Injection molding is a competitive business. No question about that.
One study done by Bank of America revealed that the average pretax profit in the injection molding industry is 4%. While that seems a little on the low side, it is probably within a point or two of the industry average. However, not all injection molders are created equal. Case in point…
We have a long-time, very good injection molding customer in Wisconsin that averages 10% gross profit and over 6% ATP (after tax profit). How do they do it? Surprisingly, they have a pretty simple formula. It’s not magic.
The Big Secret is that this customer spends more time and money on training than their competition.
They have a very good and robust injection molding employee development system, of which Paulson Training plays a role.
Their secret is quite simply that they have a more skilled workforce than their competition. Where do they get these skilled employees? They “grow their own”. Here’s how their employee development system works. And, by the way, any molder reading this can easily duplicate it. It just takes the commitment to follow through.
New unskilled employees: Before hiring, they are told that successfully completing the company training program is a requirement. Each person must take and pass the Paulson Basic Injection Molding course. They are encouraged to continue to the higher skill level Paulson courses – Intermediate on up to Expert molder courses. Those who continue on to more advanced training get a wage increase at each level and are in line for a technical or supervisory position. In this way the company always has a reserve of trained personnel ready to advance when an opening develops.
New technical or supervisory employees : Each prospective new hire for a technical or supervisory position is given a written test developed by Paulson to determine the candidates’ knowledge of plastics, machine controls, problem-solving and setting up the injection molding cycle. If there is a big difference between the test results and the skills indicated on the résumé’ it becomes a red flag and requires further investigation. But the test is not the sole deciding factor in hiring. Good, experienced people often have gaps in their knowledge. That’s where the company training program comes in. The test tells what knowledge the prospective employee lacks and the Paulson training courses fill the gaps.
Another important benefit of the pre-hiring test program is that the company avoids what can be serious hiring errors when appearance doesn’t match capability.
