For the past 15 years, manufacturing companies have been focused on training existing employees in the tools and methodologies of lean manufacturing and Six Sigma in order to improve efficiency, productivity, quality, and customer service to be more competitive in the global economy. However, this training doesn\u2019t address the lack of workers trained in the specific skills needed for today\u2019s advanced and higher tech manufacturing.<\/p>\n
Mark Tomlinson<\/a>, CEO of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, sees the skilled worker shortage as an iceberg looming on an uneasy sea.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re just approaching it; we haven\u2019t hit it yet but we know it\u2019s there,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople are starting to see it. They just don\u2019t know how to deal with it\u2026Now there is an increased need to fill manufacturing jobs associated with aerospace, energy, medical device manufacturing and aspects of transportation,\u201d Tomlinson says.<\/p>\n At the imX event in Las Vegas that I attended September 12-14, 2011, I interviewed Experience Partner companies that are very involved in workforce development and training.\u00a0 Mark Logan, V. P. Business Development & Marketing, Mag IAS, LLC<\/a> said that MAG has a very comprehensive training program.\u00a0 MAG America restarted its apprenticeship program in 2005 in partnership with local community colleges. Students in the program work full-time at MAG while taking college classes, working toward an associate\u2019s degree. MAG invests approximately $200,000, including tuition, salary and benefits, for each apprentice earning a degree. This program gained national attention in an NBC Nightly News report “America at the Crossroads.”<\/p>\n Other internal programs include Future Leaders and the Accelerated Leadership Program (ALP), which are designed to fill the pipeline at the company’s management and executive levels.\u00a0 Future Leaders participate in a one-year program combining classroom training with developmental assignments and mentoring from senior managers.\u00a0 Accelerated Leadership candidates are employees who have the potential to assume executive-level positions within MAG, and the program provides a series of high-impact job assignments coupled with advanced educational opportunities.\u00a0 The company also has co-operative education programs with a number of well-known regional and national engineering schools.\u00a0 MAG IAS joins manufacturing leaders Boeing, Caterpillar, United Technologies and others as the newest partner in MIT’s prestigious Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) dual-degree graduate program that equips students with master’s degrees in engineering and management.<\/p>\n Another Experience Partner, Sandvik Coromant<\/a>, provides training for their employees in collaboration with technical schools and colleges in addition to performing internal training utilizing curriculum they have developed, according to Robert Page, Productivity Center and Training Manager.\u00a0 They also provide training for their customers at Smart events in metal cutting technology ranging from the basics of terms and definitions to specialized metal cutting of \u201chard\u201d parts in super alloys.<\/p>\n Another imX Experience Partner was Fanuc FA America<\/a>, one of the world\u2019s leading factory automation companies.\u00a0 Fanuc has developed simulator software, which is ideal for training. \u00a0Mark Brownhill, Program Manager, Machine Tool Distributor\/Education, said, \u201cWe offer regular training programs for end-users as well as machine tool builders, agents or distributors. The training combines practical lectures with hands-on lab exercises to ensure that you get the value-added skills needed. \u00a0Our NCGuide simulates the CNC operator environment featuring, by selection, ISO programming or Fanuc Job Shop Programming Software while our NCGuidePro provides development tools as used by machine builders and OEMs. \u00a0Both these products run on standard PC equipment with no need for additional hardware.\u201d\u00a0 Fanuc also has two training centers, one near Chicago and one that just opened in Cypress, California.<\/p>\n Since its founding in 1932, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (<\/a>SME) has provided lifelong-learning programs, certification and skills assessment, technical resources, publications and industry expertise through its members.\u00a0 SME has several certification programs in specialized fields that are used by both industry and academia to develop today\u2019s and tomorrow\u2019s workforce, such as Certified Manufacturing Technologist, Certified Manufacturing Engineer, Lean Certification, and Green Manufacturing Specialist.<\/p>\n In 2010, SME acquired Tooling University LLC <\/a>(Tooling U) based in Cleveland, Ohio. Tooling U provides online training to more than 1,200 manufacturing companies and 400 educational institutions.\u00a0 With more than 400 unique titles, Tooling U offers a full range of content to train machine operators, welders, assemblers, inspectors, and maintenance professionals. Tooling U online classes help to round out SME\u2019s current offering of instructor led training, certifications, webinars, books and videos.<\/p>\n A free Workforce 2021 Readiness Assessment<\/a> was introduced at the Tooling U booth at the imX event.\u00a0 This customized and targeted workforce assessment program gives manufacturers the opportunity to assess their own capabilities in the face of challenges they will need to solve before they are confronted with the severe skilled workforce shortages predicted by 2021.\u00a0 The first component of the assessment requires companies to answer questions about how they are preparing to meet the needs of the 2021 workforce.\u00a0 Tooling U and SME professional development experts were available to explain solutions for readiness deficiencies identified in the assessments.<\/p>\n After the imX event, I interviewed two of Tooling U\u2019s clients.\u00a0 One client is Midmark Corporatio<\/a>n, which brings efficient patient care to millions of people each day in the human and animal healthcare industries around the world. Midmark is committed to providing innovative products and services for the medical, dental and veterinary healthcare equipment industry. Headquartered in Versailles, Ohio, Midmark Corporation maintains four subsidiaries in the United States and has over 1,100 employees worldwide.<\/p>\n Casey Webster, Human Resources Manager, said, \u201cWe are experiencing a shortage of skilled machinists.\u00a0 So far this year, Midmark has hired 7 machinists from the outside.\u00a0 Finding this talent was a major struggle.\u00a0 We tried several different recruiting tactics such as advertising in the newspaper, online, offering referral bonuses, radio ads, and professional recruiting services.\u201d\u00a0 She said, \u201cWe chose Tooling U because it was recommended to us by Edison Community College.\u00a0 After doing some research and course trials, we decided to partner with Tooling U.\u00a0 The kind of training courses we are utilizing includes 45 online modules and five labs.\u00a0 It was important that we implement a program that allowed teammates to confirm their learned knowledge.\u00a0 Once a teammate completes a set of online modules, he attends an eight-hour, hands-on lab at Edison Community College.\u00a0 Classes range from mathematics, blueprint reading, cutting, lathe, mill, turning, and CNC.\u00a0\u00a0 The Tooling U training program has benefited our company by:<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Providing development opportunities to current teammates wanting to become machinists<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reducing training time<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Verification program that a teammate has the skills to be successful in a machining role<\/p>\n