Plastics Today article - 'Consumer packaging giant Sonoco (Hartsville, SC) is investing significantly in its high performance film core production equipment at its plant in South Carolina. The investment will enable Sonoco to offer enhanced quality cores for film markets where constantly increasing quality standards are extremely vital to the integrity of the film.'  See full article here.

Forbes Article gives advice on customer retention - 'As the old verse goes, “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other gold.” Similarly, a long-term customer is of more value than a single-deal customer, and it’s a lot less expensive to keep a current customer than to acquire a new one. This is not to say that we shouldn’t go out and get new customers, but if we can keep a larger percentage of those customers for a longer life cycle, we build on a revenue foundation that is more profitable and predictable; two factors that have created tremendous wealth for entrepreneurs.'  See full article here.

The R&D Tax Credit was recently made permanent—one of the better "gifts" a bi-partisan Congress has given manufacturing.  You don't need to have a formal R&D department to qualify for R&D tax credits.  For example, if you are improving a product or process, that qualifies.  See Plastics Today article here.

Great news for Fabricators looking to purchase equipment in the next few years, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 was passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law on Dec. 18, 2015. Consequently, as of Jan. 1, 2016, manufacturers get yet another gift in the form of the expansion of Section 179 deduction limit to $500,000.  See article in Plastics Today here.