Scott Curtis: Vietnam Vet Builds 42-Year Career at Mack…and Still Counting!
Editor’s Note: Another Mack is ME! post, this series spotlights the people and personalities behind our services. Check back frequently or subscribe to the feed, as these profiles will be interspersed with news updates on a regular basis. We hope you’ll enjoy getting to know us!
Name: Scott Curtis
Title: Senior Technician, East Arlington Plant
What does that mean? Technicians are the masterminds behind starting up the injection molding presses. Whenever a new tool comes in, molding technicians “debug” it. They figure out what times and temperatures are needed to make each part and input those parameters and more into the process control system. As a senior technician, Scott is responsible for defining the process parameters required to meet each product’s specifications.
Time at Mack: Almost 43 years.
Experience: Scott spent six years in the Marine Corps after graduating high school in Arlington, Vt. He was stationed all over the world, in places such as North Carolina, the Caribbean, Vietnam, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and California. He was working toward becoming a drill instructor, but after the Vietnam War, decided to leave the service. Scott joined the Mack team when he returned to Vermont, and has since become a 40+-year veteran of the East Arlington plant’s molding department. Starting as a press operator, Scott was eventually promoted to molding supervisor, and now, senior technician.
Favorite Mack project: Several years ago, a customer asked Mack to make 50 parts for a frame. However, the mold wasn’t ready to run when it arrived at Mack. Scott and his team worked around the clock to get the parts out the door the next day so as not to disappoint the customer. Even though it was a long day (and night!) of work, it brought the Mack team together and demonstrated that no task was too difficult for Scott and his fellow workers.
Personal Life: Scott is originally from Arlington, where he lived until joining the Marines. He continues to make his home there today with his wife of 43 years, Connie, who is now retired. Together, they have three adult children: one son and two daughters. His son is involved in engineering and construction; one daughter is a nurse; and the second is a housewife. Scott has eight grandchildren.
When Not at Work: Scott enjoys hunting and fishing near his home in Vermont. On weekends, he gets involved in various construction projects, as time allows. He enjoys building houses and additions, and has worked with several construction businesses, including his son-in-law’s. He also enjoys spending time with his family.
Fun Fact: Scott’s father worked in Mack’s Shipping and Receiving Department, so Scott has been a part of the Mack family since he was a child.
John Preiser: Fitness Enthusiast Finds Medical Manufa/cturing Rewarding
Editor’s Note: With this post, we are introducing a new blog series — Mack is ME! — to spotlight the people and personalities behind our services. Check back frequently or subscribe to the feed, as these profiles will be interspersed with news updates on a regular basis. We hope you’ll enjoy getting to know us!
Title: Supplier Engineer
What does that mean? John works in the purchasing department of MackMedical, the medical products group of Mack Molding, where he sources, quotes, and qualifies suppliers for MackMedical. He manages supplier quality and assists in manufacturing.
Time at Mack: 5 years.
Favorite Mack memory: During his first year at Mack, John attended the annual Mack Holiday party, where snow is made (if Mother Nature has been frugal). There are sleigh rides, cookie decorating, a Christmas tree lighting, an enormous fireworks display, and a special appearance by Santa. He was impressed and moved by the company’s efforts. “Mack takes care of its employees,” he emphasized.
Most memorable work project: John works on a Class III medical device that allows low body weight patients (such as children) to receive treatment for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Mack has received positive feedback from both customers and health care providers. Through a world-wide map that illustrates all installations of the medical device, members of the Mack team can really see how many people are being helped. “Hearing feedback directly from patients is so rewarding. It’s clear that the products we manufacture are truly helping people.”
Experience: John majored in electrical engineering technologies at Old Dominion University in Virginia. He then worked for IBM. As a supplier to Mack, John worked at Nexus Custom Electronics. He was an engineering manager there before joining the Mack team.
Personal life: John grew up in southern New York and spent 10 years in Los Angeles before moving back to the East Coast. He relocated to Arlington three years ago from Rutland, Vt. John’s wife, Nicole, teaches physics at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vt., and his son, Adam, is 9. The latest addition to John’s family is a puppy named Cleo (inspired by Cleopatra).
When not at work: He is an avid cyclist and formerly raced mountain bikes in southern California. You can find him outside hiking, camping, biking all over Vermont and New York, or enjoying winter sports.
Fun fact: John is probably the only person to drive a motorcycle with a bike rack attached to the back. Have you seen him before? It’s possible, as he has quite the paparazzi following.
Celebrating 100,000,000 Milkshakes!
Doing a double-take on that figure? Well, don’t. It’s for real — f’real foods, that is!
f’real foods is a frozen blended beverage company that began selling milkshakes, smoothies and frozen cappuccinos to convenience stores, along with a self-serve blender, in 2003. About three years later, Smith Dairy (Orrville, Ohio) came on board as a key supplier to fill the milkshake cups. And today, Smith filled its 100,000,000th cup. To put that in perspective, that’s enough to serve roughly one in every three people in the United States with a f’real milkshake from Smith Dairy. Of course, that’s not how it really breaks down, since once you’ve tried a f’real milkshake, you keep on coming back for more!
To celebrate the impressive milestone, f’real ordered a “gold” blender cup carriage for Mack to install in a self-serve blender that will soon be presented to Smith Dairy employees.
The f’real team at Mack was also recognized for a record month of blender manufacturing and sales. “We’ve enjoyed very good continued growth as a company, especially with our next generation blender,” says Ed Wilks, director of equipment operations, f’real foods. “Mack’s capabilities have stepped up to our needs as our demand for more blenders has exceeded our expectations month after month. This month’s forecast was a record one by a significant percentage – not only did Mack meet the forecast demand but they exceeded it and built safety stock as well.”
Before shipping the “golden blender” to Smith Dairy, the f’real team at Mack assembled for a photo to commemorate the accomplishment. “You are all to be congratulated for the work you have done to make this moment possible,” said Wilks. “You are an extension of f’real foods and we are extremely proud to have you as part of our team.”
Mack Engineer to Speak at Plastics in Medical Devices
Michael Hansen, PhD, Mack senior technical development engineer, will speak next week at Plastics in Medical Devices in Cleveland. His presentation will focus on the use of external gas-assist molding for medical device applications, including a show & tell of real-life applications that help to illustrate the technique, its benefits, advantages vs. internal gas-assist, and the resulting benefits for medical applications. Several critical steps must be taken when evaluating whether an application is suitable for external gas-assist, which he will also outline as he discusses each of the six applications.
Plastics in Medical Devices, sponsored by Plastics News, will take place June 11-13 at LaCentre Conference Facility in Westlake. The program content covers each part of the supply chain and includes the hottest topics: the FDA regulatory process, new ways to think about innovation, and how new technologies are being used to address value-driven engineering and hospital-acquired infections.
You can find out more at www.plasticsnews.com/pmd2012 .
About the speaker
A graduate of the University of Paderborn, Germany, Dr. Hansen’s PhD is in mechanical engineering and plastics technology. Nearly 25 years in the plastics industry, 14 of it with Mack, Hansen has extensive polymer, processing and tool design expertise, which he regularly shares at both regional and national conferences. He has also published papers on these topics in over 50 publications. Dr. Hansen can be reached at michael.hansen@mack.com.
Mack Honored as Supplier to 2012 Medical Design Excellence Award Winner
Mack Molding Co. has been awarded as a supplier to the SnapPath 1000, the Silver Winner in the In Vitro Diagnostics category of the 2012 Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) competition. The MDEA winning products, and their suppliers, were announced at a presentation ceremony held last week in Philadelphia in conjunction with the eastern Medical Design & Manufacturing Show.
Manufactured by BioMarker Strategies (Baltimore, Md.), the SnapPath platform is an automated live tumor cell-processing instrument that helps medical oncologists determine the best treatment options for individual cancer patients.
Mack injection molds the disposable cartridge kit for the device out of polypropylene resin for reagent compatibility. The fully self-contained disposable cartridge houses all of the reagents and pipette tips required for single sample processing.
“Polypropylene has a higher shrink rate than most resins, which made consistent wall thickness critical in this part’s design,” says Randy Pell, Mack senior staff design engineer. “We worked extensively with the designer (HS Design, Gladstone, N.J.) on design-for-manufacturability issues to ensure correct wall thicknesses and flow pattern, to build a robust tool, and generally, to improve overall moldability. The base housing cartridge is the most difficult of the four parts to mold.”
MDEA-winning products excel in the areas of product innovation, design and engineering achievement, end-user benefit, and cost-effectiveness in manufacturing and healthcare delivery. The winning entries were chosen by an impartial, multidisciplinary panel of third-party jurors with expertise in biomedical engineering, clinical practice, diagnostics, human factors, industrial design, manufacturing, and medicine.
“We are extremely proud to play a role in the manufacture of this product,” says Jeff Somple, president of Mack Molding’s Northern Operations. “This award program is the most prestigious in the industry for medical device design and innovation, so we are very honored to be a part of it.”
For more information on the Medical Design Excellence Awards, visit www.MDEAwards.com, or email mdea@ubm.com.
About Mack Molding
Mack Molding is a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services. Mack specializes in plastics design, prototyping, molding, sheet metal fabrication, full-service machining and medical device manufacturing. Founded in 1920, Mack is a privately owned business that operates 10 facilities throughout the world. Don Kendall is president and CEO. For more information, go to www.mack.com.