Bob Burns believes we are no longer in the bronze age, or the steel age: but in the age of plastic. He takes us through the his work a a Polymer Technology apprentice: from the raw materials to creating products. He talks about his experience and motivation of retraining later in life: and how he plans to never have his job taken over by a machine, by training and keeping on top of changes in the industry.

What is Plastic Injection Moulding? 

Injection molding is widely used for manufacturing a variety of parts, from the smallest component to entire body panels of cars. Injection molding is the most common method of production, with some commonly made items including bottle caps and outdoor furniture.

They process a wide range of plastic resinsincluding engineering materials such as polycarbonates, nylons, acrylics, polyurathanes etc.

Plastic injection molding is a manufacturing technique for making parts from both thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials in production. Molten plastic is injected at high pressure into a mould, which is the inverse of the product's shape.

After a product is designed by an Industrial Designer or an Engineer, moulds are made by a moldmaker (or toolmaker) from metal, usually either steel or aluminium, and precision-machined to form the features of the desired part. 

(From wikipedia.org) 

The TAFE Certificate in Polymer Technology:

Robert Burn is enrolled at TAFE in Certificate 4: Polymer Technology.

Certificate 4: Polymer Technolgy (3386) This course is for people in the injection moulding plastics, rubber and cablemaking processing industries who want to develop high level technical skills in the workplace. The course combines on the job training and experience with off the job training. Students will learn a wide variety of competencies most of which are complex and non routine. The skills involve planning, developing procedures, training and practice evaluation.

The career opportunities: Injection moulding technician in plastics, rubber or cable making.

Articulation: When finishing this course you will be eligible to enrol in the Diploma of Polymer Technology.