Lawrence will become president and CEO of the Cincinnati-based machinery company on 1 December. He replaces Ronald Brown, who is retiring.

Lawrence is a 35-year veteran of the plastics industry. He joined D-M-E, a supplier of mould bases, hot-runner systems and related components for plastics injection moulding, in 1988 as a plant manager. Milacron acquired D-M-E in 1996.

Lawrence has a bachelor’s in business administration from Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. He is a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers and serves the Society of the Plastics Industry as the chairman of its global business committee and member of the Midwest board of directors.

“The board and I have great confidence in Dave Lawrence,” said Larry Yost, long-time Milacron director and newly appointed chairman. “Dave has an extensive background and expertise in the plastics industry and he has consistently demonstrated strong leadership over the past several years.”

In a recent conference call with financial analysts, Brown talked about the upcoming change in leadership.

“I can also tell you that the next CEO will be blessed with a group of incredibly dedicated people who have shown their resolve to face challenges head-on and do whatever it takes to survive in some very difficult markets,” Brown said.

Milacron has not turned a profit since 2000. The company lost $87.1m in 2007. Through the first three quarters of 2008, Milacron has lost $12.6m.

Despite the financial pain, Brown said Milacron has posted year-over-year improvements in operating earnings each quarter this year. Given the current backlog of orders, he expects fourth-quarter sales and operating earnings to be about the same as the third-quarter numbers.

Milacron will continue to focus on conserving cash and cost reductions, he said.

Third-quarter sales were $195m, a 4% decline from $204m in the third quarter of 2007.

New orders were $191m, down 6% from $203m in the year-ago third quarter.

Brown told analysts that plastics machinery business remains soft in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. But he said orders grew by 8% to emerging markets – India, China, Eastern Europe, Mexico and South America. Emerging markets accounted for 25% of new orders in the third quarter.

He also said machinery demand remains strong in health care and packaging. Automotive and construction dampened sales of injection presses and extruders.

Milacron makes injection presses, blow moulding machines, extruders, structural foam machines, mould components and industrial fluids.