When Hennepin Technical College started its Plastics Manufacturing Technology program in 1972, there were only 10 programs like it in the country. Today, it remains the best-equipped two-year plastics program in the U.S., according to Hennepin Tech instructor Dan Ralph.

The average age of students in the program is 31, Ralph says, although he's placed graduates up to 58 years old. Many of his students enroll in the program after a decade of "floundering" in low-wage jobs. Ralph says. The program is "set up to be flexible and adaptable," he says, because, "most of our students have families and are balancing work and home."

Paid To Solve Problems

Students can enter the program with no previous experience in plastics or even in manufacturing, Ralph says. Success requires "personal qualities like teamwork, enthusiasm and responsible behavior." Mechanical aptitude and enjoying hands-on work are a must. "Every day a plastics technician goes to work, they're really getting paid to be a problem-solver," he says. "You have to solve problems on the fly - you don't stop the machine."

For example, Ralph says, a part might come out of the injection-molding machine incomplete - what's called a "short shot." The problem could be the viscosity of the plastic, requiring an increase in pressure in the machine. But, Ralph says, it could also be a defective heating zone in the machine that causes the material to melt unevenly.

A typical career ladder could be from machine operator to material handler to process set-up technician. With experience and additional training, a plastics technician can move into engineering, management or quality control. Ralph says program graduates have also gone into machinery and materials sales. "There are many opportunities once you've learned about the industry."

Alive And Well

Plastics is still in its infancy, Ralph notes. Every day brings new developments, like corn-based plastics and new uses for recycled plastics. "Construction, packaging, medical devices, computers - plastics effects every major manufacturing industry in the world."

Ralph hears about plenty of job openings. He says he's seeing an increase in research and development for new products. That generally precedes an increase in production. "Our industry is alive and well," he concludes.

For more on the Hennepin Tech Plastics Manufacturing Technology program, go to www.hennepintech.edu and search "plastics." For more information on the M-Powered program for low-income and displaced workers, contact Judy.Swanson@Hired.org or call 952-697-1305.

Laura French is principal of Words Into Action, Inc., and is a freelance writer from Roseville.