Recently, Lozier’s Middlebury plant hosted an Advanced Manufacturing Summer Camp for incoming ninth grade students in partnership with Elkhart County Career Center. The program introduced students to career opportunities in manufacturing while giving them a firsthand look at the many career paths available at Lozier.

The camp kicked off with a plant tour led by Plant Manager Mark Cook, who guided students and educators through the facility to showcase daily operations. Several Lozier employees shared their career journeys and provided insight into the many career pathways available at Lozier.

Team members included Josh Gear from Marketing, Bob Gerzeski from Industrial Engineering, Tessa Short from Purchasing, Phil Fleming from Quality Systems, Rachel Baird from Accounting, as well as Thomas Everitt and Mike Wutzke from IT.

Students were then divided into into five groups and challenged to solve an inventory management problem. When a single shelf is removed from a pack of 12 to fulfill a customer’s need, the remaining 11 shelves no longer qualify as a complete pack. The groups of students spent eight school days brainstorming and coming up with different solutions for the problem.

After putting together presentations, they returned to Lozier to present their solutions, demonstrating the skills they learned over the length of the program. Experiences like these provide students with valuable exposure to careers in manufacturing, proving that Lozier invests in the future of the local workforce.