ARM recently held its Annual Meeting as a virtual event and this new format seemed to be a great success. Obviously, we all missed the normal human contact; the chance to meet contacts, former colleagues and friends, in person. However, as a way of presenting information and opening up discussion, the on-line format certainly seemed to work.
As part of the main event, we organized a technical session with presentations around a common theme, which was “Long-term Properties of Rotomolding Materials.” There was an introductory keynote, followed by four groups of expert speakers, plus a Q&A session.
I would encourage any of you who missed out on this session to revisit it via the ARM website, where we now have recordings of all parts of the session. Some aspects of the same subject were also recently covered during our Design Webinar Series (Module 5), which is also available in recorded format.
Does Long-term Properties seem a subject which is rather esoteric and strictly for the “techies” amongst us? Possibly, but it really shouldn’t! There are several good reasons why any rotomolder should be aware of the basics of this subject, if not all the detail.
The presentation above opened our 2020 Annual Meeting which is being conducted online the week of September 21-25. We address what new benefits ARM provided in the first nine months of the year, including 65 new videos in our online member’s library. We highlight some of our longstanding benefits, provide an update on membership, and discuss what’s to come.
ARM’s Distinguished Service Award is typically a surprise for the recipient at our Annual Meeting. In that spirit, we interrupted Michael Paloian of Integrated Design Systems as he was about to present the finale of his webinar series on Rotational Molding Design, to announce that he was selected by ARM’s Executive Committee to receive the award.
For more than 15 years, Michael has presented his design seminar to attendees at our Annual Meeting, providing new case studies every time to keep it fresh. For more than 20 years he has acted as an ambassador for rotational molding to the design community.
This year he developed a new program for ARM members, a series of six webinars on design, which we have presented throughout the summer. These have been among our highest attended webinars, attendees rank them as very valuable, and they have led different constinuents in our organization to become active.
Michael Paloian is president of Integrated Design Systems, Inc. (IDS), located in Oyster Bay, New York. Since its inception more than 35 years ago, IDS has developed hundreds of products ranging from MRI machines to pool chlorinators under the direction of Mr. Paloian. Michael’s education as an industrial designer and plastics engineer has provided him with a unique set of design skills, enabling him to design products from concept to production. Mr. Paloian has an in-depth knowledge of designing parts in numerous processes and materials, including plastics, metals and composites. This broad knowledge base combined with his extensive experience in designing hundreds of products provides him with a distinctive advantage in optimizing designs based on materials, process and cost. Mr. Paloian holds more than 45 patents and has served as chairman for a few divisions within the SPE. He has lectured hundreds of times for organizations such as the SPE, SPI, ARM and IDSA. Michael has also written numerous articles concerning design for publications such as Machine design, Design News, Innovation, Rotation and Plastics Design Forum. Mr. Paloian has also lectured in Paris, Rome, Brazil and India.
The Charles D. Frederick Distinguished Service award is presented each year to ARM committee members or other volunteers who go above and beyond the call of duty in ARM activities and committee work.
Recently ARM presented Class 5 of its Design Webinar Series, which was focused on material properties, as they relate to product design. The webinar consisted of an initial presentation by ARM’s Technical Director Dr Nick Henwood, followed by a series of questions from Michael Paloian of Integrated Design Systems, the regular presenter of the Design Series.
As a highly experienced designer, Michael’s questions were extremely searching and got into some interesting and relevant detail, so we thought that it would be useful to fully reproduce the conversation between him and Nick below.
Rather than regurgitating past information, I decided to put together a little chart to memorialize 2020:
Rotoplas 2020 is now Rotoplas 2021. Same great location, same low price.
ARM made the decision to postpone Rotoplas 2020. There’s too much uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 to continue with the initial plan. Corporate and governmental travel restrictions coupled with the threat of a Fall resurgence all played into the decision. The event has been rescheduled for the week of September 20, 2021 in Chicago, IL.
Virtual Fall Meeting
In place of Rotoplas 2020, ARM is hosting an online meeting September 21 – 25, 2020. The schedule is filling up quickly with lots of technical and shop floor rotomolding content. We are excited to bring the education you have come to expect from our in-person meetings to this online format this year. Sign up for the meeting here.
We will host videos for all exhibitors on the 2020 Online Meeting website. These videos will be published on our site the week of August 24 and meeting attendees can click to learn more about the companies and their products. During the Online Annual Meeting (the week of September 21), exhibitors will take part in private Zoom meetings with rotomolders/attendees. ARM staff will schedule and organize all of these meetings across 3 – 5 afternoons that week.
There is no charge for members attending the meeting. We know the current climate makes doing business difficult and as an association, we want to do everything we can to make your investment in ARM valuable.
Industry SWOT Analysis
An emerging theme of recent meetings and presentations is Industry 4.0; the industrial revolution that leverages cyber-physical systems and the IoT to alert and direct activities based on real-time process information. To better understand how our industry can keep pace during this latest revolution, we thought it was important to understand the state of the current industry.
To understand where rotomolding fits compared to general manufacturing, ARM is conducting a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of the industry. A SWOT focuses on both internal factors, strengths and weaknesses, and well as external factors, opportunities and threats, to highlight the current state. Based on ARM’s breadth of membership, it can rely on molders, suppliers, and other experts to offer their insights regarding how the industry stacks up against other plastics processors and the general manufacturing industry.
If you have not seen it yet, here is the SWOT survey. I encourage you to spend 5-15 minutes to participate in this effort and complete the survey. The responses will be analyzed and shared during the 2020 Virtual Fall Meeting.
Our lives are all being impacted by the events happening around us. If you would have told me that Tiger King would be the most normal phenomenon of 2020, I would have laughed at you. Now, I’d rather marry Carole Baskin than jump on an airplane. There will be a time that we can meet face to face and get back to normal. Until then, take care of yourself.
ARM created a unique plan for the trade show portion of our 2020 Online Annual Meeting. Meeting online allows us to increase the amount of time attendees can engage with exhibitors and reach people who don’t typically travel to the meeting.
During the Online Annual Meeting (the week of September 21), exhibitors will take part in private Zoom meetings with rotomolders/attendees. ARM staff will schedule and organize all of these meetings across 3 – 5 afternoons that week. Beginning in August, we’ll find out which exhibitors and rotomolders are interested in meeting with each other.
The week of September 7 we’ll issue every company a schedule for their afternoon Zoom calls, including individual links for each meeting.
We will also host videos/recorded webinars for all exhibitors on the 2020 Online Meeting website. These videos will be published on our site the week of August 24. Each exhibitor will be invited to share one 10-minute video per 100 sqare foot booked for Rotoplas 2021 plus one additional video for sponsors.
We don’t expect exhibitors with 400+ square feet to necessarily fill all of their allotted time. It might make sense for your company to create one overview video plus a few short videos highlighting different products. In your overview video you might recommend viewers watch an in-depth video. (“If you want to learn more about PRODUCT XYZ watch the in-depth video below.”)
We will publish individual webpages for each exhibitor featuring your videos and your contact information.
Exhibitors can provide us with videos they’ve created or record with ARM staff. If you recorded a webinar with us in May, we can use that as your video. If you would like to record with staff, we’ve made 97 (!) recording times available and we’ve emailed you a link to select your recording time. Contact staff if you would like us to send that link again.
This is new for all of us. We welcome your input and questions, which will help us with a FAQ for exhibitors and attendees.
We shared this schematic of the rotational molding process (drawn by ARM Technical Director Nick Henwood and spruced up by Anthony Kozelka of Quantum Polymers) with our members last week. We asked them which part of the process they saw the most opportunity in automating. See the responses below and let us know your opinion in the comments.
ARM webinars were viewed 5,000 times in the last year. This number includes live webinar attendance and recorded webinar views, in which members watch our 10+ years of webinars at their convenience on the ARM website.
We now offer more than 85 webinars on-demand for members. Members can access all of these titles immediately. Non-members can join here.
In addition to a variety of new webinar topics in 2020, we have begun a six-part series on Rotational Part design which you can begin now. The series will be completed in August
Finishing Series (5 videos): Secondary Finishing Operations, Graphics, EPS Molding, PU Foaming, In-Mold Label Free Graphics and Coatings presented by Konstantia Asteriadou, Jason Brownell, Rick Carlsen, Corey Eystad, Nick Henwood, and Scott Saxman
Rotational Molding Design (6 webinars premiering throughout Summer 2020) presented by Michael Paloian
Burner Maintenance presented by Adam Covington
Considerations When Light-Weighting Rotomolded Parts presented by Henry Hay
Cooling Fixtures presented by Ron Joannou Jr. and Joey Morsi
Determining Your True Cost presented by Steve Osborn
The Effect of Pigments and Warpage on HDPE Rotomolded Parts by Mike Haubert
ARM has rescheduled Rotoplas, our international trade show, to September 20-23, 2021.
In its place this year, we are conducting an online Annual Meeting that is free to members. The meeting will be held the week of September 21, 2020. It will include online education, a virtual exhibit hall, and networking opportunities. We will bring you the industry knowledge you expect from our Annual Meeting, address rotomolders’ challenges as a result of COVID, and provide the problem-solving benefits that come from our members putting their heads together. The online format allows us to reach rotomolders who don’t typically attend the Annual Meeting.
We will provide more details this summer but you can sign up today by clicking here. The Board of Directors decided to reschedule because of travel bans impacting members, restrictions for holding meetings in Illinois, difficulties in international travel, and the safety of our members.
Exhibitors ARM is determined to provide the value you expect from a Rotoplas show. In order to do that, we must reschedule. You have likely paid a 10% deposit and we are holding your space. You can keep the same space for Rotoplas 2021. All Rotoplas exhibitors will also have space at our online trade show in conjunction with the 2020 online meeting at no additional cost. We have a unique plan for the online show this September and we’ll share details with you shortly.
The due date for your next exhibit space payment has been moved to June 4, 2021. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact ARM staff.
Sponsors Your existing Rotoplas sponsorship now includes recognition for an additional event — our online Annual Meeting — at no additional cost. That will include pre- and post-show coverage of the event. We will be in touch this summer with more details. Contact ARM staff if you have any feedback.
Did you already book your hotel? We’ll have information regarding hotel reservations soon. The hotels are accomodating this change but they have furloughed many employees so these details will take some time.
Donate The 2020 Annual Meeting is free to members. Our goal for the meeting is to bring as many of our members as possible together online.
We understand that some of our members are facing financial difficulties related to COVID. Our Board has also anticipated some members might offer to pay for the meeting. Please consider instead a donation to the Roy Crawford Education and Development Foundation which funds research on the rotomolding process, our annual scholarship program, and more.
On June 11, ARM begins an ambitious six-part series on Designing Rotomolded Parts. Every two weeks through August, Michael Paloian of Integrated Design Systems will present on design basics, guidelines, materials, case studies, and more.
Members can sign up for free using the links in our email newsletter. If you want to join ARM, contact us or learn more.
Join us throughout the summer for these valuable presentations:
June 11 – Product Design Basics
June 25 – Design Guidelines
July 9 – More Design Guidelines
July 23 – Reaching Further
August 6 – Materials
August 20 – Case Study
Thanks to Michael Paloian of Integrated Design Systems for organizing these presentations for ARM Members.
Michael Paloian is president of Integrated Design Systems, Inc. (IDS), located in Oyster Bay, New York. Since its inception more than 35 years ago, IDS has developed hundreds of products ranging from MRI machines to pool chlorinators under the direction of Mr. Paloian. Michael’s education as an industrial designer and plastics engineer has provided him with a unique set of design skills, enabling him to design products from concept to production. Mr. Paloian has an in-depth knowledge of designing parts in numerous processes and materials, including plastics, metals and composites. This broad knowledge base combined with his extensive experience in designing hundreds of products provides him with a distinctive advantage in optimizing designs based on materials, process and cost. Mr. Paloian holds more than 45 patents and has served as chairman for a few divisions within the SPE. He has lectured hundreds of times for organizations such as the SPE, SPI, ARM and IDSA. Michael has also written numerous articles concerning design for publications such as Machine design, Design News, Innovation, Rotation and Plastics Design Forum. Mr. Paloian has also lectured in Paris, Rome, Brazil and India.
