WestRock Reports Fiscal 2021 Fourth Quarter Results: Record Net Sales of $5.1 Billion Up 14%

Faced with a labour shortage, this Vaughan, Ont.-based blown film coextruder is using a mix of hiring and retention strategies to staff up. A boxer on the receiving end of a few one-two combos – a jab and the straight right hand – can have his lights turned out pretty quickly. For manufacturers, the one-two combo of a shortage of both skilled workers (which predated the COVID-19 pandemic) and unskilled workers (triggered by the pandemic and continuing to this day) can put a business out of business, literally turning out the lights for good. The ongoing workforce crisis is the most pressing challenge facing manufacturers today, and plastics processing – which is technologically-driven but also labour-centric – can be particularly vulnerable.

Intertape Polymer Group Inc. announced its preliminary estimated revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2020. The Company estimates that its revenue is approximately $267 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020, compared to the outlook range communicated on May 13, 2020 of $235 million to $250 million. With the outperformance of revenue, management also expects adjusted EBITDA(1) to be greater than the top end of the outlook range of $34 million that the Company communicated on May 13, 2020 as well.

DS Smith, one of the leading manufacturers of sustainable packaging solutions made of corrugated board, has set itself ambitious climate targets. In addition, the company is driving the circular economy and reducing waste and pollution through clever design, as one goal is to produce 100% recyclable or reusable packaging as early as 2023. A current innovation in the field of e-commerce is a fixation packaging that uses crepe paper to secure and fix the goods instead of the usual plastic foil. In the service centers of a well-known smartphone manufacturer, the plastic-free shipping solution already ensures more sustainability. Online shopping is and remains a megatrend. As a survey published at the beginning of 2021 by the German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (bevh) shows, e-commerce is not only popular with younger generations but has also become part of everyday life for the over-60s, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Around a third of all online shoppers belonged to this affluent age group in 2020. And even after the pandemic, a large part of the population does not want to give up the convenience of online shopping. According to bevh data, almost three out of four consumers plan to order online to the same or greater extent in the future.