Apprenticeship as a plastics/rubber technologist
‘Fresh off the press’ Philipp, training as a plastics/rubber technologist (specialising in moulded parts) at ORAFOL Fresnel Optics
What do you learn during your vocational training as a plastics/rubber technologist?
Above all, we learn how to set up presses and production systems for processing plastic. This includes selecting the material, preparing and calculating the required quantity, setting up the machines and checking the product quality achieved. Equally important is the maintenance of the systems and the ability to rectify any faults independently. Plastic has several advantages over glass – for example, it is lighter and requires less volume, which means that even complex moulds can be produced more cost-effectively.
What products do you make?
I never get bored, because I work on optical components made of plastic with fine structures that are used in very different areas of industry. These include optical sensors, reflectors in bottle return machines, parts for directing light in parcel sorting systems or in drug goggles. We also produce optical components that are used in automotive engineering, for example in head-up displays or optical components for lighting applications such as stylish designer lights. Before my apprenticeship, I would never have thought that plastic could be so versatile.
What do you particularly enjoy about your job here?
The close co-operation between employees and apprentices is great fun and you really feel at home here, like in a big family. The work of a process mechanic is demanding,
varied and exciting, but also easy to master and gives you the feeling that you are doing something useful.
Why did you choose this profession?
I completed an internship here at Fresnel Optics, which I really enjoyed, and then found out more about the profession and the wide range of further vocational training opportunities. You can train to become a technician or even a master craftsman. As a master craftsman, you can also train apprentices yourself. After a year of work experience in the company, you automatically have a technical college entrance qualification and can study, for example, plastics technology at a university of applied sciences and become an engineer.
Facts and figures about training as a plastics process engineer
- Duration of the apprenticeship: 3 years
- Requirements: at least a good secondary school leaving certificate
- Apprenticeship salary: between € 600 and € 900