ATLANTA — Paulson Training Programs Inc. has introduced an interactive course for in-line thermoforming.
Paulson rolled out the course during the Society of Plastics Engineers' Thermoforming Conference in Atlanta, where it exhibited. The company from Chester, Conn., debuted an early version at NPE 2015.
Thin-Gauge Thermoforming is a six-lesson training program, available on CDs and online. Employees will learn the function of each component of the thermoforming line, the behavior of plastics during thermoforming, sheet extrusion fundamentals, optimizing operating controls, safety and how to maximize efficiency and profit. Courses also cover mold design, heating the sheet and part trimming and finishing.
Paulson worked with thermoforming consultant Mark Strachan to develop the course.
President Craig Paulson said companies are improving training to bring younger workers up to speed. “There is an older generation that's going to retire and there's nobody coming up,” he said.
Thin-gauge thermoforming needed more training materials, he said.
“[The program] was developed because we had overwhelming requests from our customers to create a specific thermoforming training course,” Paulson said. “We learned that the market is underserved in this area, and we actually had to create a waiting list for the product.”
Paulson Training is working with the Society of Plastics Engineers and Pennsylvania College of Technology to distribute the Global Services for Plastics Certification in North America. On Aug. 4, Penn College announced its Thin-Gauge Thermoforming program has been added to the training and certification program.
Interviewed at the Thermoforming Conference, Hank White, director of Penn College's Plastics Innovation and Resource Center in Williamsport, Pa., said the certification brings training to the plastics processor's factory, and is targeted toward the systems of that specific company.
Paulson Training programs are used in the GSPC program, which also covers injection molding, extrusion and blow molding.