It's About Time! MoldMaking Technology Founder Joe Prischak Inducted Into Plastics Hall of Fame
This week the plastics industry came together to celebrate 16 well-known and respected plastics industry leaders, namely Joseph Prischak — and here’s why that means something special to the MMT Team.
Douglas Prischak accepts the Plastics Hall of Fame Award for his father, Joe Prischak, who was unable to attend. Photo Credit: Jim Callari, Plastics Technology
This past Monday night during a dinner and awards ceremony, plastics industry professionals came together to celebrate the positive impact of 16 well-known and respected plastics industry leaders and induct them into the 2021 Living and 2020 Posthumous classes of the Plastics Industry Association’s Plastics Hall of Fame
That list of 16 includes Joseph Prischak of the Plastek Group — the founder of MoldMaking Technology. Joe founded MoldMaking Technology in 1998 because he wanted to create a place for mold builders to share and assembled a team to create a magazine (which included me).
From day one, Joe and his family have always supported MMT with their knowledge, experience and passion! Congrats Joe!
Here’s an excerpt from my 2018 feature on Joe:
“Joe’s beginning in moldmaking is a familiar one. He started in plastics manufacturing in 1949, working his way up from grinding scrap plastic at 25 cents an hour to working lots of overtime in a toolroom for 40 cents an hour. In the toolroom, he took care of molds, ran a Bridgeport milling machine, lathe, drill press and grinder. He moved on to repairing molds. “The next thing you know,” he says, “I started building new molds for radio cabinets, television bezels, radio knobs and ice cube trays.” No formal apprenticeships existed back in those days.
Joe got hooked on moldmaking because he loved making something out of steel and seeing the finished product. That is definitely a common feeling among those in moldmaking regardless of the decade that they entered the trade. I remember interviewing the late Amber Zapatka, a 25-year-old plastics engineer with Nypro in Clinton, Massachusetts, for our MoldMaking Matters video a few years ago. She also noted that it felt good to see products in stores that she had a hand in making.
Eventually, Joe ventured out on his own. He decided to start Triangle Tool with two friends who became his partners. The trio set out with $5,000 each to grow the business. Joe’s entrance into plastics molding came after he landed a Schick safety razor account. Triangle was building the molds and Schick was looking for someone to mold the parts, so Joe thought, Why not us? His partners were not interested, so they left that part of the business to Joe. Plastek Industries then started in 1971, and the rest is history. Today, the Plastek Group is comprised of 10 companies and 2,000 employees worldwide. Joe retired as president and CEO of Plastek Group in 2002 but remains chairman of the board.”
