That may be a surprising statement for some. How is “training” an asset? It’s not on the balance sheet as an asset, but then again neither are your employees even though nearly all successful companies talk about their employees as “their most valuable asset”. I have issue with plenty of companies that make that statement because they don’t back it up with investment in that particular asset. But that’s a topic for another blog post. Here’s an article from an accounting perspective about counting training as an intangible asset.

This article on training as an asset appeared back in October of 2013 in Plastics News. It is such an important topic and one that is just as relevant (if not more relevant) today that it was 2 years ago that it is worth another read.

Training in the plastics industry, (compared to other major industries) is fragmented. There are a lot of training resources, but no thread that connects them.

Here at Paulson, we’ve been involved in several cooperative efforts between local colleges and industry that are not waiting around for there to suddenly appear a steady stream of skilled plastics workers at their doorstep. This is good news and a smart strategic decision on the part of both the schools and the companies. Obviously it will take a while to move the industry in the direction of attracting the young people we need. But it will happen. It has to happen.

Automation, while tremendously important, is not the answer. People will always be the key link between raw material and finished quality plastic product. Doesn’t matter what industry we’re talking about – injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, thermoforming – skilled employees are needed.

We’ve also recently partnered with the Society of Plastics Engineers and Penn College of Technology to help bring training into the mainstream conversation in our industry. Of particular importance to this partnership is a strong outreach program to young people. That is the future of our industry. Getting them interested and involved at an early age is key.

We’ll be opening the doors to our brand new Plastics Training Tech Center in Tampa very soon

We’ve already invited local high schools to send as many students as they want to have a look around and take some of our computer-based training (we have a whole separate classroom just for the computers). We also have 2 more classrooms for live instruction, a QC lab and injection molding production floor.

For students, veterans and anyone else looking for a new career opportunity, we have a very special surprise that will dramatically (and in a fun way) highlight the importance of pursuing a plastics career and just how lucrative it can be. Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, give this insightful training article written by Elaine Pascoe of Progressive Integrated Systems a read. It will just take a few minutes of your time, but may spark some ideas for your company, your workforce and your employee training programs that will help you for years to come.