Teamwork, funding crucial for starting WPC business: analyst

A plastics industry analyst has identified the need for a coherent strategy between management and technicians, and an initial start-up investment of at least $2.5 million, as key components in getting a successful wood-plastic composites (WPC) business off the ground in Canada.
In his presentation to attendees of the Progress in Wood & Bio Fibre Plastic Composites 2006 International Conference, Wayne Song, of Mississauga, Ont.-based Futuresoft Technologies Inc., recommended that a new WPC business should have sufficient funds to operate without profit for at least the first year, and that the owners and employees should be in agreement on the company’s direction.
He also advised that operators of a new WPC business should target niche applications such as roof shingles, or edge trim for gardens, rather than trying to compete directly in the patio decking industry; and that they should avoid targeting Fortune 500 companies, as these tend to be too cautious to entrust business to start-up organizations.
Song identified some of the downsides of starting up a WPC operation as the relative newness of the industry itself, as well as the corresponding lack of standards governing WPC applications.
The Progress in Wood & Bio Fibre Conference, held in Toronto, ran from May 1 to 2, 2006.