Automotive OEMs Push for Films The Japanese OEMs were the first to implement films in a large way on plastic beginning in the late '90s. The growth of the product was limited initially by the lack of infrastructure for using the film in part-manufacturing operations. Initially, there were only a small number of companies who possessed the thermoforming or other processing know-how to use films effectively. However, as the major OEMs placed a higher emphasis on paint alternatives, the infrastructure began to develop and has grown substantially over the past 24 months. As this infrastructure came on line, the use of film and number of applications exploded.