One word - plastics: Local students tour plastics factory for Manufacturing Month

As part of Manufacturing Month, students from several Kane County school districts toured local businesses and factories Oct. 23 to learn about their manufacturing processes.

More than 500 students from Districts 300, 301, 303 and U-46 toured 21 businesses throughout the day. The event was coordinated by the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce’s Industrial Committee, the Northern Kane County Regional Vocation System 110, the Alignment Collaborative for Education and the Greater Chicago Advanced Manufacturing Partnership.

Students from St. Charles School District’s Compass Academy toured Tek Pak Inc. at 1336 Paramount Parkway in Batavia.

Tek Pak tooling designer Mike Polansky and vice president of research and development Scott Carter led the tour, explaining to students how the company’s thermoforming process is used to create plastic products for the electronics, health care, food and automotive industries.

Students were able to see the process by which several of the Tek Pak products are produced, including packaging for medical supplies, car parts and several familiar food items such as McDonalds breakfast tray lids, charcuterie board trays and recognizable packaging for popular snacks found in grocery stores.

Polansky gave a demonstration on how 3D modeling and Computer Numerical Control machining designs the molds used in their manufacturing process. That sparked a lot of interest and questions from Compass students taking engineering and design courses.

CNC machining is a manufacturing process that uses a computer to control machines and tools to shape a part or object. Compass students in engineering and design courses have access to their own modeling system, 3D printer and CNC machines and can become fully licensed CNC operators by graduation.

Compass Academy counselor Brenna Ohlson said the tours are valuable to her students who are into technical design and engineering and even those studying other programs learn a lot about how the engineering process works.

“To see this real world application of what they’re learning in school is priceless,” Ohlson said.

Compass Academy junior Jocelyn Gordon, who wants to be a private chef, was intrigued to see the process of how plastic parts are made and the materials that are used even though most of her courses are culinary focused.

She said the most interesting part of the tour was seeing how many different types of products are made in one place and the scale at which they’re produced and shipped around the world.

“I’m very interested in learning about all sorts of different things, just to have that knowledge,” Gordon said.

Compass Academy sophomore Asher Needham had never considered a career in manufacturing, but after learning so many interesting things on the tour is considering taking engineering and design courses next semester.

Needham said the most interesting part of the tour was seeing how intricate and precise the designs and tools required for the process were, as well as how big the industrial-sized machines in the factory were compared to the 3D printer at school. They were especially interested to see how McDonalds’ packaging was made because their boyfriend works at McDonalds and they see the product every day, but never thought about what went into the manufacturing process.

Industrial Committee member and work-based learning specialist for Northern Kane County Region 110 Todd Stirn was one of the event’s organizers.

“What a great way for us to celebrate Manufacturing Month,” Stirn said. “We have so much manufacturing across the Kane County region and great companies producing products that we use every day. It’s phenomenal.”

Stirn said he hopes the tours will help students gain knowledge and insight into career pathways that can lead to great jobs for their future.

“It’s a great career path for our students, and sadly, many students don’t even know it exists,” Stirn said. “So opportunities like this to get students out and seeing what’s going on in modern manufacturing is a terrific career exploration event.”