Business

THE CADDY THAT Z!GS.TM

1997

.•.„...emacmr-ii-

443 4* TM

■

Future
Is Plastics

Jerusalem (JPFS) — In the 1967 hit
film The Graduate, Benjamin, the
anti-establishment protagonist stares,
disbelievingly when a conservative
•
businessman tells him that the future
is in plastics.
•
While the line was meant to serve
as a metaphor for the increasing
superficiality and materialism of
/— American society, companies such as
Plasson were already beginning to
understand the face value of the
prophetic message.
Founded in 1964 to serve as an
alternative source of income for
• Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael, Plasson
has grown from a small manufacturer
of plastic wrappings and buckets to a
\_, , world leader in specialized injection-
modeled plastics, supplying pipe fit-
tings, toilet tanks and plastic feeding
systems to companies around the
world — and making the kibbutz
rich, to boot. Sales in 1996 totaled
,- $86 million, one-third of all the rev-
enue generated by Israeli plastics
companies, and growth has averaged
10 percent per year for the last sever-
• al years.
/-
"This is one of the most impres-
sive operations in Israel, both in
terms of its size and efficiency," said
\-;
Keith
Phillips, Israel analyst at
/-
Societe Generale. "You're looking at a
\- 5world-class company in its field, with
/-
especially good marketing channels
for an Israeli company."
Once Plasson began to realize plas-
\_ tic's potential, the company began to
/- devise new ways to employ its tech-
nology.
While steel, aluminum and other
7 ;
were commonly used to make
products that held, stored or chan-
• neled water, Plasson realized that
plastic, which does not rust or cor-
rode, and is more flexible, could be
used as an alternative for a variety of

After its early success with wrap-
pings and buckets, the company
decided to try to manufacture plastic
toilet cisterns. The experiment suc-
,) ceeded and, today, Plasson holds
about 60 percent of Israel's toilet-
tank market. They also developed
and patented the half flush option,
which allows households to save
,up to 15 percent in water consump-
tion.
Although the cisterns were a hit in
Israel — setting the standard in the

OPTION 1 OUT OF STOCK

40 to Choose Froni z--

24 Month
Lease

as low as $299* per month

*Call or see sales person for details • expires 9/30/97

AUDETTE

7100 Orchard Lake Rd. (at 14 1,6 mile) West Bloomfield

(248) 851-7200

Ask us about global roaming, commercial satellite and
Internet & video telephony conferencing.
Call now for a FREE Consultation.

A Division of SpeedNet, Inc.

f•

....................
Speedlink is a preud sponsor of the 1998 JCC Maccabi Games

9/19
1997

143