SCHOTT Appoints Michael Platt to Plant Manager of Duryea, Pa. Manufacturing and Research Facility

Platt has worked 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 Incorporated. 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, the Executive Vice President of SCHOTT Advanced Optics.



The rebuilding efforts at SCHOTT’s Duryea facility are making quick progress, 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.”



About SCHOTT

SCHOTT is a leading international technology group in the areas of specialty glass and glass-ceramics. The company has more than 130 years of outstanding development, materials, and technology expertise and offers a broad portfolio of high-quality products and intelligent solutions. SCHOTT is an innovative enabler for many industries, including the home appliance, pharmaceutical, electronics, optics, automotive, and aviation industries. SCHOTT strives to play an important part of everyone’s life and is committed to innovation and sustainable success. The group maintains a global presence with production sites and sales offices in 35 countries. With its workforce of approximately 15,400 employees, sales of $2.55 billion were generated in fiscal year 2013/2014. us.schott.com