Tools to bridge the skills gap

There is no denying that a manufacturing skills gap has existed for years in the U.S. A skills gap is caused by not having people trained to perform a task when and where they are needed. London-headquartered consultancy Deloitte predicts that this gap will grow to an estimated 2.4 million unfilled manufacturing jobs by 2025. It is going to take technology that drives both efficiency and workforce development to ensure that the gap does not hurt U.S. manufacturing, which made up over 11% of gross domestic product in 2018.

In custom parts manufacturing, one cause of the gap is the moving target of skills required to support the ever-increasing complexity of produced components. The complexity is due to the rapid evolution of product design software, specifically 3D CAD. This software has given flexibility to designers to quickly create, collaborate and iterate on highly complicated components and assemblies.

This capability has increased the burden on manufacturers to efficiently make items with more intricacy and requirements for accuracy. Manufacturers simultaneously have been limited often to working with antiquated software, which has formed an imbalance.

Whether in an office or on a shop floor, workers should be able to securely access 3D models and supporting files anytime for any job. Image courtesy of Paperless Parts

While the evolution of 3D CAD partly caused the skills gap, proper utilization of this software across the manufacturing value chain can be the key to bridging the gap. Models produced with 3D CAD represent one of the most powerful communication tools ever created in manufacturing. Leveraging these models allows an engineer to more effectively communicate design intent and more clearly convey an enormous amount of geometric metadata. The challenge facing manufacturers is that these files frequently are translated into 2D drawings with geometric dimensioning and tolerancing before being sent to job shops for quoting and production. The first step in bridging the gap is for all parties involved with part production to have access to the same level of communication tools.