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Background

As manufacturing in the continental U.S. returns from offshore sites, we are seeing the results of many years of little or no technical training on the shop floor. When these jobs moved overseas, shop floor technicians in many plastics disciplines were concerned with the declining number of the people in their shops. Technical skills were hoarded to ensure job security and any ongoing plastics technical training was strictly basic and of a rote nature.

Now, with the return of production, the scramble to procure new technicians is on. The problem is, what is the best way to do it? Do you post new jobs in the paper or on-line and try to lure trained techs from your competition? This could open you up for poaching by your competition. Or do you try to train using your own people internally?

Internal plastics technical training vs off-site/on-site training

Internal training by your own people may lead to “inbreeding” of technology. In other words, “the sins of the father are visited upon the son.” Poor processing techniques will be passed on as “the only way.” Also, not everyone is capable of providing proper and effective training.

In the short term, employing professional educators, either on- or off-site, can help alleviate this issue. Typical courses off-site will last four to five days per level. Training takes place in central locations, which means travel for most participants and those extra costs. Off-site courses, although often excellent, will also be very generic. On-site courses are typically customized to the site’s equipment, process, materials, and products. Several companies offer this style of training. The one that I am most familiar with is Paulson Train Programs.¹

College and university plastics technical training

For upper and middle management technical positions, several Colleges and Universities have excellent programs available. However, their cost, time commitment and location may be prohibitive to many. Also, people from these types of programs generally are not interested in continuous shop floor work. Study.com has a list of college and university courses with plastics technical curriculum.

High school plastics technical vocational training

As a more long-term solution, a technical program designed for public education at the high school level will work best. This will require industry concentration to support the program with employment for its graduates, input to keep the technical curriculum current, and assistance to keep production equipment up-to-date. Just such a program was initiated in Winnipeg, Manitoba in the early 1970’s. I was honored to be the lead instructor in this program for almost 15 years.

Example: Sturgeon Creek Regional Secondary School Plastics Technology Program

This program spanned three scholastic years of 450 hours each, for a total of 1350 hours of training. The training was approximately 40 percent theoretical and 60 percent practical.

Topics covered in the Plastics Technology training program included:

Grade 10

• Injection molding theory and practice (used a 35 ton, 1.5 oz. Battenfeld injection molder for practical training)
• Molds and moldings, how injection molds are designed and operated
• Extrusion theory and practice (used blown film, sheet, pipe and tubing, profile, Killion lab scale extruder for practical training)
• Vacuum forming theory and practice (used two 24” x 24” vacuum formers for practical training)
• Blow molding theory and practice (used a Killion extruder with blow molding attachment for practical training)
• Rotational molding theory and practice (used a roto-molder capable of 12” diameter parts)
• High and low pressure structural foam molding theory
• EPS molding theory and practice (used an autoclave capable of “goose decoy” production, continuous pre-expansion of the bead)
• Thermoplastic materials: Studied the 10 major thermoplastic materials, their properties, processing characteristics (temperature, shrinkage) and special considerations (hygroscopic, temperature sensitivity or instability)

Grade 11

• Fiberglass hand lay-up theory and practice (practiced laminating small items such as canoe bow caps)
• Fiberglass spray-up theory and practice (produced 2 to 3 canoes or kayaks a week as practice)
• Gel coat application and troubleshooting theory and practice
• Vacuum bag molding theory and practice (used to produce canoe seats)
• Structural Laminate bag molding theory and practice (used to produce canoe seats with high tech fabrics such as Kevlar or carbon fiber pre-pregs, given to us by Boeing of Canada)
• Fiberglass and advanced plastics composites
• Resin transfer molding theory and practice
• Matched die molding theory and practice
• Major thermoset materials (Polyesters, epoxies, silicones, PPF)

Grade 12

• Thermoplastic part design theory and practice
• Thermoset part design theory and practice
• Pattern and mold making theory and practice
• Hydraulics and Pneumatics
• Plastics additives, theory and practice
• Machine shop and tool room practices

Local industry was very supportive of this program, including donating materials and equipment. In-house production contracts in many disciplines allowed the students to get real experience with industrial production within the shop. Industry also donated money to develop and air a TV commercial to attract more students to the program. Industrial groups and vendors put on informational/training seminars in the facility and all students were invited to rub elbows with professionals.

Once a year, I hosted an all-day meeting with local industry representatives to evaluate the program and discuss changes that could be made to ensure it met with their needs and stayed relevant with changing technology.

Continued support for the program came in the form of employment. Many students were hired for part time and summer work, often continuing on to permanent employment post-graduation. Wages were often offered at up to three times the existing minimum wage, with the number of positions outnumbering the number of graduates by 3:1.

Perhaps the best thing about having this type of program at a high school is it gives young people choices. At SCRSS, students had to take a minimum of twelve other credits, choosing between regular level academics and university entrance academics to go along with their twelve credits in Plastics Technology or one of eight other vocational programs.

Unfortunately, in the mid-90s the school division decided vocational programs were too expensive and changed all of them to “industrial arts.”

Current US availability: Petal High School

An internet search for “plastics training in the high school” yielded only one result: an article about Petal High School in Mississippi that started a vocational polymer/plastic technology program in 1997.² On contacting the school, I was put in touch with the present leader of the program, Krystin Holmes.³ She was kind enough to provide a link to the complete curriculum: an eleven-unit program covering a wide variety of plastics technology subjects.⁴

Conclusion

It is these types of vocational high school programs that will allow U.S. manufacturing to regain the talent that has been lost in the last 25 years. Plastics processing industries, machine manufacturers and materials manufacturers must support these types of programs as it is their best chance to keep up with the onshoring of lost production. If you think that young high school students cannot learn this type of technology, think of the last time you had to ask your son or daughter or grandchild to help you with your computer or new phone.

References:

1. Paulson Training Programs
2. Plastics Technology magazine: ‘Polymer Pipeline’ Starts in High School
3. Krystin Holmes’ academic homepage
4. Mississippi State University Polymer Science program curriculum

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