Partnering with the PIRC gives plastics manufacturers the
opportunity to increase productivity while decreasing capital
expenditures, operating costs, and development costs.
Services offered to plastics manufacturers include:
• New product development
• Material selection
7th Annual National Hands-On
LOCATION
Thermoforming
Workshops
Penn College is located in central Pennsylvania with easy access
off Interstate 180, Maynard Street Exit 23. Instruction and labs
will be held in the Breuder Advanced Technology & Health
Sciences Center (ATHS), Pennsylvania College of Technology,
One College Avenue, Williamsport, PA 17701. A campus map,
which includes major routes to the campus and location of
campus buildings, will be e-mailed to all registrants.
Heavy-Gauge/Cut-Sheet and
Thin-Gauge/Roll-Fed Thermoforming
with Experts Jay Waddell and Mark Strachan
• Testing and analysis
• Process technology
• Education and training for workforce development
As a special mission affiliate of Penn State, committed to
applied technology education, Penn College offers PIRC
clients access to:
• Industrial-scale process equipment and extensive material
testing laboratories (valued at $2 million)
• World-class training programs (including customized,
on-site training programs, workshops, online courses,
and national seminars)
• E xpert consulting staff, including members of the
Penn College faculty
• Student interns and graduates (A.A.S. and B.S. degrees) that
bring education and experience to the workplace
Penn College is one of only five colleges in the nation
offering degree programs accredited by the Engineering
Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET.
A.A.S. – Plastics & Polymer Technology
B.S. – Plastics & Polymer Engineering Technology
Penn College graduates are in high demand for positions in
manufacturing operations, process technology, supervision,
research and development, product and machine design, and
more. Companies employing Penn College alumni include
Honda, Toyota, SABIC, DuPont, Tyco, General Motors, Graham
Packaging, Arkema, Truck-Lite, West Pharmaceutical Services,
and General Cable.
Find out more about how you can develop a path
for success in the plastics industry.
Plastics Innovation & Resource Center
Pennsylvania College of Technology
PIRC DIF 26
One College Avenue
Williamsport, PA 17701
570-321-5533 • pirc@pct.edu • www.pct.edu/pirc • 570.320.5248 (FAX)
NEED TO FLY?
The Williamsport Regional Airport (IPT) provides commuter air
service through Philadelphia. Free shuttle service is provided
to and from the Williamsport Regional Airport and College
from our preferred hotels before 11 p.m., so a car rental is
not necessary. Other airport options within two-hours driving
distance include Harrisburg International (MDT) and State
College (SCE), in which case you would need to rent a car.
Please wait for confirmation of enrollment before booking
your flight.
HOTEL RESERVATIONS
Participants are responsible for making their own lodging
arrangements. Your registration fee does not include hotel
accommodations. Registrants will receive a confirmation e-mail
with information on hotel room blocks with discounted rates.
Hotels book quickly so it is important not to delay in reserving
your room.
May 17 -19 and June 28-30, 2016
CANCELLATION POLICY
Cancellations will be accepted and full refunds issued when
notified at least one week prior to the class start date. Within one
week of the class start date, the company is responsible for the
full cost; company substitutions are permitted at any time.
8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Williamsport, PA
The PIRC may cancel or postpone any course because of insufficient
enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances. If a program is cancelled
or postponed, PIRC will refund registration fees, but cannot be held
responsible for any other related costs, charges or expenses, including
cancellation/change fees assessed by airline or travel agencies.
Penn College encourages qualified persons with disabilities to participate in its
programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation
or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Disability
Services at 570-320-5225, TTY: 570-321-5528, or fax 570.327.4501 in advance of
your participation or visit.
An affiliate of The Pennsylvania State University
Penn College operates on a nondiscriminatory basis.
Penn College® is registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
PC 1454 11/15
• Custom compounding
PAID
Appropriate dress for the shop floor is recommended. Casual
business attire/jeans recommended, focusing on appropriateness
for plastics processing and testing lab. Safety glasses will be
provided.
Permit No. 20
Williamsport, PA 17701
The Plastics Innovation & Resource Center (PIRC) at Pennsylvania
College of Technology is one of the top plastics technology centers
in the nation for research, development, and education related to
injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, rotational molding, and
thermoforming.
ATTIRE
Nonprofit Org.
U. S. Postage
PLASTICS INNOVATION &
RESOURCE CENTER
REGISTRATION
7th Annual National Hands-On
$1,295 per workshop, pre-registration required; includes
course registration, handout material, morning refreshments,
and lunch for three days. Registration is limited and on a
first-come, first-served basis. Please wait for confirmation of
enrollment before you book your flight.
THERMOFORMING WORKSHOPS
Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Plastics Innovation & Resource Center is proud to
offer these national training workshops.
PROGRAM OUTLINE 50% instruction, 50% hands-on_____________________________________________
Special Discounts
Heavy-Gauge/Cut-Sheet Thermoforming
May 17-19
Thin-Gauge/Roll-Fed Thermoforming
June 28-30
• $100 Early Bird Discount if before April 4, 2016.
Jay Waddell to lead this workshop with special guest
speakers to be announced.
Mark Strachan to lead this workshop with special guest
speakers to be announced.
Both Sessions__________________________
Session Specific_______________________
Plastics Materials for Thermoforming
• Basic definitions of plastic materials
• How plastics are made and the effect on material
characteristics
• Molecular characteristics and the importance of
understanding them
• Structures and the effect on material properties
• Simple, but necessary overview of chemistry
• Material properties and what you need to know
about them
• Material test methods – the good, the bad,
and the worthless
• Significance to thermoformers
• What thermoformers need to know about
sheet extrusion
•D
efinitions and the process
• Equipment and how it impacts your sheet
• Process variables and the effects on extruded
sheet problems
• Writing sheet specifications – tips, clues, and pitfalls
• What you need to tell your extruder
• Getting sheet quality you want every time
Tooling
• Mold design, venting, and cooling
• Plug assist design and materials
• Positive vs. negative tooling
• Interchangeable cavities
Thermoforming Techniques
• Heating the sheet, hardware, and important set-up
conditions
• Heated sheet measuring devices
• Cooling the part
• Basic thermoforming processes and techniques
• Blur between sheet-fed and roll-fed forming techniques
Diagnostic Tools
Machine Maintenance and Safety
Final Wrap-Up/Questions to Thermoforming
Expert Panel Discussion
Heavy-Gauge/Cut-Sheet Thermoforming
Advanced Forming Techniques
• Billow, snap-back, vacuum bleed, and
pressure forming
• Twin-sheet forming
• Vacuum and compressed air requirements to achieve
faster cycle times and improved part definition
• Articulating frames
• Oven profiling
Trimming 101
• Basic heavy-gauge trimming techniques
• Trimming methods – band saw, knives, drilling,
and routing
• Part holding fixture material and construction options
Advanced Trimming and Assembly
• CNC, robotics, laser, and water-jet
• Ultrasonics
• Adhesives
Thin-Gauge/Roll-Fed Thermoforming
Thermoforming Techniques
• Thin-gauge plastics sheet feeding methods –
pin chains, nip-roll, etc.
Advanced Forming Techniques
• Pre-stretching – pre-billow and vacuum bleed
• Sheet/cavity clamping
• Techniques for superior part definition – high
pressure forming, coining, 3rd motion plug assist,
and matched metal
• Vacuum and compressed air requirements to achieve
faster cycle times and improved part definition
Trimming 101
• Basic thin-gauge trimming techniques
• Steel rule die options
• Die nicking
Advanced Trimming
• Floating knives and locators • P
unch dies
• Heated knives and anvils
• Trim in-place
• Match metal trim
•S
PE members can receive a
10% discount. When registering,
simply type “SPE Member
TB2016” in the comments. SPE
membership will be verified by
registrant’s e-mail address.
• Discounts cannot be combined.
PIRC training programs are offered in cooperation with our
national alliance partner: Society of Plastic Engineers (SPE).
Register online at pct.edu/pirc and use “TB2016” in
comments or call 570-321-5533.
INSTRUCTORS
JAY WADDELL
MARK STRACHAN
Jay Waddell is the founding partner and key management principal of Plastic
Concepts & Innovations, LLC, bringing the skills from more than 30 years
of consulting and manufacturing in heavy-gauge thermoforming at Curd
Enterprises, dba Multiplastics. He held numerous positions from
Manufacturing Manager to Executive Vice President while at Multiplastics.
In the plastics industry, Waddell is considered to be an expert in materials
and manufacturing techniques, including twin-sheet thermoforming, pressureforming, and CNC operations.
Mark Strachan’s career in the packaging industry started in 1982 while serving
his apprenticeship as an Electronics Engineer for Metal Box South Africa.
Waddell is experienced in developing products for industries as diverse as
circuit-board handling packages to critical-care patient life-support systems and
as mundane as bus end-caps and sanitary pieces. He is considered an expert in
materials and manufacturing techniques having developed unique processes for
fabrication and bonding of dissimilar materials, such as twin-sheet forming of
talc-filled olefins.
He has done extensive work in the development of Class-A thermoformed
interior and exterior products for the major automobile manufacturers and
their tier one suppliers. He has been active in the development of PVF and
PVDF film technology in heavy-gauge thermoforming and the use of TPOs
in exterior and interior applications. Under his leadership, PCI introduced
heavy-gauge thermoforming of TPOs to the thermoforming industry. His
company was instrumental in developing both forming and extrusion processes
involving TPOs.
Waddell earned his BA at the Citadel and also continued his graduate studies
in business there. He is a Senior Member of Society of Plastic Engineers
(SPE) and has been a member of the national Board of Directors for the
Thermoforming Division of the SPE for more than 20 years. He was the
chairman for the 2002 Thermoforming Conference and has been a speaker and
moderator at many other conferences.
He started his own plastics blister manufacturing business (PacMark) in the
garage of his home, which quickly grew to a prominent plastics blister packaging
and thermoforming business.
Strachan’s hunger to learn more about the plastic industry led him to sell
PacMark and move to Germany where he worked for a large plastics packaging
manufacturing firm for three years and gained valuable hands-on experience in
both the thermoforming and extrusion processes. He then moved to England to
commission a new plastic food tray manufacturing plant.
Strachan relocated to Wales, UK, for three years where he served as Engineer
Manager for a large horticultural tray manufacturing business.
Strachan then moved to Sencorp Systems in Massachusetts, where he worked
for four years in both extrusion and thermoforming. With Sencorp, he traveled
to many companies around the world assisting with the commissioning of new
machines and training of their operators. (To mention a few: Duracell, Gillette,
Loctite, Oral-B, Colgate, Gillette, PIMA, Mary Kay, Mullinix Packages, Tegrant
Alloyd, Parpak, Precision Plastic Products, Fey Industries, etc.)
After that, he went to Commodore Machine Company in New York where he was
responsible for technical support, commissioning, and training. During his time
at Commodore, he traveled worldwide and assisted in the commissioning of foam
tray manufacturing plants in Ghana, Africa and Miami, Florida.
During the past 29 years, Strachan has gained valuable experience in the plastics
thermoforming and extrusion industry and related machinery. His increased
request for assistance and his desire to impart this knowledge led to the formation
of Global Thermoforming Training Technologies, Inc. He has since been
presenting classroom and hands-on training to thermoforming and sheet extrusion
companies worldwide. Strachan has been president of the SPE Thermoforming
Division since 2014.
In 2015, Strachan accepted a position as the Senior Technology Director with
First Quality Packaging Solutions.