Currier Plastics works with CCC to develop plastics-technology program

AUBURN — Currier Plastics of Auburn is working with Cayuga Community College (CCC) to create its first plastics-technology program, the company announced Wednesday.

CCC is using grant funding it obtained last fall to develop an advanced-manufacturing project in the plastics industry for New York and to support work-force development initiatives statewide, according to a news release from Currier Plastics.

Sam Ware, automation engineer at Currier Plastics, recently spent time with CCC architecture students working on the designs for the new plastics lab, the company said.

The idea is to have an injection-molding machine (IMM) with a press-mounted industrial robot, Ware said in the news release.

“The IMM would have a conveyor tied in so that students could troubleshoot the interfaces between the conveyor system and the IMM. There are also plans for a multi-axis robot that would be on a mobile station so that students could perform different ‘real world’ tasks with it,” Ware said.

Eventually, CCC plans to build a “mini factory,” which would give students the hands-on learning experience of a real-molding facility.

Cayuga Community College is one of 64 accredited institutions that make up the State University of New York.

Currier Plastics, a custom blow-molding and injection-molding manufacturer located at 101 Columbus St. in Auburn, started work in November on a $21 million, 55,000-square-foot expansion that will bring its headquarters to 120,000 square feet.

The company plans to retain about 100 employees and add 50 new jobs in the next five years as a result of the project.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com