On-the-job training gets people off welfare and into injection molding

One common problem plagues the injection molding industry: There aren't enough trained employees to keep up with growth. Just ask Dave Brimble, who has served the industry in positions ranging from machine operator to vice president.

"Trained employees are in very high demand," he says. "I've come from the injection molding industry and done hiring, so I know there is a shortage of machine operators at the entry-level position."

Brimble is part of a program designed to alleviate this problem, at least in Milwaukee, WI. Brimble is the general manager of Generation 2 Plastics (G2P), a company formed by the Young Women's Christian Assn. (YWCA) of Greater Milwaukee to get people off welfare and back to work.

The three-year-old company has capabilities in injection molding, plastics recycling, and compounding. The injection molding arm, which began in August 1998, is fueled by a partnership with Engineered Plastics (Menomonee Falls, WI).

Engineered Plastics provides G2P with a mold and material to make parts on G2P's four machines. The finished parts, which include a door for a minnow bucket, are then bought back by Engineered Plastics. The program teaches students to operate machines, handle materials, drive forklifts, and use other plant equipment. As part of the deal, G2P sends Engineered Plastics graduates of the training program. Since the inception of the molding program, G2P has placed 14 people in permanent molding jobs.

Opening New Possibilities
G2P works with YW Works, a partnership of the YWCA formed in 1996 to implement welfare reform initiatives called W-2. YW Works recruits potential trainees (mostly women) and sends them to G2P to fill one of 30 available spots. Those trainees spend four hours a day at the plant, complementing six regular employees who help run the 35,000-sq-ft facility and its machines, ranging from a 25-ton Engel to a 350-ton HPM.

The trainees first go through light industrial training. Once they are qualified to enter the molding area, they can begin computer and hands-on training. Throughout the course, trainees learn machine orientation, safety, how to maintain a cycle, secondary operations, inspection, SPC, and more. The program is scheduled for 90 days, although some have finished sooner.

"I didn't ever think I'd get into plastics or working with machinery," says Kathleen Jones, who has been in the W-2 program since its inception. "Most of the jobs I've had were in housekeeping. At first, I didn't think I could do it, but I learned the work and found out that I like it."

This single mother of four believes the program is preparing her for the future and hopes to land a permanent job. Starting wages for machine operators generally range from $7.50 to $11/hr.

"We've had some people come in here pretty inexperienced and not really knowing what manufacturing is all about," says Brimble. "As of now, a couple of our people have been on the job for about a year. I think that's pretty good success."