Trends and ideas, Solutions!, Online Exclusives, July 2003

TRENDS AND IDEAS

Museum Exhibit Showcases the Art of the Paper Plate. The ordinary Dixie(R) paper plate has found a new home this month in a surprising locale -- New York’s Museum of Arts & Design, New York, USA. Fashion designer Nicole Miller, chef Jacques Pepin, talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael, and jewelry designer Angela Cummings are among the artists whose paper plate creations will be on display at the Museum May 2 - June 8. The Dixie Art of the Plate exhibition celebrates more than 100 of the best entries from nearly 9,000 submitted by artists around the world in the design competition.

Transforming the everyday paper plate into a work of art pay off, too, with US$ 50,000 in cash prizes awarded. The opening of this special exhibit will include a silent auction of celebrity-designed plates, with proceeds benefiting the arts. Brian Winters, of Concord, Massachusetts, a model maker for an established toy company, will be awarded $10,000 for his entry, "Fusion Plate," a modular design for sushi-lovers. A perfect mix of form and function, the plate is complete with a removable section for small appetizers. And, the various shades of green nicely complement the colors of most sushi selections.

According to Dixie President Bill Shultz, "These imaginative designers inspire and challenge us to bring new designs to life. As the leader in disposable dishware, Dixie is proud to cultivate creativity, and we will continue to bring innovation to our business."

Research evaluates the changing process mix in printing and packaging. TrendWatch Graphic Arts (TWGA) today released an in-depth new report analyzing the printing and packaging industries by dissecting the usage of inks and toners. The report includes market share data for key commercial printing industry segments, such as inplants, commercial printers, heatset and nonheatset, duplicator, and newspaper markets, and uses inks and toners to identify critical trends in the printing and packaging industry. For example, trend analysis indicates that while the overall number of printing firms is declining, the percentage of larger printing companies (20+ employees) continues to be on the rise across the board. And while larger printing firms are growing, the number of flexible package printing plants and converting trade shops has decreased by 7% since 1995.

Among TWGA findings:

• In the last 14 years, the printing and packaging industry has lost more than 10,000 plants, a reduction of 14%.
• The ink printers are most likely to "use more of" in the future is inkjet ink, with 31% of TWGA Printing respondents saying they will increase their use of this ink.
• Trade shops’ use of color outstrips that of commercial printers’ -- 59% of their print jobs are in four-color, compared to 33% for printers.

Study: Demographics, ’assembly line’ image threaten workforce gap as baby boomers retire. The widespread loss of manufacturing jobs over the past two years has concealed a looming shortage of highly skilled employees that could undercut manufacturing competitiveness and weaken the U.S. economy, according to a new study released today titled Keeping America Competitive: How a Talent Shortage Threatens U.S. Manufacturing. This trend appears to be the result of a convergence of factors, including demographic shifts, failures of the educational system, and an outdated image of manufacturing tied to the negative stereotype of the "assembly line."

National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Manufacturing Institute, and Deloitte & Touche announce a study dealing with the workforce gap, New Economic Vulnerability: Loss of Manufacturing Jobs Masks Looming Shortage of Skilled Workers in U.S.

"A talent shortage could not happen at a worse time. Manufacturing is already in trouble, struggling through its slowest recovery since the Federal Reserve began tracking monthly production in 1919," said Jerry Jasinowski, president of NAM. "Unchecked, the shortfall could quickly hobble our manufacturing competitiveness once the global economy recovers in earnest. And since manufacturing accounts for more than 20% of gross domestic product, the problem threatens the entire U.S. economy."

Four out of five large and small manufacturers reported a "moderate to serious" shortage of qualified job applicants during the recent recession.

1. To identify the reasons behind this shortfall, and explore why fewer young people show interest in manufacturing careers, the MAN, The Manufacturing Institute, and Deloitte & Touche LLP conducted two major research studies.
2. Across a geographically, ethnically and socio- economically diverse set of respondents - ranging from students in middle-school through college, and parents and teachers, to policy analysts, public officials, union leaders, and manufacturing employees and executives themselves - the sector’s image was seen to be heavily loaded with negative connotations and tied to an old stereotype of the "assembly line."
3. With near unanimity, students saw manufacturing opportunities to be in stark contrast with the characteristics they desire in their careers.
4. Worse, the study found that even those open to manufacturing jobs are not receiving the kind of skills training needed to compete in tomorrow’s ultra-competitive, high-tech environment.

Underlying the looming workforce shortage is a demographic shift of historic proportions. The Baby Boom generation will retire in large numbers, beginning in just a few years and peaking in 2012. They are not being replaced by sufficient numbers of highly skilled workers. The result is a projected 10 million unfilled positions by 2020.

Despite its image as a sector in decline, the report notes that "Today’s manufacturing company is a major source of high-tech innovation, wealth creation and exciting, varied opportunity. Manufacturing’s varied jobs and careers averaged $54,000 in total compensation in 2000 -- 20% higher than the average of all American workers -- while 83.7% of manufacturing employees receive health benefits from their employers, more than any other sector except government."

The report also found that manufacturing grew at an annual rate of 4.6% in the 1990s, compared to the economy-wide average of 3.6%. "Every $1 million in manufacturing sales supports eight jobs in manufacturing and six in other, allied sectors," the report adds, highlighting the impact on the broader U.S. economy.

The full study, including executive summary, is available at www.nam.org/careers and www.deloitte.com/us/manufacturing.

The Foodservice & Packaging Institute (FPI), Falls Church, Virginia, USA, announced it the completion of a new study of sanitary quality of single-use and reusable food service products. As in past sanitation studies sponsored by the FPI, a December 2002 study found significant differences in the aerobic plate count for reusable versus single-use items. Aerobic plate count indicates the level of microorganism on a product. Overall, reusable items had higher microbial levels than single-use items. But, tests also found that both product types fall below the detection limits for enterococcus, coagulase positive staphylococcus (CPS), and coliform counts.

The FPI study was conducted with the help of foodservice inspectors from the Clark County, Nevada Health Department. Using a swab test protocol developed by Silliker Research Services of South Holland, Illinois, eight health inspectors visited 24 foodservice establishments, including coffee bars, restaurants, and delis. An additional health inspector visited nine daycare centers. A total of 330 items of reusable and single-use products were gathered and evaluated.

“The results were pretty much what we were anticipating,” said FPI President John R. Burke. “No dangerous-to-health organisms were found on the tested items, and that’s attributed to good work that is being done at Clark Country.”

“At the same time, reusable foodservice items has a sort of bad good-news report” says Burke. “The bad news is that significantly higher microbial counts were found on permanent ware items. This is likely the result of inconsistent dishwashing, and, sometimes, improper handling during storage and retrieval. The good news is that these organisms won’t kill you or make you sick.”

Single-use food service items were found to have much less microbial presence on tested items gathered in the Clark County study.

For more information about sanitation, or to receive a free copy of FPI’s safe handling poster, contact Beth Phillips at FPI: (703) 538-2800, or bphillips@fpi.org.