For the past decade, L&L Products has opened its doors to students to offer a firsthand look at modern manufacturing, engineering and the many career possibilities behind them. As the company marks 10 years of participating in Manufacturing Day, the milestone is an opportunity to reflect on a tradition centered on curiosity, connection and the next generation.
A decade of introducing students to manufacturing
For many students, manufacturing can be difficult to picture from inside a classroom. What does an engineer actually do each day? What happens between an idea and a finished component? And what kinds of careers exist inside a modern manufacturing company?
Manufacturing Day helps make those questions tangible.
Over the past 10 years, L&L Products has welcomed students into its Romeo, Michigan facilities, giving them an opportunity to meet employees, explore technologies and see how different disciplines come together in a real manufacturing environment.
That commitment was already well established by 2019, when L&L hosted students from Romeo High School as part of Manufacturing Day. At the time, L&L described the initiative as an opportunity to help address common misconceptions about manufacturing by giving students and members of the community a closer look at what modern manufacturing really involves.
But the connection with students has extended beyond the annual facility visit.
Finding new ways to bring engineering to students
In 2021, when traditional opportunities for in-person engagement were limited, L&L Products and TK Mold & Engineering connected virtually with students from Romeo High School to demonstrate the plastic injection molding process and the use of Autodesk Moldflow software.
Rather than working with a generic example, L&L Moldflow engineer Trevor Purdy used a part that three Romeo High School students had designed themselves: an iPad holder intended to help younger students with remote learning. Purdy walked the students through simulation results and discussed recommendations that could improve their design.
It was a small example of something that has remained important throughout L&L’s engagement with students: making engineering real.
Seeing a manufacturing facility is one thing. Seeing how an idea can be evaluated, challenged, improved and ultimately manufactured gives students another perspective on the problem-solving behind the industry.
Continuing the tradition in 2026
This October, that tradition continued as L&L Products welcomed students from Stephenson High School in Sterling Heights to its Romeo facilities for Manufacturing Day.
The 2026 event also welcomed SME Media Senior Editor Michael McConnell, who visited L&L Products and spoke with Andrea Smith while experiencing the day’s activities alongside the students.
His visit offered another perspective on a program that has now become a longstanding part of L&L’s connection with its local community.
For the students, however, the purpose of the day remained much the same as it has throughout the past decade: an opportunity to step inside a working manufacturing environment, meet the people behind it and discover career paths they may not previously have considered.
More than a facility tour
Over 10 years, manufacturing itself has continued to evolve. Technologies have advanced, new tools have become part of the engineering process and the skills needed across the industry continue to change.
That makes opportunities for students to experience manufacturing firsthand increasingly valuable.
For L&L Products, Manufacturing Day is also part of a broader commitment to supporting education and hands-on learning within its communities. The company’s Living Our Values activities have included student engineering engagement and other STEM and community initiatives alongside Manufacturing Day.
The goal is not necessarily for every student who walks through the doors to decide on a career in manufacturing or engineering.
It is to make those possibilities visible.
A conversation with an engineer, seeing a manufacturing process up close or discovering how a classroom subject translates into a real-world application can be enough to change the way a young person thinks about what comes next.
The next generation
Ten years represents hundreds of conversations, questions, demonstrations and moments of discovery.
The students visiting L&L today are growing up alongside technologies and manufacturing processes that will continue to evolve throughout their careers. Some may become engineers. Others may pursue careers in materials science, manufacturing, design, automation, quality, skilled trades or fields that are still emerging.
And some may simply leave with a different understanding of what manufacturing looks like today.
That, ultimately, is why opening the doors matters.
Ten years on, L&L Products is proud to continue creating opportunities for students to see modern manufacturing firsthand, meet the people behind it and imagine where their own interests might take them next.