3 SH Clients Earn Awards for Excellence

We’re generally a pretty happy group, especially on Fridays. And right now, we couldn’t be happier, as good client news keeps rolling in. Here’s a trio of shout-outs:

• Plastikos Inc., for winning Plastics News Processor of the Year. Just a few reasons this custom injection molder brought in the big prize: 60% increase in customer base, 45% increase in sales and a 99.6% order-perfection rate.
• Dickten Masch Plastics, the 2010 Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year. A custom thermoplastics and thermoset molder, DMP took home the award in the large company category for achievements including 20% top-line growth last year and adding 139 new jobs and $10 million in new business.
• DME Company, for making the Quality Leadership 100. The global mold technologies leader earned this top-performer distinction based on scrap and rework as a percentage of sales, rejected parts per million shipped and registration in various standards, among other criteria.

Plastikos, DMP and DME—just three of the great companies we serve who are leading our economy forward. It’s an honor to work with every one!

B2B Research Insight #2: Win by Out-Recruiting the Rest

How will you make sure your organization has the talent you need to succeed, today and in the future?

If you’re like many of the 310 B2B executives we talked to recently as part of a plastics industry research project, chances are you’re not quite sure.

Of our research participants, 71.6% said recruiting and retaining talent is very important to the future of their business. But only 40.5% think they’re doing a good job of that right now. Do a better job, and your company will gain an edge in the intensifying competition for talent.

That’s one of many opportunities and trends uncovered by our research, including:

• Steps companies have taken to strengthen their businesses, from improving operational efficiencies to expanding products and entering new geographies.
• How companies are communicating the improvements they’ve made to both their employees and the marketplace, and how effective their communications are.

The full report, which we’ll be presenting next week at the Plastics News Executive Forum, is packed with interesting and at times surprising data for all B2B marketers.

You’ll soon have a chance to get a copy of the research report, so stay tuned.

310 B2B Firms Told Us about Their Marketing Efforts. Want to Listen in?

Then join Scheibel Halaska at the upcoming Plastics News Executive Forum—March 6-9 in Las Vegas—where I’ll be presenting recent research that uncovered some valuable insights about B2B marketing in this new era.

For this project, we listened to a diverse array of companies across the plastics industry:

• Size: 47.1% had fewer than 50 employees, 13.7% had 51-100, 10.1% had 101-200 and 29.1% had over 200 employees.
• Geographic reach: 17% were regional, 37.6% national and 45.4% global.
• Classification: 22.5 % of companies classified themselves as equipment manufacturers, 33.7% as material manufacturers and 43.8% as processors.

Not in plastics—or even in manufacturing? There’s still a lot of valuable, surprising lessons in what these companies had to say. Plus, the Forum is a great event loaded with knowledge sharing and networking opportunities.

So get all the details and register for the Forum here.

Or, if you can’t make it, look for more to come about the research on this blog, including a chance to see the full report for yourself …