While working on an article for the Summer 2010 issue of Plastics Business magazine, I interviewed Adam Kramschuster, PhD., director for the University of Wisconsin-Stout’s plastics engineering program. The three-year-old program requires plastics-specific course work, lab time with injection molding presses, and an internship with a plastics processing company. Kramschuster explained that although local processors have stepped in to help, the relative newness of the program has handicapped its ability to find enough internship slots for its students.
I tweeted about the UW-Stout program and its internship issue, specifically saying, “Obstacle: not enough plastics processors willing to host summer interns for UW Stout’s plastics engineering program students.”
That’s where David Landsman of MFG.com came in. Within minutes of my tweet, Landsman contacted me with an offer to extend MFG.com resources on behalf of the UW-Stout plastics program.
That is the immediacy of social media.
Whether looking for business partners, material, equipment, or advice, social media provides the ability to share information instantly among industry peers. It gives manufacturers from different areas of the country – or the world – the opportunity to interact with those who share the same challenges without worry about local job competition. It extends a manufacturer’s reach beyond its regional associations and business groups. Social media turns the entire world into a resource.
In this case, it may help the next generation of plastics processors find internships.
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