SIC 3083 Laminated Plastics Plate, Sheet, and Profile Shapes

SIC 3083

This category covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing laminated plastics plate, sheet, profiles, rods, and tubes. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing laminated flexible packaging are classified in industry group 267 (Converted Paper and Paperboard Products, Except Containers and Boxes).

NAICS CODE(S)

326130

Laminated Plastics Plate, Sheet, and Shape Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

This industry confronted the prospect of its own maturation at the start of the twenty-first century. Industry shipments fell steadily from 1997 to 2002, from $3.19 billion in 1997 to $2.31 billion in 2002. Shipments subsequently rose, however, to $2.55 billion by 2005. As a result, companies began to devise inventive means of driving continued growth. Many companies hit upon the solution of increasing service as a way to promote growth. For example, companies such as GE Plastics of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, turned to product customization as a way of luring small-lot customers, especially those that utilized GE's just-in-time inventory system. Analysts predicted that the maturation of the industry would inevitably lead to consolidation, as with other industries.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

In the mid-2000s some 290 establishments were engaged in the production of laminated plastic plate and sheet. This represented a significant decrease from previous years; in 1997 there were 457 establishments in the industry. In 2005 the industry employed 10,067 workers (down from 11,865 in 2002), 7,611 of whom were production workers earning $17.03 an hour.

Ohio had the largest number of establishments in the industry with 25, Texas was second with 14, and North Carolina was third with 12. Texas, however, had the most employees: 2,227 as compared to 1,234 in North Carolina and 1,123 in Ohio. Texas also shipped the most goods—a total worth $364 million in 2002. North Carolina's total shipments equaled $310 million and Ohio's, $209 million. Together, these three states accounted for 38 percent of the U.S. production of laminated plastics plate, sheet, and profile shapes.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

Laminated plastic plate and sheet products are defined, in rather technical terms, as plastic materials consisting of superimposed layers of synthetic resin–impregnated or –coated filler that have been bonded together by means of heat and pressure to form a single piece. Plastic sheet is distinguished from plastic film by its thickness—sheet is more than 0.010 of an inch in thickness. Sheet is known for its resistance to corrosion and is used in applications from building construction to the production of appliances and other consumer durables. When discrete separate layers of plastics are joined together by an adhesive, heat, or other method, the finished product is called a laminate. The term "composite" is used to describe sheets that result when two or more plastics are combined.

The history of laminated plastics can perhaps be best understood in the context of the development of the plastics industry in general. Some have referred to the twentieth century as the "plastic century," when plastics technology applications were thought to...

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