding. To read the complete text, type the headline into the Article Search by Keyword.

Also in this issue, we bring you Part 2 of “Preparing for Plastic Routing” by Van Niser. He discusses tooling and material selection as well as programming considerations for routing plastics. Click here for Part 1.

When Medallion Plastics, Inc., one of the largest custom thermoformers in Indiana, needed a trimming solution for its custom thermoformed parts that would be more productive, reliable and cost effective than the current trimming system they were using, they turned to Robotic Production Technology. Click here to learn more about how they improved repeatability and quality while reducing scrap and labor costs.

During the holidays, many brighten their homes and businesses with colorful lights. This can increase the risk of accidental fire. In Safety Solutions, Jack Podojil tells us how we can “Light Up the Holidays” safely.

We hope 2006 was a great year both personally and professionally for you and your company. As we set our sights on the year ahead, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our readers, contributors and advertisers for your support this past year. We have many exciting things planned for 2007 and look forward to bringing you the latest news, new products and fabricating information for working with plastic shapes.

Until next year, Happy Holidays from all of us at Plastics Distributor® & Fabricator.

Enjoy the issue,