As more and more plastics processors are feeling the effects of the skilled labor shortage on their operations, we are being asked more often what is the best way to ensure that a company has an adequate supply of trained personnel regardless of what the labor market is doing.

That’s a very good question since at the recent Plastic’s News Executive Forum earlier in March down in Tampa, the theme was all about plastics industry workforce development.

Our best advice is the same advice we’ve been giving for years… “Grow Your Own!”

Make employee training another component of your overall plastics production process. To be effective, training must be on-going and preferably, on-demand. We offer both. Every plastics processor that is serious about having a world class work force must have a continuous, on-going training program. Not only does this ensure that you will keep your employees’ knowledge and skills fresh and up-to-date, but it also allows you to have a reliable supply of trained injection molders or extrusion personnel ready to fill in when and where needed.

Training is a powerful competitive advantage. This is particularly true in the plastics industry since you are competing for a relatively small pool of qualified injection molders, extrusion technicians, blow molder personnel along with all the other plastics processes.

Every company has employee turnover. That is inevitable. But, imagine being able to fill an opening for an expert injection molding troubleshooter by hiring from within. Then being able to fill THAT employee’s position by hiring from within, and so on. By making plastics processing training part of your production process you can achieve these exact results.

So what type of training is best for injection molders, extruders, blow molders? Regardless of what plastic processing you do, a training approach that includes interactive, self-paced video (which you can customize to your specific needs), periodic classroom instruction, some one-on-one training (less experienced employees with more experienced employees), process simulation (such as SimTech – our injection molding machine simulator), and of course at-the-machine instruction.

Sound like a lot of work? It can be. However Paulson Training has “done-for-you” training solutions that let your company focus on what you do best, whether it is injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, sheet extrusion, etc.

You can call us at 1-800-826-1901 and discuss this with one of our plastics training specialists, but essentially it is very simple and lets you focus on what you do best… process plastics. First we assess the current level of knowledge and skills in your plant. Next we custom design a training solution that will usually include all of the elements described above. Third, we get the training started right so that you get maximum employee buy-in (very important). Fourth, we monitor your training on an on-going basis to make sure you are getting the results that you should be getting.

We know that training works. We’ve seen it over and over again. All 3 of the finalists for Plastics Processor of the Year 2013 are Paulson customers. The winner, Hoffer Plastics, has been a Paulson customer for over 20 years. We’ve been providing processing training to the plastics industry for nearly 40 years. Where we see training not working at an injection molding plant, for example, it is usually because of a problem somewhere in the implementation of the training. If you leave that part to the experts, your chances of getting a very large ROI on you training investment are nearly 100%.