SCHOTT North America has appointed Michael Platt to the role of plant manager at its Duryea, Pa., manufacturing facility. Platt has worked for more than 30 years in the manufacturing sector, and he will apply his leadership skills and knowledge of specialty machining and manufacturing to the plant’s optics and glass operations. In his new role, Platt will lead the transformation of the plant, as the optics manufacturing and finishing operations return to full strength following March’s fire.

Platt has worked in manufacturing for his entire career, starting on the production floor. Over the past 30 years, he worked as a manufacturing planner, operations manager, and most recently, plant manager with Corning Inc. Platt has years of experience in the designing and machining of reflective and refractive optics glasses, as well as precision component and housing assembly. His knowledge of component manufacturing extends across the aircraft, aerospace, and defense industries, and many other vertical integrators. As both a plant and operations manager, Platt planned and governed large-volume programs, and has experience in lean and 5S methodology. 

“Mike Platt comes to SCHOTT with a wealth of manufacturing knowledge, and his leadership and expertise in optics production and machining will continue to elevate the strong reputation of our Duryea plant,” said Christoph Fark, executive vice president of SCHOTT Advanced Optics.

The rebuilding efforts at SCHOTT’s Duryea facility are progressing, and the plant’s various glass processing operations continue to come online. A number of operations, such as precision components and large optics processing, are fully restored and operational. The research and development department has also been fully restored. Full manufacturing operations at SCHOTT’s Duryea facility will continue expanding in volume and capabilities over the coming months.

“As more glass manufacturing operations return to production, I’m committed to upholding and strengthening SCHOTT’s proud tradition of manufacturing in North America,” Platt said. “We continue rebuilding and improving upon the Duryea facility with a focus on producing the highest quality optic glasses through precise engineering, and we thank our customers for their patience during that process.”

 For more information, visit www.us.schott.com.