When the international plastics industry gathers in Friedrichshafen for FAKUMA 2026, much of the attention will naturally be on what is new: more efficient machinery, smarter automation, advanced materials, improved recycling technologies and practical solutions for reducing energy and resource consumption.

The exhibition will demonstrate how quickly plastics processing continues to evolve. Yet behind every new machine, material and manufacturing process sits a challenge that receives far less attention: finding the people capable of turning technological potential into sustainable commercial performance.

Investment alone does not improve productivity, introduce a new material or open a new market. Businesses also need leaders who can build the strategy, engineers who can implement the technology, operational teams who can optimise it and commercially credible professionals who can take the resulting solutions to customers.

For many plastics businesses, that expertise is becoming increasingly difficult to find.

The skills needed by plastics manufacturers and suppliers are no longer confined to traditional processing or product knowledge.

Automation, digitalisation and increasingly connected manufacturing environments are creating demand for people who can work across engineering, data, software and production. Greater use of recycled, bio-based and technically advanced materials requires a deeper understanding of processing behaviour, application development, quality and regulation.

At the same time, pressure on energy, cost and productivity means operational leaders must be able to improve performance while managing significant organisational change.

Commercial roles are changing too. Selling complex machinery, materials or technical solutions requires more than conventional account management. Businesses need people who can understand the customer’s process, identify opportunities, work with technical teams and build a persuasive commercial case around performance, sustainability and return on investment.

Finding all of these capabilities in one individual can be difficult. Finding them in a candidate who is available, appropriately located and motivated to move is harder still.

Specialist plastics professionals often work within relatively small and closely connected markets. Many have built successful careers with their current employers and are not actively applying for new positions.

This limits the effectiveness of conventional recruitment advertising. An advertisement may attract a high volume of applications while still failing to reach the small number of people with the right combination of industry knowledge, technical credibility and leadership potential.

A successful search therefore has to begin with understanding the market: which companies employ the required expertise, where those individuals are located and what might persuade them to consider a new opportunity.

It may also require employers to look beyond familiar job titles or local geographic boundaries. Relevant experience could sit within another part of the plastics value chain or in a neighbouring country where the required technology, application or customer knowledge is more readily available.

Listgrove’s work with injection moulding machinery manufacturer ENGEL illustrates the breadth of talent required to support international growth.

The relationship has included recruitment across Spain, France, Morocco and the UK, covering Managing Director, sales and business development appointments. Although the responsibilities and markets differed, each search required candidates who could combine commercial leadership with a credible understanding of plastics processing technology and customer applications.

For machinery manufacturers, finding people with that balance is particularly important. A senior commercial professional must be able to discuss productivity, process stability, automation and investment returns with customers while also building teams, developing markets and delivering profitable growth.

The same challenge is evident within plastics processing businesses.

HSV Technical Moulded Parts required specialist engineering capability for its R&D function in the Netherlands. When an initial local search did not identify the required expertise, Listgrove extended the search across Europe and successfully recruited a Feasibility Engineer. Following that appointment, HSV returned to Listgrove to recruit a Senior Project Engineer with extensive injection moulding and manufacturing project experience.

As HSV’s HR Manager explained:

“We couldn’t find one ourselves. After conducting a local search in the Netherlands, Listgrove also searched Europe-wide for the ideal new colleague. After the first successful recruitment process, we asked Listgrove to find a project engineer, also for R&D, who speaks Dutch and has extensive knowledge of injection moulding, which they did successfully.”

The example demonstrates the value of widening the search while remaining clear about the expertise that cannot be compromised.

The Compound Company faced another challenge familiar to specialist materials businesses: identifying a commercial professional who could understand technically advanced polymer solutions while developing strong, credible relationships with customers.

Listgrove supported the company with the recruitment of an Account Manager in the Netherlands. The appointment required more than conventional sales ability. The successful candidate needed relevant knowledge of polymers and compounds, an understanding of customer applications and the ability to work consultatively with technical and commercial stakeholders.

This balance is becoming increasingly important as material suppliers respond to changing performance, processing and sustainability requirements. Customers expect their commercial contacts to understand how a material will behave in practice, where it can add value and how it contributes to wider operational or environmental objectives.

For specialist businesses such as The Compound Company, the available talent pool can be limited. Effective recruitment therefore depends on identifying professionals with transferable technical and market knowledge, approaching those who may not be actively looking and presenting a convincing case for why the opportunity represents the right next step.

The example demonstrates that, as plastics materials become more sophisticated, the boundary between technical and commercial expertise is becoming increasingly difficult to separate.

Businesses often start searching only when a vacancy becomes urgent. By that stage, an empty territory may already be affecting sales, a missing engineer may be delaying a project or a leadership gap may be placing additional pressure on the wider team.

Workforce planning should therefore be considered alongside investment and commercial strategy rather than after decisions have been made.

Before installing new capacity, entering a market or launching a new material, businesses should ask:

• What expertise will be required to deliver the plan?

• Does that capability already exist within the organisation?

• Where is the external talent likely to be found?

• Is the proposed role and compensation competitive?

• Are there internal successors for business-critical positions?

• What would make a successful but passive candidate interested in joining?

Recruitment is only part of the answer. International talent mapping, succession planning, compensation benchmarking, interim management and leadership assessment can all help businesses understand and reduce workforce risk before it becomes an operational problem.

FAKUMA will provide a valuable picture of where plastics technology is heading. The businesses that gain the greatest return from those developments will be those that consider the people requirement at the same time as the technology.

The machinery may be ready, the material may have been developed and the market opportunity may be clear. The final question is whether the organisation has the leadership, technical expertise and commercial capability to make it work.

As the plastics industry continues to advance, securing those people will become every bit as important as selecting the technology itself.

📍Visit Listgrove in the West Foyer – Stand FW-04.

👥 Meet the team: Ryan Kirby and Ellie Guest