Polygon hosts National Manufacturing Day

Polygon Solutions is one of a group of Florida manufacturers that has volunteered to host events during National Manufacturing Day Oct. 3. About 1,300 events are scheduled throughout the U.S. This is the third year of the event, and the third year the Fort Myers-based company is participating. The rotary broach manufacturer was also named a winner of the event's first-ever Manufacturing Day Video Contest.

One of the greatest challenges for U.S. manufacturing is finding skilled workers. The public's general perception of the stability and future of manufacturing is said to be a significant barrier. Polygon hopes to continue its efforts to show young people the variety of exciting jobs available in manufacturing and what they need to do to get them.

Polygon Solutions is a small manufacturing business that produces rotary broach tools used in CNC machines to make polygon-shaped holes in orthopedic devices and aerospace components. The company was started in 2010 and continues to grow in sales and employees.

"Southwest Florida is not typically thought of for manufacturing," said Peter Bagwell, a product engineer at Polygon. "However, we see many of the empty buildings in this area filling in with small or niche manufacturing businesses, and that's one reason why we feel it's important to help local students understand there are real options open to them in manufacturing. If you like to make stuff and you're good at math, there's really not a better time than now to consider a career in manufacturing."

Polygon's plant tour is limited to students of Lee Virtual School and members of the Southwest Regional Manufacturer's Association. This year, Polygon has also included neighbor Paver Motorcycles, a new SRMA member company, as part of the tour. The event promises to highlight STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education as the core needed for manufacturing skills.

The first year Polygon participated, it made a custom broach with the help of a dozen students. The second year it demonstrated a prototype "Made in USA" marking tool to two dozen students and held an engineering contest. The prototype tool was released at IMTS this year.

This year, Polygon hopes to double its attendance again, and draw in students with a video presentation, engineering contest, Paver Motorcycle custom motorcycle display and interactive plant tour. Other SRMA members, including S4J Manufacturing of Cape Coral and Storm Smart of Fort Myers, are also hosting events. Lee County, the City of Cape Coral, Bonita Springs and the Governor's office have all officially declared Friday, Oct. 3, Manufacturing Day.

For more information about Manufacturing Day and other tours available, click here.