From U.S. Navy sailor to Milacron subject matter expert.

If you ask Field Service Technician, Chelsie Lucas, what led her to Milacron, the answer might come as a surprise.
Over the course of the past two years, Lucas has transformed her career from a diesel mechanic with little to no understanding of plastics processing, to a subject matter expert in her craft – Milacron M-Powered field support.
Born in North Carolina, but raised in West Virginia, Lucas considers the Mountain State her home. She entered the United States Navy immediately after high school where the foundation of her career was laid as an Engineman on some of the nation’s largest ships. She traveled the world visiting Australia, Guam, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines over the course of five years, gaining transferable knowledge in everything from engine mechanics, blueprinting, and hydraulics to pneumatics, fuel systems, and auxiliaries. It was during these formative years serving that Lucas also learned valuable life lessons that have helped pave the way for her today at Milacron.
“One of the most important things the U.S. Navy taught me is that you have to work hard for what you want in this life,” she said. “Hard work will take you farther than talent.”

No truer words could define her journey.
Upon completion of her military enlistment, Lucas obtained employment in a San Diego shipyard. Here, she worked on everything from the hull of the ship to the bridge as an Outside Machinist. The days weren’t always easy in the shipyard, as oftentimes the transition from military back to civilian life can bring unexpected challenges, but she persevered.
After four years in California, life then took Lucas to New Mexico where she spent two years in heavy truck repair, where she performed troubleshooting on semi-trucks, tractors, and other vehicles. It was a job that required a whole lot of grit and tenacity but also added to her skill set in mechanics. But, it didn’t take her long to realize it was time to head back to her roots.
Before packing up her life to head home, Lucas put her resume online in search of engine room work on the barges that travel up and down the rivers of West Virginia. Seeing as though she spent five years on the water, this would blend a familiar mix of home and Navy. Oddly enough, that’s when plastics processing became a part of her story.
“I submitted my resume on a few well-known job sites with the keywords ‘diesel mechanic’ and ‘West Virginia’, and Milacron in Cincinnati found me first!”
Hired in as a Field Service Apprentice for Milacron’s exclusive Courtesy Plus maintenance program handling inspections, before transitioning to M-Powered – Milacron’s IIoT solution for injection and extrusion machines. Lucas knew she had her work cut out for her, but she was ready for the challenge. She knew nothing about plastics processing but had always wanted to be a field service technician of some sort. The notion of being able to travel to different facilities, troubleshoot problems, and interact with customers was appealing, but the industry was foreign.

“I didn’t know anything about the industry when I took the role with Milacron, but I knew I wanted to learn it, so I took the leap,” said Lucas, who attributes another valuable life lesson learned in the Navy to providing her the courage to trust the opportunity presented and run with it!
“The Navy taught me to never stop learning – to never restrict myself to just one avenue in this life,” she said. “I always say ‘YES’ to every opportunity to learn something new!”
Senior Product Manager for M-Powered, Dan Barlow, has witnessed the admirable growth of Lucas from apprentice to hands-on field service technician in just a little more than a year. “Chelsie took on M-Powered blindly upon her arrival, and today can cross-functionally communicate about it to nearly anyone in our industry that she comes in contact with,” he explains. “From other field service technicians to plant managers to professionals in the office environment of our business, I can trust that when we send her out on an install or to troubleshoot, she’ll get the job done well and keep our customers happy.”
Barlow oversees all aspects of M-Powered, a critical cog within Milacron’s growth strategy of transitioning from equipment provider to solutions partner for its customers. He ensures the solution provides effective production monitoring, predictive analytics, and remote technical support for all subscribing customers.
Today, all new Milacron machines come equipped with M-Powered monitoring for the first twelve months of ownership. Lucas assists Dan and the rest of the M-Powered team with the heavy lift that comes from existing customers who want to integrate the solution onto their older machines, which requires hardware setup and configurations. She also conducts troubleshooting both remotely and onsite (when necessary), as well as assists other field service technicians with wiring and installs.

Barlow said her willingness to jump right in wherever needed has greatly impacted Milacron M-Powered customers, citing her recent initiative to engineer an innovative mounting apparatus for vibration sensors- a critical part of the predictive analytics package for M-Powered that forecasts the lifespan of a part and/or failures. Some existing machines do not have a suitable place to attach the sensors that feed machine information into M-Powered. Thanks to Lucas’ ingenuity, there is now a solution to hold the pump sensors in place to gain the most accurate data.
“I admire her ability to overcome obstacles placed in her path and propose effective solutions,” said Barlow. “Chelsie is the epitome of a woman breaking the mold in our industry,” he said.
Lucas says she’s thankful Milacron gave her a chance to pave the way in a traditionally male-dominated industry, of which she had very little expert knowledge. Her advice to females considering a career in plastics processing is to not ever be afraid to try something new. “You never know what you’re capable of until you try.”
After her first few months in the Field Service Technician role that required Lucas to commute for more than a year between West Virginia, customer plants, and Milacron global headquarters in Ohio, Lucas decided it might be best to move a few hours northwest to a suburb of Cincinnati. She recently purchased her first home with her boyfriend and is settling into life in Southwest Ohio. She now even has her own office space right above the plant where she first learned about Milacron’s Courtesy Plus and M-Powered just two years ago.
“For the first time in a long time, I finally feel settled.”
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puts her best foot forward for Milacron.