Innovation Wins!

I can't help but think back to Seth Godin's book, Purple Cow, where he said the old economy was built on farming, then manufacturing, and today - it's ideas.

When you think about it, it's very true - ideas and innovations win.  It's what keeps us a step ahead of the competition and keeps us sharp.

Just the other day, we had an idea for The Plastics Web™ that is incredibly cool for both Plastics Processors and OEMs that design applications with polymers.  Years ago IDES collaborated with Injection Molding Magazine to produce a directory of Processors called 'The Source.'  It was a simple listing of companies and included their capabilities, processing methods (blow molding, injection molding, etc...) and particulars including location, number of machines and employees.

Recently with the help from one of our injection molding customers, we recognized the need for OEMs to locate companies that can process their plastics and must be able to search for them by market segment (automotive, medical, etc...), processing method and location.  So, we ran with the idea - just yesterday we launched the BETA version of a Processor Portal on The Plastics Web™ that provides a listing of Plastics Processors and featured listings emphasizing their capabilities.

When I joined IDES in 2000, we had a handful of products like Prospector and Books.  Today we have so much more: advertising & plastics marketing services, content management, polymer sourcing, custom resin selectors...  All of these products came from ideas and innovation. 

Ideas and innovation has helped us to grow to an organization that over 13,000 companies worldwide rely on for their plastics information.  We consider that a big win!

- Nathan
pottern@ides.com