For many years, WITTMANN has supported plastics education throughout the USA. Many well-known plastics engineering programs at universities throughout the country have benefited from the use of WITTMANN machinery and equipment in its labs and training centers.
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WITTMANN USA's Jim Mitchell and Ricky Heckbert leads a recent training session at SUSCC |
Just east of Auburn, Alabama in the city of Opelika, Southern Union State Community College 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 2 years. “Our program runs for 5 consecutive semesters for an AS degree,” said Bill Clifton, Plastics Engineering Instructor at SUSCC. “Many of our students go on to obtain 4-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 extemely well and we'vw had no issues with it at all,” said Bill 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 is also used by RJG, who uses the SUSCC facility for their training classes.
“WITTMANN added an RJG interface to their machine, which is a big plus for us,” said Bill Clifton. Clifton said that RJG uses the WITTMANN workcell to teach their Master Molder 1 training courses at SUSCC, and RJC 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 Bill 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.
