Donations help spur plastics training program in Michigan

Livonia, Mich. — Sure, the donation of a 110-ton injection molding machine to an up-and-coming college program is a nice gesture. But for International Automotive Components Group, officials admit the move wasn't totally altruistic.

“The reality is, right now, there aren't enough students in the pipeline to satisfy the number of jobs there are [to work on] this type of machinery,” said David Ladd, senior director of marketing and communications for North America with IAC Group.

IAC Group, RheTech Inc., KraussMaffei Corp., Milacron Holdings Corp. and the Detroit chapter of the Society of Plastics Engineers have all pumped money and equipment into Schoolcraft College's plastic technology program. The college will be offering courses aimed at students achieving an associate's degree in plastic technology this fall.

Robert Leadley, dean of occupational programs and economic development for Schoolcraft, said the equipment was key to allowing the college in suburban Detroit to begin to offer the two-year program.

Schoolcraft began offering a one credit class in 2013 in plastics technology, and it has since grown to a 16-credit certificate program. With the new equipment, the college is now offering a 32-credit certificate and associate's degree.

“This is really a shot in the arm for the program, and there are great things ahead,” Leadley said.

Sassan Tarahomi, who works at Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers Inc. and is an instructor at the college, said the students learn a lot about plastics in the classroom, but having the machine in the lab is critically important.

“This is really an opportunity to connect how the part is designed to it being molded, and how it's molded. It's true learning,” he said. “They learn in the class and they come out to the lab and apply it.”

IAC Group donated the KraussMaffei machine, which was used at its testing facility in Troy, Mich. Operations for that facility were moving, and the company decided to donate the machine.

“The decision was very easy,” Ladd said. “We have people like Sassan [Tarahomi] who are passionate about teaching the next generation so we can hire these students when they come out with these skill sets. It was a no-brainer. We can invest in new machines for our plants elsewhere, donate this machine, which isn't new, but it's certainly current.”

In addition to the machine, the Detroit SPE chapter donated $50,000 to purchase a compression molding machine and to install the injection press. The injection molding machine needed a chiller and thermolator, and Milacron donated that equipment. RheTech has pledged a $10,000 donation for five years.

In addition to those donations, KraussMaffei donated a second injection molding machine. This machine is a bit bigger — 200 tons — and has a robotic attachment.

“Right now we don't have any space for that, but we're working on that,” Leadley said about the KraussMaffei donation. “It's in storage, and we're hoping to get it in place sometime mid-year, we hope.”

Paul Caprio, president of KraussMaffei, said the donation is an important one to make because the need is great.

“This is the No. 1 problem that our customers are facing,” he said about the lack of skilled trades employees.

Caprio encourages more two-year degree programs like the one at Schoolcraft to help teach students how to operate and fix the machines. KraussMaffei, which has its U.S. base in Florence, Ky., but has operations in Brighton, Mich., has offered to send guest speakers to the college.

Ladd said IAC has also committed to sending employees to help train and develop the students. He said it's a nice partnership because while the students are in school, they can learn IAC methodologies, processes and procedures.

“That gives us a bit of an advantage to get them at that young age so when they come out of school, we don't have to retrain them,” he said.

The company has already hired some Schoolcraft students who have graduated through the certificate program.

Tarahomi said the interest from industry and a growth in the number of students in the program are a testament to the need.

“We are overwhelmed with the number of students and people from industry who are interested,” he said. “We never imagined there is so much gap in industry that they want to fulfill knowledge of molding and processing.”

Leadley said there have been 144 students in the program since its inception, with more than 40 currently enrolled.

“We started crawling there for a little while. Now we're standing up,” he said. “And hopefully we'll be running with the new equipment and donations that we've been provided.”