Richard Brown has a proven track record within Design, Operations, Engineering Sales and Training in both the public and private sectors. He is currently the CTO at Sierra 57 Consult offering the injection moulding industry support and training He is also an independent consultant at R J Consulting, offering the injection moulding industry support and consultancy services.
He has held roles as Operations Director for the Hi-Technology Group, Managing Director of Hi-Technology Mouldings Slovakia, Managing Director of G&A Moulding Technology and Managing Director of RJG Technologies. Richard has worked in the injection moulding industry for over 50 years working in several industries but is now giving back to the industry via training support.
He is Chairman of the Polymer Committee of the Worshipful Company of Horners, Chairman of the Judges for Design Innovation In Plastics, the longest running student plastics design award in Europe and a member of the BPF Skills and Education Committee.
Polymer operations are becoming more complex while skilled labour is increasingly constrained. This creates operational, quality, safety, and knowledge-retention risks. Targeted polymer training, supported by CPD and upskilling, is a proven way to mitigate these risks.
Learning Objectives
This presentation will show that polymer training is a low-risk, high-return investment that protects operational resilience, talent, and long-term value. It will help you make smarter data-backed training decisions that will deliver sustainable performance.
Limited L&D budgets often gatekeep learning, high course fees, travel costs, and the practical reality that someone has to keep production running while others are away. As a result, only a small proportion of people in our sector receive regular, structured training, which contributes to low retention, skills gaps, and greater difficulty in hiring.
Learning Objectives
This talk explores the idea of a collaborative learning network for the plastics industry, showing how accessible, bite-sized education can improve confidence, communication and decision-making across technical and non-technical roles. It will prove the importance of collaboration as the key to building a more skilled, resilient plastics industry.
