Archive for June, 2019

Unique Maker Skills Academy launches in California

Tuesday, June 25th, 2019

On June 11th 2019,  I received a press release announcing the launch of the Vocademy Maker Skills Academy (MSA) — a one-of-a-kind, hands-on skills training program. This intensive program covers many of the vocational, career, and soft skills that are no longer taught in our schools. The kinds of skills thousands of employers are seeking. The program is available to anyone over the age of 16, with no prerequisites, transcripts, or GPA requirements.  The first ten-student MSA team starts July 8th, so enrollment is now open.

It is well documented that there is a massive skills gap in traditional and advanced manufacturing in America today. In past articles, I’ve mentioned that an estimated one to two million good-paying manufacturing jobs are going unfilled due to a lack of people with the right skills. There are also thousands of young adult makers looking for effective alternatives to college. The press release states: “An ideal solution has not existed …until today. This truly unique type program addresses the desperate needs of thousands of employers.”

In 2016, I wrote an article about Vocademy when it was essentially a traditional makerspace open to the public and beginning to offer skills training classes to high school students during the day. During that visit, founder and president Gene Sherman told me, “I started Vocademy because I had witnessed the demise of hands-on skills teaching in this country over the past 20 years. Schools have done away with these critical classes that taught practical life skills like woodworking and metal shop. These were the classes where people learned how to use tools and technology and develop the mindsets necessary to create new and amazing things.

When I saw ‘makerspaces’ springing up, I wanted to combine that type space with teaching the kinds of skills that were previously taught in ‘shop’ classes. I wanted to create a place for those who want to use their hands, in addition to their minds ? makers, inventors, and dreamers. I believe that if our country loses its ability to make and build things, we will have lost what made America great.

I wanted to provide access to these tools, but with proper and practical instruction on how to use them correctly and safely. I wanted a place that teaches the most state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques, not just traditional shop skills. I wanted to teach these important skills without the bureaucracy of academia because many more Americans should have the same opportunity to innovate, collaborate, learn, and create their dreams.”

 I visited Vocademy, located in Riverside, CA, on June 20th and interviewed Gene to find out more about the transformation from a makerspace to a skills discovery and training center.  Gene said, “Employers today are looking for those with a breadth of hands-on and soft skills. They want generalists and not specialists because the economy and workplace are changing at a rapid pace.  We have created the Maker Skills Academy to meet the needs of a career-centric workforce. Our goals are to teach real world skills, get our students career ready, and show them the amazing opportunities in the world of making. We’re looking forward to changing lives and creating the makers of the future. The program only takes six-months to complete. We do this by including over 90 fundamental classes in real-world subjects,” such as:

  • 3D Printing and Computer Aided Design
  • Laser Cutting and Engraving
  • Sewing and Textiles
  • Plastics, Vacuum forming, and Composites
  • Costume, Prop, 3D Papercraft, and Model Making
  • Fundamental Electronics, Soldering, Raspberry Pi and Arduino.
  • Robotics, Automation, and Hardware Programming.
  • Machine Shop Basics and CNC machining
  • Welding, Fabrication, and assembly
  • Wood Working.
  • Hand Tools, Power Tools, and support equipment 
  • Life and career soft skills for manufacturing, engineering, entrepreneurship and many other jobs

He emphasized that “by including the soft skills classes employers are seeking, the Maker Skills Academy is the perfect way to prepare for jobs in advanced manufacturing and other maker careers.

And unlike any other training programs or schools, MSA students will also have access to using our equipment every single evening to practice their skills, collaborate, create amazing resumes, and build capstone projects.”

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As Gene led me on a tour of their facility, he explained, “Classes have minimal theory or history and lean heavily toward hands-on, practical skills learning. There are only eight to ten students per MSA team. We have a high instructor-to-student ratio for effective and intimate learning of skills. Our modern facility has over $500,000 of traditional and state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment.

During the tour, I saw that Gene had upgraded the 3D printing lab with all industrial machines rather than the hobby-type machines previously in the lab.  He had also upgraded to industrial sewing machines from the home-type machines he had previously, and there were now two cutting machines in the laser workroom. There were two new park bench projects in the fabrication workroom that the students had built themselves to utilize their metal fab and woodworking skills. He showed me the Little Free Libraries projects that are being placed in front of homes in neighborhoods, which are the capstone projects for the woodworking class.

Gene said that the Maker Skills Academy is perfect for those looking for:

  • a unique alternative to college, with real job and life skills
  • an ideal learning program to explore a multitude of maker skills
  • an effective pre-engineering program before entering university
  • an intensive course in maker skills for entrepreneurs or inventors
  • a set of job skills that will make STEM or maker careers future-proof

The website provides the following description of what is included in the Maker Space Academy program:

  • Six months of subjects and classes designed by industry experts and based on real-world needs of companies.
  • All raw materials, tools, and supplies the student will need for the classes in this program.
  • Six months of maker lab access with use of all equipment the student has been trained to use. 7-days-a-week, 5-10pm.
  • A Vocademy Maker Academy work shirt, basic measuring and hands tool set, a shop apron, and safety glasses.
  • An incredibly creative environment, surrounded by other makers, students, and engineers.
  • An Intellectual Property (IP) free facility. Student developed products or inventions are the property of the student.
  • A unique learning experience for anyone seeking to become more valuable to the world.
  • To develop an amazing set of skills for a career, personal enrichment, or for entering engineering schools.
  • Student graduates will receive Vocademy Certificates of Completion for every subject completed.
  • The opportunity to collaborate and work on your projects or ideas using modern and traditional industrial equipment.
  • To create an incredible resume full of projects, practical skills, and hands-on experience.

I asked what was expected of students, and Gene replied, “There are no mid-terms or finals. Students must commit to classes, self-guided learning, and the creation of projects. They sign a Commitment Pledge to put forth their best effort to ensure a successful learning experience. Students must be willing to continue self-guided depth learning and skills practice during maker lab hours and personal time. And, students are expected to complete a final capstone project for their maker portfolio/resume either solo or as part of a team.”

When I asked what his future goal is, he said, I want the Maker Skills Academy to be the choice of manufacturers for training employees, both existing and those being hired.  I want the MSA to be considered as the “Olympic training center” for manufacturing skills. I envision local manufacturers becoming partners with Vocademy for their employee training.”

I told him that I hope he realizes his goal because programs like his would go a long way in solving the skills gap and attracting the next generation of manufacturing workers.  It is critical that we get back to being a nation of “makers” as manufacturing is the foundation of the middle class, and our middle class has been shrinking for the last 30 years as we moved more and more manufacturing offshore.   

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Congress Must Strengthen Buy America Act

Tuesday, June 4th, 2019

The Buy American Act was passed by Congress in 1933. It required the U.S. government to give preferential treatment to American producers in awarding of federal contracts. The Act restricted the purchase of supplies that are not domestic products. For manufactured products, the Buy American Act used a two-part test:  first, the article must be manufactured in the U.S., and second, the cost of domestic components must exceed 50 percent of the cost of all its components.

After the end of the Cold War and the end of the subsequent Gulf War in 1991, the provisions of the “Buy America Act” were eased to allow purchasing off the shelf commercial parts (COTS) from foreign countries by the Defense Department and other government agencies if they met the same fit and function of parts made to strict military specifications. Previously, parts, assemblies, and systems were required to be substantially made in the United States or in a NATO country, such as Great Britain, France, or Germany.

In the early 1990s, most commercial parts were still being made in the United States, with some outsourcing to the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore, so this change was pretty safe. However, permitting commercial parts to replace Military Specification parts probably drove out of business the small companies that catered exclusively to the military and provided Traceability of Origin per Military Specifications for parts supplied to government agencies, military contractors, and subcontractors. This was all done in the name of cost savings.

Gradually over the last 26 years, the manufacturing of most commercial electronic components and microchips was transferred offshore, so that now they are fabricated in China, Vietnam, or South Korea. 

This is the root cause of counterfeit Chinese parts becoming part of the military/defense industrial supply chain.

The President has authority to waive the Act in response to the provision of reciprocal treatment to U.S. producers. Under the 1979 GATT Agreement on Government Procurement, the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and the Korea Free Trade Agreement, access to government procurement is granted by certain U.S. agencies for goods from the partner countries to these agreements.

It was reported by Reuters in January 2014 that “The Pentagon repeatedly waived laws banning Chinese-built components on U.S. weapons in order to keep the $392 billion Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program on track in 2012 and 2013, even as U.S. officials were voicing concern about China’s espionage and military buildup.”

To address weaknesses in the defense supply chain and to promote the adoption of aggressive counterfeit avoidance practices by the Department of Defense and the defense industry, an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012  was adopted in the Senate and signed by President Obama.

Instead of implementing the requirements of the Act, it appears that DOD “entered a new phase… characterized by globalization of supply chains” according to Richard McCormack, publisher and producer of the Manufacturing & Technology News, May 20, 2015 edition.

McCormack reported on comments made by Bill Lynn, CEO of Finmeccanica North America and former Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2009 until 2011, at the April 29, 2015 meeting of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

The defense sector and the U.S. military have “moved from being a net exporter of technology to a net importer,” Lynn stated, adding “When their R&D budgets are combined to total a scant $3 billion (or only 1.6 percent of revenue), the five biggest defense contractors — Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, L3 and Northrop — would not even make the list of the top 20 global companies that invest in R&D.”

Lynn told the meeting, “Those are things where the commercial industrial base is stronger than the defense industrial base and in many ways the key to maintaining our future [defense] technology edge is to be able to import those technologies into our defense industrial base… Since many of the underlying technologies now reside outside of the United States, DOD has to figure out how to deal with foreign corporations and state-owned enterprises that hold the keys to its success.”

McCormack noted, “The Department of Defense and its major contractors are now dependent on foreign manufacturers for many of the military’s most advanced weapons systems…The defense industry is a shadow of its former self, representing less than 3.5 percent of the U.S. economy, a position that continues to decline as defense budgets reach new lows with no chance of them growing faster than the economy.”

Lynn commented that “DOD is slowly catching up to the structural change caused by globalization of technology and supply chains. It is wrestling with the regulatory and procurement systems it has in place to monitor and conduct business with foreign suppliers, but it has little time to waste.”

Lynn stated “that changing perceptions about foreign involvement in the defense industry are similar to what happened in the U. S. auto sector…Americans and their representatives in Congress were skeptical about foreign nameplates. But as foreign auto companies started building technologies in the United States and hiring American workers, the tide turned… “

It is incomprehensible to me to compare what happened to the U. S. auto industry to what is happening to the U. S. defense industry. The whole purpose of the defense industry is to protect our national sovereignty and national security. How can anyone in their right mind want to make our defense supply chain vulnerable to the foreign country, namely China, that has a written plan to replace the U.S. as the world’s super power? The Chinese have stolen our technology to build up their own military power as evidenced by the uncanny similarity of China’s stealth fighter, the J-31and the Chengdu J-20 fighter jet to the F-35 Lightning II advanced fighter jet. 

Does anyone believe that we will get the parts and assemblies needed by our defense industry when China has decided we are so weak that we cannot stop their aggression in Asia? We are not even safe to have parts sourced in Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, or Vietnam. These countries would all be targets for takeover by China once the Chinese lose their fear and respect for U. S. naval and air power.

Four of the last five sessions of Congress attempted to address this problem, but the following bills to strengthen the Buy American Act introduced in Congress failed to be enacted: 

H.R. 4553 (111th), introduced February 2, 2010

S. 2391 (113th), introduced May 22, 2014

S. 2167 (114th), introduced October 8, 2015.

At least, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Buy American and Hire American onApril 18, 2017, which set forth a policy to “maximize …use of goods, products and materials produced in the United States” through federal procurements.

This was followed by the introduction of the 21st Century Buy American Act (S.2196) on Dec. 6, 2017 by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CN, and a similar bill, H.R. 4812 introduced in the House by Representative David Cicilline. D-RI.  Both bills aimed to strengthen existing Buy American standards, but after considerable support, both failed to be enacted. The legislation focused on five change areas.

  1. The cost of components test for non-commercial-off-the-shelf items would be modified to require that an item’s U.S. component costs exceed 60% of the item’s total costs for the item to be deemed “domestic.” From the current 50%
  2. The so-called “overseas exemption” regarding items procured for use outside the United States would be limited significantly.
  3. Agencies would not be permitted to apply a public interest exception unless it considers the short-term and long-term effects of applying such exception on employment within the U.S.
  4. A program to make or guarantee loans would be created for contractors seeking to manufacture certain items that are not currently manufactured in the U.S.
  5. Actions would be taken to increase transparency related to the use of exceptions

On May 2, 2019, Congressmen Dan Lipinski (IL-3) and Mike Bost (IL-12) “reintroduced the BuyAmerican.gov Act, which helps ensure that federal agencies adhere to Buy American laws and prioritize the purchase of American-made goods. The legislation, H.R. 2472, directs the General Services Administration to establish a website, BuyAmerican.gov, to collect and display information about each request by a federal agency to bypass ‘Buy American’ laws and purchase foreign-made products.  Once the law is approved, manufacturers and others will be able to use the site to identify contract opportunities and challenge pending ‘Buy American’ waivers sought by federal agencies.”

The press release stated, “In the last five years, federal agencies have spent $34 billion on goods manufactured by foreign firms.  The Department of Defense, the largest purchaser of manufactured goods in the world, has spent almost $200 billion on manufactured goods made by foreign companies since 2007.…This bill applies “Buy American” requirements to federal spending programs that are not covered under current law and closes loopholes in “Buy American” programs.

Under current law, federal agencies are exempt from following Buy American laws if American-made goods are unavailable or cost-prohibitive. Unfortunately, federal agencies are too often abusing this waiver authority and there’s no way to hold them accountable,” Lipinski said.”

Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced companion legislation the same day in the Senate.

This bill increases transparency related to waivers and exemptions to the Buy American Act, but it doesn’t address the other four issues that previous bills addressed.

Congress must act to strengthen the Buy American Act, not weaken it, eliminate the incentives for offshoring, and provide incentives for bringing manufacturing back to America. We must protect the supply chain for defense and military products and systems, so that the Defense Department can fulfill its primary mission of defending our country.

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