Filed under: B2B, The Elements & Total Plastics | Tags: B2B, Baby Boomers, business, facebook, history, Internet, social networks, Technology
CLICK TO ENLARGE: Timeline of internet from Baby Boomer perspective
My wife and I went out to dinner last weekend and while waiting for our table, we enjoyed a drink at the bar. While sitting there, my wife grabbed my arm and directed my attention to a sign taped to the wall. “You must be born on or before today’s date in 1991 to order alcohol.” Someone born in 1991 is old enough to drink! “Good lord that makes me feel old,” she said to me.
The internet, in its most basic form of connecting one computer with another, can trace its roots back to the 1960s and 70s. Maybe even before that. However, what many of us consider the internet, in its most modern form, seemed to take off in 1995. I’m sure somewhere, in some old drawer of some forgotten desk, I still have a stack of American Online CDs offering free minutes to sign up. “100 free minutes! That should last me a month!”
The Dot.Com Bubble is said to have run from 1995-2000. I graduated from college in the spring of 1999 and entered the professional world in the spring of 2000. I haven’t known a day in the working world without access to the internet or email. College graduates entering the professional world today really haven’t known a world without the internet. By the time they entered kindergarten, the internet was in full bloom. Their education was nurtured by the internet. It was used as a tool for learning, socializing and sharing ideas.
I mention that to provide a little perspective. The Baby Boomer era ran from the mid-1940s to mid-1960s (post World War II). That generation still demographically dominates the U.S. business world, especially at the higher management levels. An individual that was born in 1950 and entered the workforce in 1970 built the foundation of his professional career without the availability of the modern-day internet or email. Twenty-five of his 42 working years were spent absent the internet.
MySpace, Linkedin, Blogger and similarly-conceived sites ushered in the Social Networking Era, which roughly began around 2003, but didn’t really make waves in the professional world until several years after that. This era would account for less than 14% of that Baby Boomer’s professional lifecycle so far. Moreover, it falls into the last quarter of their time in the business world.
There have been volumes printed and posted about the benefits of social networking for businesses. I, of course, believe in the benefits. That belief will grow exponentially has the calendar rolls forward . Why? Because a kid born in 1991 is old enough to drink.
Total Plastics can be found on various social networks. To find us, visit us here.
Filed under: The Elements & Total Plastics | Tags: alternative materials, chemical resistance, copper prices, plastics company, price of copper
Tracking the price of copper, like many other commodities, would inspire the world’s greatest rollercoaster design. In 2011, it hit 5-year record highs at more than $4.50/lb. Copper prices saw steady gains through much of 2011, consistent with previous years, until the cost finally dipped as 2011 came to a close [illustrated in the chart below]. Entering the year, investors tabbed copper as fundamentally one of the strongest commodities, something that isn’t likely to change in 2012. From various forecasts and projections, the price of copper is likely to rise up from approximately $3.50/lb to between $4-$4.50/lb. This is in stark contrast to the recession years when the price of copper bottomed out at less than $1.50 a pound.
I first stated that copper’s prices had more of a rollercoaster design appeal. This wouldn’t be true if your business relies heavily on the metal. It’d sooner inspire the world’s biggest headache. The price per ton has ranged from $3,000 to $9,400 in the last 3 years. The purchasing department’s cost allocation report for the quarter could simply be “?”.
I can look at prices, past and projected, stockpiles and mining outlooks all day on various commodities. I find it fascinating to track the ripple affect that leads to this-or-that gain and loss, whether it stockpiling by the Chinese, natural disasters impacting mining, or the advent of alternative materials . I typically zero in on copper since in a previous position, its price had the biggest impact on the company month-to-month.
As you may expect from someone sitting in a position with a plastics company, the “alternative material” is a popular subject matter when addressing metals, metal prices and properties. I recently stumbled upon a chart comparing the polymer PEEK to various metals. According to the research, PEEK has better chemical resistance when compared to bronze, aluminum or steel. It’s also harder than bronze or aluminum while maintaining a much lower density. That was just a snippet of the information this research revealed.
This post is just an initial entry, an introduction of sorts, into a series we’ll publish of the course of the year that will measure plastic material against certain metals. There are applications and where metal, such as copper, has long been the standard. We mean to demonstrate that plastics can be used as a suitable, if not better, alternative material.
Filed under: The Elements & Total Plastics
If you’re a follower of TPI’s blog, here’s a little update of what’s in the hopper. Currently in the works and should be published over the next few days:
• Alternative material mindset
• Business in spite of weather
• The wonderful world of SWAG
• Oregon’s exploding whale
Filed under: B2B, The Elements & Total Plastics | Tags: Advertising, Apps, B2B, business, CES 2012, Marketing, movie trailer, Smartphones, Technology
The Consumer Electronic Show (CES 2012), which concluded Jan. 13, is typically the launching ground of some of the newest, coolest technology. Browsing through some of the highlights I came across this video, presented by Aurasma, which absolutely blew me away.
The most basic explanation of how this is possible is the app recognizes the imagine of the $20 bill, which acts as a trigger. The subsequent 3D rendering and video is overlaid, making it appear as if your imagine has come to life.
Imagine reading through a magazine and coming across an ad for a upcoming movie that piques your interest. You grab your phone, snap a picture of the ad and the movie trailer plays as if it were on the page. Basically, this technology allows printed advertisements to come to life. Static ads, posters, newsletters, logos, and so on, will reveal a much greater, deeper message.
You can probably say goodbye to QR codes.
There’s much more about this software to learn and understand, which I am still doing. I’ll keep you posted. From an marketing and advertising standpoint, this opens up a world of possibility.
Filed under: Non-plastic related | Tags: baseball, detroit tigers, google, history, michigan, MLB, nfl, occupy, sports
It’s a vacant lot unlike any other in a city filled with vacant lots.
The backdrop of revitalization continues to be overshadowed by the ever dominating presence of partially razed neighbors, boarded up and deteriorating homes, eroding factories and empty schools. These are the landmarks most often associated with Detroit. These are the landmarks the city wants to forget, but can never seem to get rid of.
Save one.
At the corner of Michigan and Trumbull there exists a vacated lot like no other in the city, state or even country. It’s vacated only by structure. Never by memory. The high walls and grandstands are gone, but a field, seemingly so out of place with it’s current surrounding, remains.
From a vantage point thousands of feet above the city, the green grass and clean lines standout like an emerald island in a concrete ocean. A foul stripe still runs 340 feet down the left field line. Another down the right field line, 15 feet shorter. A 125-foot flagpole, still donning the stars and strips, stands 440 feet from home plate in fair territory. The grass at the warning track edge of right centerfield appears moderately discolored, as if to honor a stadium overhang that so famously caught home runs. A path is worn from homeplate to the pitcher’s mound, where the pitching rubber is still embedded in the historic ground.
Vacated by its team in 1999 and then by it’s surrounding structure by 2009, the field sits as both a sad memorial of history abandoned and a glorious reminder of memories captured. The stark contrast of this single lot, which once shook with the cheers of thousands, perhaps provides the greatest metaphor for the city it calls home. Beauty amidst abandonment.
The echo of those cheers is only eclipsed by the moments that induced them. If you stare closely, so can still see them … a double play being turned, a home run leaving right centerfield, a slide into second with steel spikes lifted high, a pitcher reshaping the pitching mound dirt.
At the corner of Michigan and Trumbull there sits a vacant lot unlike any other in a city filled with them. The centerpiece of that lot is a field that will celebrate its 100th anniversary this April. That field has given birth to generations of baseball fans. It provided a home to a team so beloved by it’s city that it lifted their spirits even when the rest of their world was crashing down.
It’s a ridiculous dream, but I want to see that field host one more game. I want to see that vacant lot filled. I want to see it’s team return on the 100th anniversary to not just play a game, but to say thank you. Thank you for providing a home for this team, for baseball and, most importantly, for generations of fans and those endearing memories.
To the Tigers organization, MLB baseball, Detroit citizens and Tigers fans alike, on April 20, 2012, Occupy the Corner.
Author’s note: Total Plastics has a Detroit-area branch located in Rochester Hills. While verifying the general location of Michigan-based customer, I zoomed in on Detroit with Google earth and came across the above image of the former Tiger Stadium. At first, I didn’t realize what I was looking at. The well-kept field in such an odd surrounding caught my eye. My jaw dropped when I realized it was the home of Tiger Stadium. The post provides you and I a break from the standard TPI, plastics and B2B related news and observations. It’s meant as a light-hearted break. I hope you enjoyed it.Filed under: The Elements & Total Plastics | Tags: job openings, knoxville area, plastics, sales representative
Join the Total Plastics Team!
TPI currently has an opening for an Account Manager/Outside Sales Representative serving the Knoxville-area market. Below is a link to the full job description contained in LinkedIn:
Outside Sales Representative in Knoxville-Area | LinkedIn.
Details to apply for the position are contained on the LinkedIn page (a LinkedIn account is required to apply). For more job openings at TPI, please click here.
