The Sandusky County Economic Development Corporation hosted the inaugural tour of local manufacturing plants to give school leaders a first-hand look at the various operations and the skills required to keep these companies at the forefront of their markets. This will allow them to be proactive when helping students decide on their future.
Educators toured Whirlpool Corp., Heinz Co., Fisher & Paykel Appliances Inc., Amcor Rigid Plastics, Century Die Co. and Terra State Community College, which has several advanced manufacturing programs, including plastics.
Tim Myers, general manager for Century Die Co., was enthusiastic about participating in the tour. "We need to let these education leaders know that there are options out there for these young people," he told PlasticsToday. "As a society, we promote and advertise the glamorous jobs and they get the feeling that if you don't go to college you won't amount to anything. We want to let them know that there are other options out there - good-paying jobs - that hold a good future. None of these other jobs would exist without manufacturing."
Century Die, based in Fremont, OH, specializes in the manufacture of blow molds primarily used by plastic bottle manufacturers for the automotive and household products industries that are prevalent in every vehicle and household. The company has been very proactive in promoting manufacturing, particularly the blowmolding industry.
"Often local and national consumers do not realize that the cleaning supply, laundry detergent or automotive care product bottle that they have in their home probably came from a manufacturing chain that reaches back to Century Die Company in Fremont, Ohio," Myers said.
To help educate the public and promote the blow-molded plastics industry, Century Die was featured on the Fox Business Network on Oct. 8, through Dallas, TX-based Marvel Production Group which produces two-minute productions called Manufacturing Marvels, which regularly air on the network. The video can be seen on Century Die's website.
While Century Die has been in business for 70 years, the company continued success is based on its ability to innovate in the design and manufacture of molds and tooling used in the plastic blow-mold industry. "Century Die has produced molds for almost every major blowmolder in America, and therefore thousands of consumer product lines over the last 70 years have been touched by the team at Century," Myers said.
