Read it before you buy it

The record is public. The seminar is where it gets used.

Forty-one years of plastics engineering, written down. The October brochure, two lectures pulled straight from the textbook, the list of plants ETS has taught in, and the expert-witness record. Nothing here is a teaser — these are the actual documents.

Reserve a seat, Oct 20–22 → Download the brochure

Start here

PDF · the October seminar Automotive Plastic Part Design — October 20–22, 2026

The brochure. GVSU DeVos Center, Grand Rapids. What the three days cover, who should attend, what it costs, and how to register before the room fills.

1.5 MB PDF · parking & arrival GVSU DeVos Center — directions and parking

Where to park, which entrance, and how to reach Room 302E. Print it before you drive.

440 KB

From the book

PDF · 7th edition excerpt · PD3, 2015 Snap-Fits Which Kill

The influence of color on plastic product failure. Pigment-driven degradation, investigated from Designing Plastic Parts for Assembly and taught as a live session. The short version of why a snap-fit that looks fine fails in the field.

553 KB · 1,389 words PDF · 7th edition excerpt Automotive Design: Avoiding Plastic Design Pitfalls

The Honda pitfall case. The step-by-step procedure for catching a plastic design failure before steel is cut. ©1992–2015 Paul A. Tres.

2.1 MB The textbook Designing Plastic Parts for Assembly — every preface

Ten English editions and two Chinese editions. Prefaces and forewords by engineers and counsel at Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, DENSO, Schaeffler, Bayer and SPE.

17 excerpts

The record

PDF · named facilities In-plant seminars — 63 companies

Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Continental, Yanfeng, Yazaki, Visteon, Tata Motors, W.L. Gore, Stanley Black & Decker. Taught at their plant, on their parts.

133 KB PDF · 1997–2026 Expert testimony and deposition record

The case list. Trial and deposition work from 1997 through the current Stellantis class action and Quinones v. MTD — the firms, the matters, the years.

118 KB

And on video

The same material, taught out loud.

The video library holds the 51-minute Plastic Part Design webinar and the 2015 lecture series. The podcast feed is one episode, ten minutes, no account required.

The whole practice

One record. Eight ways to use it.

Oct 20–22The seminar

Three days in Grand Rapids with the author. 1,300 slides, real case histories, twenty minutes with him.

90 coursesThe catalog

Failure, composites, EV, crash, compliance, regulated product. Open enrollment, in-plant, or your own cohort.

Your floorIn-plant

The same course at your plant, on your parts. Sixty-three companies have already hosted it.

The book10th edition

Designing Plastic Parts for Assembly. The seminars are taught from it. Read the prefaces first.

The recordExpert witness

Trial and deposition work since 1997. Plastics failures, explained to a jury.

The toolsCalculators

Snap-fit and living-hinge, free. The same equations the seminar spends a day on.

Cited answersChatETS

Ask the corpus. Answers come back with the source, not a guess.

The workspaceETS Build

Design, FEA, DFM, PPAP and FMEA in one browser. Early access for pilot teams.

Next step

October 20–22. Grand Rapids.

Three days, 1,300 slides, real case histories, and twenty minutes with the author for every attendee. Early pricing holds through October 1.

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