Blow Molding Cowboy: Russ La Belle Profiled in European Plastic Product Manufacturer

While attending the K 2019 show in Düsseldorf, Germany this past October, Wilmington Machinery President Russ La Belle was interviewed by UK-based trade publication European Plastic Product Manufacturer (EPPM).

Russ gave an overview of the history of Wilmington Machinery and its future plans in the magazine’s December 2019 edition. His long history of pioneering innovations inspired EPPM to brand Russ as the “Blown Ranger,” a fearless trailblazer on America’s rotary blow molding frontier.

Following are some comments Russ made in the article:

“[Wilmington Machinery] didn’t invent rotary blow molding – that goes back to American Can, Continental Can, and Owens-Illinois – but I do think we perfected it. The good news was that I already had relationships with those three companies and was able to go back to them and ask what it was they liked and what they didn’t like, and I got some very good pointers about radial positioning.”

“You have to be reinventing yourself all the time, but what you don’t want to be reinventing is your business philosophy. I said years ago that I would never joint venture with anybody and that I didn’t want to compete with those who buttered our bread – others have done that and have probably made a lot more money, but I didn’t want to disrespect those machinery builders. In other words, we’ve kept our noses clean and it’s kept us in business.”

Read the full interview in the EPPM digital edition.