For many years, Wittmann, Torrington, Connecticut, has supported plastics education throughout the US. Many well-known plastics engineering programs at universities throughout the country have benefited from using Wittmann machinery and equipment in its labs and training centers.
A plastics education program that is perhaps not as well-known is at Southern Union State Community College. Just east of Auburn, Alabama in the city of Opelika, SUSCC boasts a state-of-the-art plastics training facility. SUSCC offers Associate’s Degree programs, where students can earn an AS in Plastics Technology in two years. “Our program runs for five consecutive semesters for an AS degree,” said Bill Clifton, plastics engineering instructor at SUSCC. “Many of our students go on to obtain four-year engineering degrees, often at nearby Auburn University.” SUSCC also provides adult education in the industrial trades, CNC machinery training and more.
“This is a beautiful facility,” said Jim Mitchell, Wittmann USA’s IMM sales manager. “We are proud to support SUSCC. They are using a complete Wittmann Industry 4.0 workcell to train students on best practices for injection molding.”
The Wittmann workcell at SUSCC consists of SmartPower120 molding machine with an integrated robot, temperature control unit (TCU) and drying unit. In addition to the robot on the machine, a separate Wittmann robot sits on a pedestal and is used for training.
Wittmann Integrated Workcell for Industry 4.0
Because the Wittmann workcell is fully integrated, it is ideal for teaching Industry 4.0 for plastics processing. The Wittmann SmartPower machine, robot and all auxiliaries were supplied by Wittmann and provide complete connectivity.
“The Wittmann machinery runs extremely well, and we’ve had no issues with it at all,” said Clifton. “Not only does it run well, but it provides us with a great advantage, as it allows Wittmann to perform remote troubleshooting. We have access codes for Wittmann technicians to do live look-ins to see how the machinery is operating.”
In addition to training SUSCC students, the Wittmann workcell also is used by RJG, which uses the SUSCC facility for its training classes.
“Wittmann added an RJG interface to their machine, which is a big plus for us,” said Clifton. Clifton said that RJG uses the Wittmann workcell to teach their Master Molder 1 training courses at SUSCC, and RJG just recently completed their ‘Train the Trainer’ qualification course there.
A Hotbed for Plastics – and Job Opportunities
Eastern Alabama is a hotbed for plastics. Leading custom and captive molders including medical, automotive, leisure equipment and other suppliers are located nearby, providing ample job opportunities.
“There are more available jobs in this area than students we can turn out”, said Clifton. “The plastics industry provides stable, good-paying jobs and graduates from our program are in high demand.”
Clifton also is appreciative of the technical support that he and SUSCC receive from Wittmann. “Jim Mitchell, Nick Millsaps, Wes Moffitt and others at Wittmann have been fantastic,” he said. “They are always there for us to help us get the best performance out of the Wittmann machinery, which in turn helps us do the best job we can to train the next generation of plastics industry workers.”
For more information, visit www.wittmann-group.com.
