The partnership between the two institutions comes about through CEGEA - the Centre for Management Studies and Applied Economics at Católica Porto Business School. The Portuguese Plastics Industry Association (APIP) announced the protocol at the end of January in a public session attended by CEGEA's executive director, Vasco Rodrigues. "In this initial phase, the project involves producing two biannual economic bulletins until the end of 2024, with one in March and another in September," he said.

Decision-making is an increasingly pressing issue in management, given the growing volume of data available and the importance of processing it. "CEGEA provides the Portuguese Plastics Industry Association (APIP) with consultancy in an area whose relevance is undeniable, the field of decision support information," explains Vasco Rodrigues.

For CEGEA's executive director, this project has two objectives: "Firstly, it allows APIP's management to have a more objective perception of the situation of its industry, as well as more informed action. Secondly, the bulletin provides companies in the plastics sector with up-to-date information, useful for defining their strategies."

The six-monthly document will include information on the evolution of companies' situation, obtained by survey, on topics such as production, prices, employment, and the main difficulties faced. In addition to the domestic market, Vasco Rodrigues emphasises that "statistical information on foreign trade in plastics, collected from Eurostat, will also be included".

The project with APIP is being developed by Vasco Rodrigues himself and Filipa Cunha Mota, also a researcher at CEGEA. "This follows on from the work we've been doing for several years on decision-making issues in core sectors of Portuguese industry such as footwear, with APPICCAPS (Portuguese Footwear, Components, Leather Goods Manufacturers' Association), and cork, with APCOR (Portuguese Cork Association)."