County Manufacturing Group- Establishing a Sub Committee to fill the Skills Gap

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Aug 2016
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Virginia
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Good Evening ,


In my hometown we have a Manufacturing Group that gets together once every 2 months to discuss labor issues , the economy , etc.


I suggested getting a sub-committee together to explore ways to fill the Skills Gap. As we all know it is very difficult to find good maintenance technicians.


I suggest that we visit schools , even Middle Schools . I would like to build a "mobile " automation lab , and take to the schools , speak to parents about a career in manufacturing , etc.


I know we have a uphill battle , but would you guys have any ideas ? Are you folks doing anything in your areas ?


Thanks so much for your thoughts and advice ,
 
I think you may have to address the training issue also. 60 years ago when I was in high school they had both a wood shop and a metal shop. Shop class was a required course. Today's schools do not have them.
 
In my area the local vo-tech high school has a steering committee comprising representatives from local industries. This would be similar to the OP's group. Their function is to help the school's administration adjust the curriculum to serve the needs of the people who will be hiring their graduates.
 
I think if you have some low-pressure pneumatic gates, some lights and a version of RSLogix running on a PC, it's super interesting for kids to look at. I took my programming PC to a local middle school and the kids found it really useful to look at visual programming in ladder. Using a VPN, I actually showed them my plant's program live, super interesting. I was able to tell them: Hey, if this is green, that means that this door is open.

An idea I just had was: How about a marble maze, controlled by a PLC? For example, there are pneumatic outputs and maybe prox inputs for zones, and a metal ball falls from the top, and interferes with the pneumatically actuated gates. At the bottom, you can even put a convener which moves the marble to the top.

The kids can initially open those gates by doing a CTRL+T, then at the end you can import a routine, which automatically opens the stops based on prox inputs. I think that'll be cool.
 
Manufacturing Day (Creators Wanted) has some resources https://creatorswanted.org/

I have some stuff for your lab if your looking.... I have a brand new 1400 that works great but loses the program and faults out when powered down, I think you can use a MM1 to fix it, the price is right (free) if you let me know what you are looking for I may be able to help.
 
Unfortunately now, schools are more like for-profit businesses.


They teach from the materials outside sources (whether private industry, political groups or government propaganda) provide them or pay them to teach.


The declining teaching of science and math let to the STEM movement to get them back to teaching it, with 'technology' added.


To get a school-board to look at your proposal you will have to have the teaching materials, lab exercises (maybe including the any parts needed), teacher training for your subject, and quizzes and tests pre-written. Basically the complete course so all they need to supply is the teacher and building.


Just going to a meeting and saying "Please teach your student xxxxx" will be laughed at after you leave.
 
The skills gap is just a value thing. Kids get paid twice as much to program crummy apps for Android in an air conditioned office with free beer on Fridays and a table tennis table, than to go to work in an unsafe factory to pull out a 5 year old laptop and figure out why your machine isn't running.
 
The skills gap is just a value thing. Kids get paid twice as much to program crummy apps for Android in an air conditioned office with free beer on Fridays and a table tennis table, than to go to work in an unsafe factory to pull out a 5 year old laptop and figure out why your machine isn't running.

Too close!
 
Too close!

Reminds me of a sub-plot in the movie Westworld.

Had to have one human maintenance worker because all the robot workers could not get wet and work around water features.

Plus (really happened) a distributor in the Chicago area had their only service tech retire and they couldn't find anyone to replace him so they stopped providing service totally.
 
The skills gap is just a value thing. Kids get paid twice as much to program crummy apps for Android in an air conditioned office with free beer on Fridays and a table tennis table, than to go to work in an unsafe factory to pull out a 5 year old laptop and figure out why your machine isn't running.

Do you have any phone numbers? (Asking for a friend)
 
Perhaps one of these days we will get actual technical management in these positions instead of bean counters in shiny shoes, so that there will be some real insight in business decisions. I find that, all-too-often, these companies want you to pay like $10k to go to school, then hire you at $13 an hour so that you barely make rent, then expect you to do everything from program a PLC to unclog a toilet, and then want to work you every weekend.


You want good techs you gotta pay to train and keep them, make sure they give a good work-life balance, and just generally give a damn about your people.


Sorry, I'm a bit jaded on that issue.


I would actually like to add to this. We also need potential techs to take charge of their own career. Ask questions, pursue knowledge. To understand that they are investing in themselves as well, and that they won't be spoon-fed. As a part of passing knowledge on, we must also teach them to teach themselves.



Believe it or not, one of our main issues at work is people not following directions. So, for at least two of my co-workers, that has been a main focus. Getting them to concentrate on their work, and catch the details so that they can be an effective member of the team.


It is very hard for parents to teach soft skills and be there to provide guidance to their children when both parents have to work 50+ hours a week just to get by.
 
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You want good techs you gotta pay to train and keep them, make sure they give a good work-life balance, and just generally give a damn about your people.

Our techs are hourly, they make more than some people in our management. it's our engineers that end up suffering. Over 2 years we have about a 75% turnover rate.
 
It's a great idea. Here in Ontario, Canada, govrernment at both the provincial and federal levels are getting involved. Getting the idea into a kid's head early will be difficult. As an industrial electrician for 30+ years, I've seen more than a few newly licensed tradesmen turned off by the ideas of shift work, long hours, hot/cold environments and - perish the thought - getting dirty/greasy!
If you can't get the kids interested by taking the trade to them, try taking them to the trade. See if your local high school's guidance department would be open to a field trip to your work place. Of course, the work place must approve - liability, safety etc etc.
It a tough row to hoe - the average age of an electrician in Ontario is 50+. I'm sure the numbers are similar where you are.
Please keep us updated on your efforts....
 

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