Let’s train young people for our industry

     The machine shop industry needs a renewed emphasis on vocational training for young people.
     One reason: the skills required for modern manufacturing are greater in today’s high tech industry that at any previous time. While the need for increased technical knowledge is evident, so too is the inability of the manufacturing industry to attract the best talent to learn these skills.
     Unfortunately, training in our industry is still badly neglected. Due to my experience in the machine shop industry, I believe there is a strong need for better and more effective machine shop training, especially in computer controlled machine tools.
     I have observed that:
companies will invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in machine tools and invest the minimum in training operators to use this equipment. Often, they will only use the free training that is supplied by the machine tool vendor. This can be less than a one week session. This session will often be the only training over the entire life of the machine tool, approximately ten years.
     Additionally, the initial training period is being reduced due to lack of qualified staff at the machine tool distributor level. The machine tool installation engineer often trains the employees, and available time for this is often minimal due to strained resources.

Shop floor managers
    Many managers are wary of trained employees. Their perception is that the trained operator may undermine the role of the foreman or leadman. This perception is false - shared responsibility builds the team.
     The company management should insist that foreman and leadman are fully trained along with the operators. If these personnel have not yet been trained, it’s important that the supervisory people be brought up to date. After all, any new machine purchased today will have some form of CNC controller. Supervisors must be fully involved with this program and demonstrate their ability to assimilate CNC technology.

Trained employees will leave for another job. Comment:- Train your employees and they might leave for another job, or worse, don’t train them and they might stay at your company.
     There is a perception that if a company trains the individual, that this employee is likely to leave. This is an untrue assumption. Trained employees have a better self image and contribute more to the growth of a company.
     These skilled employees are the real resource of any company.
     Each company needs quality machine tools to produce the parts. The greater need is for quality people who are able to program, trouble shoot and run the machine tools.
     It is management’s challenge to provide scope and vision to the employees. This will make employees want to stay and contribute to company growth.
     The challenge for the smaller growing shop is to provide an environment that people want to remain involved with. This area of involvement is where the employees loyalty is gained for a long term commitment.
     In the environment where machine tools are more important than employees, the management will have to be concerned with the “if we train them they will leave” problem. The company must demonstrate it’s vision to it’s employees, or skilled personnel will move to other, more visionary companies.
     Companies with vision are not afraid to train their people. This type of company provides a clear defined leadership and is aware of the benefits of fully trained employees.
     This type of company will attract good people, not lose them.

Labor Force
     The quantity of experienced workers is diminishing. Everywhere I visit the question is: “Do you know any good machinists?”
     I always answer “I know lots of good machinists, but they are all working somewhere.”
     Look at the Help Wanted section in the average newspaper and see the requirements:
CNC Experience a must.
(5) Years experience required.
Must be able to program and set up.
Must be able to read blueprints.

     Where and how do people get this (5) years experience? We don’t need to train our people, after all we can hire them on the street. The facts prove otherwise.
     Well-trained people are at a premium, they are not wandering the streets out of work. The solution: train your own employees, don’t hope that you will find them.

College Trained Engineers
    We have many excellent college programs producing very clever engineers. My question is, how can you be a graduate engineer and receive no practical training whatsoever? I have observed 30 year old college graduate engineers who do not have any concept of machining practices. These well educated people do not know how a part should be made, or even how to relate with the people on the manufacturing floor.
     The standard degree engineering program should include a mandatory time period at the manufacturing level.
     We need the engineers to be fully involved “in the trenches” and not just generating product designs that prove to be difficult to manufacture.

World wide competition
     Since the 1950s we have seen the steady growth of Germany and Japan in the world market. Both countries now have very strong manufacturing industries combined with high wage employees.
     These countries have recognized the advantage of a combination of strong manufacturing and high wage employment. These countries are utilizing a highly skilled workforce to produce technically advanced, high-priced, quality products. We are all aware of this as the USA is dependant on these imported products.
     Without technical leadership and a highly trained work force, all we can do is make standard products cheaper- in essence selling labor. Germany and Japan are selling not labor, they are selling knowledge.

Potential Solutions
* We must project the new image of the manufacturing environment. This environment uses the most advanced computerized machine tools, and is worthy of the services of a talented workforce.
* We must develop a team approach between engineers and machinists, based on mutual respect.
* We must retrain our existing workforce to be fully skilled and productive, thoroughly utilizing the new technology now available to our manufacturing industries.
* Engineering degree courses should require strong intern shop programs that work in conjunction with industry.
* Manufacturing engineers need to gain practical experience in the programming and application of machine tools. This broadening of experience will aid communication and provide positive leadership.
     Considering the above, I feel that the manufacturing industry can develop a fully skilled team of producers and engineers at both the shop floor and office level. This team effort will enable us to meet the competitive challenges of the new century.
     We, in the USA, are facing more and more competition from low wage countries (China and Mexico). We cannot be the cheapest, but we must be the best by being the most skilled.