In Minnesota, the Department of Education states their high school graduation requirements as, “a core course of study that equips them with the knowledge and skills they need for success in post-secondary education, highly skilled work, and civic life.” I interpret from their requirements that the DOE thinks success in post-secondary education and highly skilled […]

Being somewhat active with my college Alma Mater, some time ago I had answered a request for business mentors, partnering with students. After a hiatus, they restarted the program and recently took me up on my offer. I am partnered with a Business Major looking at HR, but wanting to get into Manufacturing, possibly Plant […]

As a small manufacturer, you set up your operation to benefit your company, your customer, your coworkers and your community. You ask for customer feedback, you measure performance, your make plans, you communicate direction. Things like positive performance indicators in your business, longevity in your staff, the long tenure of your customer base, are all […]

Rather than a split personality, I like to think of it as being multidimentional. PlastiCert has two distinct business models operating underneath it roof. The first is a mold design center where each new customer part means a one of a kind mold is conceived and built. The second is an injection molding floor where […]

PlastiCert has a customer that moved their mold to a competitor. Now, a year later, they had it sent back to us. They were a start-up in the beginning. One of those meetings with an entrepreneur who had an idea for a new physical therapy product. We helped him develop the molding portion of his […]

I’ll conjure new employees out of clear air! (Well, here at PlastiCert maybe we won’t have to). One headline after another: New CEO of XYZ looks to double size of company within five years To support expansion, XYZ and its franchisees are planning to hire about 20,000 workers. XYZ announced plans to add more than […]

We’ve felt it coming the last few weeks. Naturally the start of school coincides with it. The cooler mornings, earlier evenings, colors turning. The vacation requests rolling in. (Say again?) It’s not Fall I speak of, but hunting season. Being a small manufacturer in Greater Minnesota, the hunting season is as much a part of […]

You spend the summer getting to know your interns. Spend time talking during breaks, lunch, on the floor. Then they head back to school. A long time ago, I sent one son off to college, then two years later I was sending two off each fall. Now we get to relive it all over again. […]

It’s National Composites Week August 26-30, and companies across the country are celebrating the strides they and their customers have achieved through composites. We here at PlastiCert have our own successes to tout. Having helped our customers’ transition from traditional metals and even wood to thermoplastic composites. Such conversions offer up opportunities due to reduced […]

A big story this week was the two-page ad in the WSJ, signed by 181 Business Roundtable CEO members, representing retail, industrial, transportation, service, and finance; changing their Business Roundtable’s statement of “the purpose of a corporation”. Since 1997 the purpose was to serve their shareholders, period. Now they have seen the light. Realizing their […]