Schools visit provides first hand experience of plastics production

An educational visit has enabled schoolchildren to learn about the plastics manufacturing process, as well as find out more about apprenticeships, materials and machinery.

Students from Focus School in Cambridge visited Linton Plastic Moulders, based in Sudbury, Suffolk, which specialises in precision plastic injection moulding, tool making and moulding materials.

As part of their studies the children are studying resistant materials and product design and their visit meant they were able to experience their studies in a real business environment.

As part of the day’s events, Linton arranged for talks to be delivered by Plastribution Limited, the company’s main materials supplier.

These covered all types of materials and all aspects concerning plastics. The students were able to learn the processes from supplier to manufacturer.

In addition the children were given a tour of the shop floor, where the different stages of the manufacturing process were explained along with demonstrations of how each moulding machine works.

An open question and answer discussion gave the students time to ask any questions that may benefit them in their studies, before Linton’s apprentice, Josh Wellsford, spoke to them about the benefits of his apprenticeship and what he has learnt over the past year.

Linton Plastics said the feedback received was “incredibly positive” and demonstrated that the students found the experience “very worthwhile”.