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Hoffer Plastics Welcomes Jeff Klabunde as VP of Operations

Hoffer Plastics, a leading provider of custom injection molding solutions, announced the hire of Jeff Klabunde as Vice President of Operations, effective immediately. Klabunde will hold responsibility for the oversight of all Operations-related functions including the integration of automation technologies and ongoing maintenance of the organization’s focused manufacturing plants to maximize productivity and operational excellence.…

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Hoffer Plastics | 2022 Sustained Excellence Award winner

The Sustained Excellence award is offered exclusively to previous Processor of the Year winners. Hoffer Plastics, in South Elgin, Ill., was the 2012 Processor of the Year winner. Sustained Excellence winners are judged on three criteria: financial excellence, one extraordinary new development since winning Processor of the Year and one key person who has remained at…

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Hoffer Plastics is Manufacturing a Change in Perception

Manufacturing presents a great career opportunity for post-high school men and women, but how to learn more and overcome its myths and misperceptions? Hoffer Plastics saw the need and decided to break the mold. Literally. The South Elgin-based custom injection molder launched its Break the Mold initiative last year with the plan to prove to…

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Hoffer Plastics and Mespack Partner for Breakthrough Innovation

Featured at this year’s Global Pouch Forum: Partners Hoffer Plastics, a family owned custom injection molder based in South Elgin, IL, and Mespack, a global producer of flexible packaging machinery based in Barcelona Spain. A shared vision and passion for innovation in packaging, and a perfect match of complementary skills and technical expertise.   Hoffer and…

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Hoffer Plastics Adds Chaplaincy Program

During difficult times of stress, hardship, fear and uncertainty as is the case with the Covid-19 pandemic, people need as much support and guidance as possible. Hoffer Plastics fully embraces this notion, and recently initiated an onsite Chaplaincy program. The Chaplain provides an additional, confidential resource to Hoffer’s employee family as an augment to the…

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The Concept of Circularity

Read about exciting initiatives around the globe as visionary leaders work to move us toward a more circular economy The Concept of Circularity Can you envision a global economic system where products are conceptualized and designed for re-use or re-purposing from the onset? That describes a circular economy. It’s all about reuse, sharing, repair, refurbishment, re-manufacturing…

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It’s National Work and Family Month

In this issue, we highlight the importance of creating healthier, more flexible work environments and share highlights of some innovative approaches. Work/Life Balance: A Top Priority A healthy work/life balance is vitally important to those currently employed and those seeking prospective jobs 53% of employees say a role that allows them to have greater work-life…

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Children Fighting Cancer. What We Can Do To Help

It’s back to school time for many – but not for all.  September is National Childhood Cancer month. We dedicate this month’s issue to all children who inspire us with their brave fight against cancer. Too many, too soon Cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease among children Roughly 16,000 children in the U.S. will…

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Five Human Resource Tips To Improve Your Bottom Line

At family-owned Hoffer Plastics, Gretchen Farb oversees the finances of the plastic injection-molding business as well as the Hoffer Foundation. She manages the company’s investments and its 401(k) plan. In the last 12 to 18 months, Farb instituted new enterprise resource planning software and helped lead the company to a record year. Revenue last year rose 12.5 percent to $90 million . . .

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It’s National Wellness Month

We’re sharing some interesting new trends and approaches to wellness that we hope will inform and inspire you. Read on! Prescribing Nature What if your doctor prescribed a 30 minute walk outdoors instead of prescribing a drug? It’s happening, and there’s solid science behind it. A study among the world’s longest living people (> 100)…

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It’s Mid Year 2019. Time for a Turnaround?

It’s Mid-Year 2019. Time for a Turnaround? July is the heart of summer, but also marks the onset of the second half of the year. Much like making resolutions in January, the second half is a great time to reassess and get back on track for achieving personal and professional goals. Stay cool, and go for it!…

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Limited Growth Among Top 100 Injection Molders

Must be summer because it is time to look at the numbers behind Plastics News’ ranking of the Top 100 North American injection molders. Look to next week’s issue for the smaller firms.
There are 102 firms in the top 100 this year, that’s due to the three ties at No. 100. The companies have combined molding sales of $29.1 billion. The top 10 alone make up 34 percent of that total revenue. The average sales per firm is $284.7 million, holding steady compared with last year.
The general trend in automotive was down, although a few lucky firms managed to grow. Medical molders also grew. I read many annual reports where company executives explained that their sales increases were due to resin pricing pass-through to customers.
For those firms reporting growth at the top 100, the average increase was 15 percent. The figure rises to 23 percent if you include acquisition-related growth. Six percent of the top 100 executives in this list are women.