January Thermoforming Report: How to Thrive in 2025

by Keith Brown, President & Owner, Siena Group.
January 2025.
It’s Friday again. As we are already into the flow of the new year – and with fires, an inauguration, and an arctic blast moving across the country – we all wonder what this year will hold! We address some of our thoughts below and will wrap them up with our blog in a couple of weeks. Until then, think about thriving instead of just surviving!
As usual, we have several great articles relevant to our industry and quite a few amazing All Stars to highlight! Check them out down below in the links on the right. We have extraordinary talent that we feature and that also now includes Executive Leaders.



Manufacturing Outlook & Predictions
As we look to the year ahead, the word uncertainty has been thrown around a lot.
- There are questions about how the new administration will impact tariffs and therefore the supply chain.
- There are unknowns about the overall global economy given all the wars and instability across the globe.
- There are technical innovations that can be considered disruptive.
How does this all factor into your decisions as manufacturing leaders and individual contributors?!?
A couple of recent Forbes authors wrote about this very thing, with several parallels across several insightful articles.
Let’s dig in!
Ethan Karp’s, “China, Tariffs, Tech Skills, Metaverse, And More: Predictions For The Manufacturing Industry In 2025”, [Forbes, Jan 7, 2025] really resonated with me. He highlighted four different influencing factors:
- U.S. Reliance On China Will Continue To Rebalance, With Or Without Tariffs
- Tech Skills Will Become The New Trade Skills
- Sustainability Will Drive Innovation, And The EV Market Will Shift
- The Industrial Metaverse Will Take Off
Interestingly, these are not new trends. As a matter of fact, we’ve discussed a facet of each of these over the past couple of years in these reports and our blog posts! Ethan’s take is that the trends that we’ve all been seeing are now coming into their own within the manufacturing world.
Take a few minutes and read the article. It’s definitely worth the few minutes.
Focal Points
Here are my thoughts on how to move from uncertainty to strategy:
- Reliance on China: US manufacturing has leveraged cheap labor since its inception in the Industrial Age. What Covid so dramatically exposed is our overreliance on that cheap labor force – a labor force that happens to be halfway around the world – to deliver parts and components for our manufacturing needs. Companies have been working on reshoring and nearshoring for a while, and those efforts are continuing. In the article above, Ethan shares that “The U.S. has a long way to go to catch China [in manufacturing], but even as the world’s number two, there is incredible economic value in building up manufacturing.” The economic engine that is US manufacturing cannot be understated!
- Upskilling your Workforce: It’s been said in many different ways: technology is taking over manufacturing. But hasn’t that always been the case?!? Does Henry Ford come to mind? Those organizations that know how to leverage technology end up being able to improve and grow at a faster pace than others. The big difference now is the speed in which that technology is changing… and that pace is leaving the most critical thing behind: your people and specifically the Floor Associates. Investing in training isn’t a nice-to-have; it is imperative! The author above highlighted public-private partnerships: these “partnerships will become a bigger part of how manufacturers help workers gain technical skills.” Pennsylvania College of Technology’s PIRC is a perfect example of leveraging external resources to assist your team’s processing knowledge. Other institutions like Pennsylvania Western University are creating new programs to help bridge the gap as well.
- Sustainability: Again, this is not a new concept. My take is that it is finally coming into its own due to many external factors. It is an opportunity to innovate and provide unique and novel approaches to tap into this aspect of manufacturing. Karp reports that “some [manufacturers] have engaged in shifting their supply chain to use more recycled materials or bring suppliers closer to home. Others have implemented circular production models, reused parts, minimized waste wherever possible, and reduced energy consumption.” It is more than “just do it.” It is now about doing it well.
- The Metaverse: This topic is all about combining the various tools that exist to “create immersive, real-time replications of industrial processes. These simulations can help manufacturers predict machine failures, fast-track prototypes, or better understand and solve for process deficiencies.” (Forbes). Hasn’t it always been about that? I got a lot of flack back in the day for bringing high speed cameras onto the production floor, and everyone thought we were going to tune into the Super Bowl when the 60” TV (that I turned into a big monitor) was brought into the lab! But, applying existing technology in a different way allowed us to see what was happening and fix an elusive root cause that plagued us for years. I wasn’t a pioneer. I just took advantage of a technology that existed and applied it in a new way to help me fix a problem. Using these new technology tools will provide key insights into your processes.
Wrapping Up
We are out of room in this report and will pick up the other article and the parallels that exist in January’s blog post as we continue to look at what’s to come in 2025.
Wrapping this up, though there is uncertainty this year, there is also opportunity. Opportunity to adjust and tune your supply chain, implement effective training programs, innovate ways to be ever more sustainable, and leverage new tech tools to drive improvements across the entire manufacturing platform.
So, what are you waiting for?!?

As your Thermoforming Talent Partner, we represent clients AND candidates! We’re here to help in any and every way possible! We provide hiring strategies, priority candidate searches, job searches, client & candidate introductions, interview tips, résumé facelifts, resignation strategies, and much much more. LET’S STRENGTHEN YOUR SEARCH!

“Though there is uncertainty this year, there is also opportunity.”
Keith Brown, Owner/President, Siena Group
- Sonoco Sells Thermoformed Packaging Business to Toppan for $1.8 Billion. via Plastics Today.
- Spartech Permanently Closing Ohio Facility. via Plastics News.
- Price Resin Report: The Ups and Downs of 2024. via Plastics Today.
- Businesses are Less Worried about their Supply Chain in Q1, but Concerns Remain. via IndustryWeek.
- How Smaller Manufacturers Can Avoid Making Expensive Technology Mistakes. via Forbes.
- Mergers & Acquisitions Tracker. via Plastics News.
- The Secret Weapon of Every Leader, from David Novak of Yum! Brands. via Forbes.
- PET Innovation in Medical: Analysis of 1,400+ Patent Filings. via Plastics Today.
- This is the Year when the Automation of Everything Will Take Off. via CEO Magazine.
- ‘Microplastics’ Emissions from Car Tires Under Scrutiny. via Plastics Today.
- PennWest, AIM Creating Degree Program for Injection Molding. via Plastics News.
- Material Insights: Polypropylene Price Declines; Covestro’s Compounding Expansion. via Plastics News.
- Resin Pricing: PP Prices Continue Their Downward Slide. via Plastics News.
- How Leaders Innovate to Fill in Market Gaps from AI to Heavy Materials. via Forbes.
- BLS Employment Report – December 2024. via MRINetwork.

- 2024 – The Year in Review
The lessons learned from past reflections are not magical or novel, but that doesn’t make them any less powerful! With 12 Thermoforming Reports and 11 Blog Posts in 2024, it only makes sense to pause and reflect on the content and come away with a few common threads. via Siena Group. - How to Work for a Hands-Off Manager When You’re Fully Remote
Working with a manager who is hands-off can be both empowering and challenging, especially for people in remote environments. This article shares three pro tips to help foster meaningful connections and make your work more visible throughout the organization. via Harvard Business Review. - What Wicked Reminds Us About Manufacturing
At its heart, Wicked is a story about challenging assumptions, embracing change, and striving for greatness. Manufacturing, too, is at a turning point. As America’s original bootstrappers, we don’t need a smoke and mirrors wizard to save us. This article compares the movie’s iconic music with manufacturing and reminds us greatness is built—not born. via Forbes. - How to Embrace Leadership Styles for the AI-Driven Workplace
Existing leadership styles and archetypes fail to fully address the rapidly changing dynamics that AI introduces to the workplace for today’s leaders. This article introduces the ‘humanistic catalyzer’ archetype as a means to leverage AI to facilitate collaboration and enhance creativity within their teams. via CEO Magazine.

Thermoforming Expert/Design Engineer: This strong Subject Matter Expert brings significant experience in extrusion, machining, trim dies, inline forming and processing, maintenance, and more! He is looking for an opportunity to mentor and teach younger, more junior Engineers to transfer his knowledge and experience.
National Accounts Manager: This talented Sales Leader brings vast experience in food sales across an extensive base of products and channels. With accountability for $200M in sales and including senior sales leadership roles, his strengths in business development with unique approaches flat-out make things happen!
FOUR Design Engineers: Multiple Product and Tooling Design Engineers with tremendous experience in thin-gauge thermoforming, all who are willing to travel as needed and work remotely. Experience ranging from 10 to 30 years in product and packaging design, these All-Star Talents are immediately available and ready to leverage their expertise with strong thermoforming companies.
National Accounts Manager/Director of Sales: This very strong and proven Sales Leader brings significant experience in thin gauge thermoforming food packaging, bringing people leadership, national account business development and support, and more! With nearly $100M of sales accountability across a variety of channels (QSRs and C-stores) and product lines, he has tremendous knowledge of food packaging!
Engineering & Operations Leader: With more than 30 years – all in thin-gauge forming and extrusion – this Subject Matter Expert boasts extensive scope (multi-site accountability), significant leadership accountabilities, and a proven history of successfully driving turnarounds and transformations. He truly brings absolutely tremendous value!
Even More Thermoforming Talent! We work with so many talented people in many different functions – all in thermoforming. Whether it’s an Operations Leader, Plant Manager, Supply Chain Leader, HR Leader, specialized Engineer, Quality Leader, Sales Leader, or pretty much any thermoforming role, we are here to help. Check out our Executive Showcase, our new listing of high-level senior leaders who are fully vetted and confidentially seeking a new opportunity. If you have a need, please do not hesitate to reach out!
Click for more All-Stars + our new Executive Showcase.
At Siena Group, we are your Thermoforming Talent Partner. With more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing, hiring & recruiting talent, we bring a greater understanding of the companies we partner with and the candidates we pursue.
Let’s Strengthen Your Search!
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