Lewiston, MN January 23, 2017 – PlastiCert, a 35 year veteran of innovative and quality plastic injection molding design and manufacturing services recently hosted Lewiston –Altura High School’s Freshman Career Readiness Classes.
PlastiCert played host to two classes of high school freshmen, learning about different careers and what is necessary to prepare for them. The Lewiston area is mostly an agricultural economy, so agriculture related support equipment and services are most familiar to them. Touring PlastiCert allowed them to see the workings and career possibilities within a manufacturing company. When queried, the students had no relatives in manufacturing, thought that manufacturing jobs were mostly technical and no insight other than manufacturing careers involved “making things.”
Each class was divided into two groups. One group accompanied Direct or Operations Ben Ninas on a tour of the facility. They looked at both the equipment being utilized and the various tasks and responsibilities being carried out on the floor.
The other group participated in a presentation and discussion on careers in manufacturing with PlastiCert President & Owner Craig Porter. Porter explained how PlastiCert is a custom service molder, meaning they have no products of their own and everything they make is for the numerous OEM (original equipment manufacturer) customers to facilitate assembling their products. Therefore, PlastiCert is all about service and providing technical services in a discipline that their customer has chosen not to want to support directly, but is widely available in the supply chain. As such, service and the business relationship is what differentiates you from your competition. Targeting our region with data from the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development (MN DEED), Porter started out orienting the students as to how many people work in manufacturing nationwide (around 9%), and then in SE MN (about 18). He then shared them charts and graphs showing while manufacturing represented 18 percent of jobs, manufacturing workers garnered 23+% of the wages in SE Minnesota. He then showed them that wages in SE MN have risen over the last 15 years, nearly 27%. Comparatively though, over the last 15 years, manufacturing jobs had consistently paid 25% more than all other industries combined. “I drew a rudimentary department organizational chart on the white board and then covered the types of positions in each department,” said Porter. “Then really stressed how many positions in departments like Human Resources, Purchasing, and Materials management that are non-technical positions. They discussed the education and training utilized by the various personnel.
“None of them knew what we did coming into the tour”, commented Porter. “Their teacher Thomas Dickey that had requested the tour and prepared to come and see what is done in their own home town. They had prepared questions asking about careers, amount of education, classes we would recommend for preparation to work at PlastiCert. Some questions centered on college, where to go and how to pay for it. While Porter provide answers regarding managing college, he pointed out many careers within PlastiCert and its service providers that did not require a 4 year degree.
About PlastiCert
PlastiCert was founded in 1981 and is a privately held corporation with headquarters and manufacturing in Lewiston Minnesota. Initially a custom molder targeted at the electronics industry, today PlastiCert is a one-stop shop for OEMs and entrepreneurs in telecom, industrial, computer, avionics, medical markets and more. PlastiCert provides both mold development/build and custom plastic injection molding; including insert molding and over molding. Also available are a compliment of value add capabilities including decorating and electro-mechanical assembly. For more information on PlastiCert and the opportunities we present users of custom molded plastic components, visit www.plasticert.com or call 507-523-2300.