Future Design’s Robert Krycki retires

Robert Krycki, the founder, president and CEO of Mississauga, Ont.- based blown film equipment supplier Future Design Inc., has announced that he is retiring from the company.

Krycki recently received the Canadian Plastics Industry Association’s (CPIA) Lifetime Achievement award in recognition of his contributions to the industry.

“I noticed all those people [who receive the award] are very old,” he joked recently. “And when I looked in the mirror, I said, ‘You’re one of them now.'”

Krycki is handing Future Design’s reigns to Gary Gould, who takes over as president, and who, he continued, brings a strong business background to the company.

“The way I ran the business was more on a technical level, with an innovative product line and knowing the blown film industry,” Krycki explained. “Gary has a very strong business aptitude, and finance is a very strong part of his character.”

Krycki got his start in the business as a plant engineer for blown film and bag manufacturer W. Ralston & Company. He started building equipment in his spare time with his close friend Bob Smith, and worked as a service engineer for Brampton Engineering.

He went on to found Future Design Inc., which placed an emphasis on the repair and replacement of blown film line components. The company, which turns 30 this October, is particularly well known for its Saturn family of air rings.

“Nobody realized how important the air ring was back then, so we took it and said, ‘This is what we have to go after,'” Krycki noted.

Moving forward, Krycki sees Future Design diversifying in the business, and he noted that he has been looking at opportunities with Gould in an advisory capacity.

“I’m retired from the day-to-day operations, but I’m not out of the business,” he said. “We’re seriously looking at things that Future Design could do on top of what they do well already.”