H. Richard Landis
Landis Plastics
Inducted 2012
Successful as both an inventor and entrepreneur, Richard Landis has been a pioneer in thin-wall injection molding. His company, Landis Plastics, grew from a one-machine operation in 1956 to an enterprise with six U.S. locations employing more than 2,100 people. He has been awarded 16 patents in the design of plastic parts, including the tamper-evident tear strip for five-gallon containers and the lids for stackable dairy containers. He held leadership positions in SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, and in 1988, he participated in SPI’s development of the resin identification code using the well-known numbers inside the “chasing-arrows” recycling symbol.
Richard Landis founded Landis Plastics in 1954; his innovations in the 1950s and 1960s were marbleized tile, coffee can lids, and dairy tubs such as the Cool Whip bowl, which is still in production). In the 1980s, Mr. Landis worked with Husky Manufacturing on developing Husky’s first high-speed injection molding machines, which became an industry standard for producing thin-wall containers. Landis Plastics was one of the first molders to build stack molds in 1966, developed one of the first 32-cavity molds in 1980, and printed non-round containers in 1999.
Landis Plastics was still a family-owned concern when Mr. Landis retired as chairman and CEO in 2003. At the time, the company held a 51% share of the North American market for yogurt containers, 52% for sour cream and cottage cheese containers, and the leading position in the margarine tub business. The company was a charter member of the Rigid Packaging Container Division of SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association and Richard Landis later served as chairman of that division. He also served on SPI’s National Board of Directors from 1987 to 1990 and was recognized by the Association for his outstanding service.
Areas of Expertise:
Plastic processing, plastic packaging