PMT relaunching apprenticeship program

Plastic Molding Technology Inc. is relaunching an apprenticeship program, starting with a mechatronics technology position.

"We are currently interviewing to get our first apprentice," Mary Sholtis, PMT training coordinator, said in an interview. "We aim for three more technicians in tooling, quality and processing."

The successful applicant for the PMT mechatronics apprenticeship will function as an automation technician. The person selected will need basic knowledge of electronics, mechanics and computers, and will learn about machinery maintenance, project management, and workplace and tool safety practices.

In November, the U.S. Department of Labor's office of apprenticeship approved the El Paso, Texas, injection molder's registration for the mechatronics technician program.

"We don't have enough skilled persons in the workforce in El Paso," Sholtis said. The program is a "win-win for the company and El Paso."

She worked as an English teacher, became PMT training coordinator in 2015 and is now fully utilizing her advanced degree in educational leadership.

Sholtis hopes to select the mechatronics apprentice by August.

A June 15, 2017, U.S. Presidential executive order created an initiative to expand apprenticeships in America.

"The new administration has relaxed the rulings" for apprenticeship programs, Sholtis said.

The president's task force on apprenticeship expansion is gathering relevant insights from business, labor, educational and government leaders. In November, nearly 1,000 events observed National Apprenticeship Week, highlighting ways to close the skills gap in the U.S.

For its purposes, PMT promoted its plans for the mechatronics apprenticeship both internally and externally in the El Paso community.

Mariana Diaz, PMT human resources associate, provided an overview during on-site school tours of the plant, and she talked one-on-one with many students.

PMT uses a variety of educational resources for employee training. These include the online Tooling-U learning solutions from Cleveland-based ​ SME-affiliate Tooling University LLC and classes at the five-campus public El Paso Community College and the two-campus, family-owned Western Technical College trade school in El Paso.

Over two years, an apprentice can expect to take courses in machine tooling, welding, robotics, electronics, electro-hydraulics, mechanical drives, programmable logic controllers, material science, blueprint/schematic reading and mathematics through plane trigonometry.

Across the country, apprenticeship programs are growing. The Department of Labor said the U.S. had more than 22,000 federally registered apprenticeship programs with more than 530,000 participants in fiscal 2017.

Injection molder Intertech Plastics Inc. of Denver, for example, provided the impetus for a grant-supported Colorado initiative to create apprenticeship programs in the state's high schools.

Germany-based power equipment maker Andreas Stihl AG & Co. KG transferred extensive apprenticeship expertise to its Virginia Beach, Va., facility, which occupies 1 million square feet.

A broadly based group of businesses support Arkansas's Be Pro Be Proud program conveying the state's need for skilled workers to students and offering them opportunities to experience the relevant disciplines.

And the Texas Workforce Commission encourages and can provide funding for related classroom instruction for adults in registered apprenticeship training programs. PMT is pursuing this option.

PMT started its first apprenticeship program in 1995 while operating in Seymour, Conn. The company moved from Seymour to El Paso from 2001-2004.

Mary Sholtis' father-in-law, Charles E. Sholtis, discussed aspects of the company's early apprenticeship efforts — and its current resurgence — during a March 6 panel discussion at the Plastics News Executive Forum in Naples, Fla.

He noted that a maintenance worker, one of the earliest apprentices in the initial program, eventually became PMT's chief maintenance engineer.

Charles E. Sholtis founded PMT in 1973, and he remains a passionate advocate for apprenticeships. He likes the concept of apprenticeships that Europe has used for centuries and that many U.S. businesses employed prior to World War II.

"Apprenticeship programs work," Sholtis said in a 1995 article. "The one we developed at PMT has received recognition and accolades. Long-term investments in training result in a payback, which exceeds our expenses."

One of his sons, Charles A. Sholtis, is PMT owner and CEO.

PMT is registered under the International Organization for Standardization 9001:2015 and the International Automotive Task Force 16949:2016 quality certifications and with Underwriters Laboratories Inc. as a molder with material lot trace capabilities.

PMT employs 110, occupies 60,000 square feet, operates 60 injection molding machines of 45-500 tons, does extensive insert molding work and projects 2018 sales of about $21 million.